After a nice weekend we set off Monday morning for Puerto Princesa to complete our Philippines clearance formalities. We hired the only jeepney in the tiny village to take us the 40 km to the other side of the island, sharing the cost with two other couples. We had already been warned about the rough ride to expect for the first hour - it was rough but it didn't seem as bad as what we thought - maybe we were expecting worse. This first part of the drive took us up over the hills, through forest dry from the El Nino drought, several small villages, dry rice paddies and finally on to the National Highway. Wow, a concrete road for the last part of a journey which took an hour and a half. We arrived at the jeepney terminal about 8.30, checked out the supermarket and noted the Public Market where we would buy our fresh produce when we returned. A jeepney is one of those long wheel-based, sometimes highly decorated vehicles peculiar to the Philippines. Very basic - bench seats with torn upholstery, open sides, and can carry more stuff and people than you can imagine possible. We had a good driver so a safe trip.
We hired a tricycle (basically a motorbike with attached sidecar and a roof to keep out the rain and sun) for the 7 km journey into Puerto Princesa. First stop the ATM. Puerto Princesa has the only ATMs on the whole of Palawan Island. The first one didn't work so off to the business district for another one and then on to the Immigration Bureau. Check-in went pretty smoothly and soon we were out on the main street looking for our morning coffee.
Part of the main drag, Puerto Princesa
With a population of about 220,000 people it was quite noisy and busy, dry and dusty but noticeably much cleaner than anywhere else we have been in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Palawan is considered almost the last frontier of the Philippines and certainly the southern section is very sparsely populated and undeveloped. North of Puerto Princesa it is getting more developed. However, as well as areas now being designated wilderness areas, reserves or sanctuaries, the whole of Palawan has been declared a Fauna and Flora Watershed Reserve and ecotourism is being highly promoted.
We found our city sanctuary in a nice coffee shop before continuing our walk around town. This took in the necessities such as the supermarket, the Smart phone shop to buy a data sim card for internet access from the boat and a Swiss bakery (!) where we also had lunch, before it was time to get the tricycle back to the jeepney terminal. We purchased our fresh produce and set off once again on the trip back to Fish Bay. A long day but our first taste yet of life in the Philippines.
A jeepney loaded up with lots of stuff!! Insulated crates full of ice, sheets of plywood and lots of people!
Yesterday we set off early and after just over 50 NM we arrived in Port Barton, 10 deg 25.031 N, 119 deg 10.335 E. A lovely big bay with a lot of islands offering protection from most winds. We anchored just off the town which from the boat is just a row of thatched houses, restaurants and other buildings, and fishing boats along a beach which we will go ashore and check out today.
