After the amazing rice terraces of Banaue in the cooler north, and many hours – possibly 30 or more – spent on various buses, some good and some not so good, it was time to check out the famous beaches! This week: El Nido, Port Barton, and Puerto Francesca – on the beautiful island of Palawan.
El Nido proved to be a disappointing destination – very touristy and much too ‘full-on’ for me. It is obviously a very popular destination with young backpackers. My accommodation, Denvayn’s Inn, was a nice place to stay. I even got breakfast delivered to my room each morning.
In order to get away from the crowds I chose to go diving on my second day. The three dives were excellent – a bounty of fish and some beautiful coral reefs.
Eating out in El Nido was varied. I found a fabulous Indian restaurant on my first night – Ashoka. Their vegetable curry was excellent. On the second night, I chose a Lebanese restaurant. This proved to be a bad choice. The food was not particularly good, and the rat that ran across my feet while I was eating was somewhat off-putting!
From El Nido, I took a minivan to Port Barton – three hours. I really enjoyed my time there; it was much more chilled out than El Nido. My accommodation was basic but adequate. The owners were lovely and the breakfast was spot on. The local street food was also very good. One evening, I had the pleasure of meeting Lydia, a young woman from Liverpool. We enjoyed an evening meal together. She had quit her job to go travelling for six months.
I spent my time in Port Barton chilling out on a quiet golden-sand beach, just a five-minute walk from my accommodation. From Port Barton I took the local bus (3-hours) to Puerto Francesca.
Puerto Princesa is a fairly large city. My accommodation was fabulous – a lovely, big, clean and well-equipped room. The owners were extremely kind and helpful. Once again, breakfast was brought to my room to enjoy on the outside terrace. While in Puerto Princesa, I visited a number of excellent museums and also headed to the huge shopping mall for a little retail therapy – flip-flops and shorts. I had booked the highly recommended ‘Underground River Trip’, but unfortunately it was cancelled because of bad weather.
From Puerto Princesa, I flew to Cebu for another tranche of island-hopping. More on that in my next post.
