Palawan Island

Palawan is known as the nicest and the wildest island in Philippines, my souvenirs are indeed excellent. If you are looking for adventure and exotism, Palawan is what you need. Be preapre to ride 100 km within 6 or 7 hours, to cross river by Bus, to get stuck into the mud for a few hours, to discvover wonderfull dreamong ilsands . I know many islands in Asia, but I do believe that the ones around Palawan are - by far - the nicest I've ever seen...

Puerto Princessa

The Capital of Palawan, this is a very quiet place with friendly people. The main activity is the central market to buy fish, vegetables. You can also try the cinema for 25 pesos or you could send e-mails at "Kawig's place", an internet cafe on Burgos street. I stayed at Duchess pension (110 pesos for a single room) this is very clean, people are friendly, and it's close from the city centre.

About food, I tried :

• Ihaw Ihaw, on the road to the airport : very good, with live music : "Olive" a local singer takes place with her wonderfull voice.
• The Swiss in, on the airport road as well, but fill up with Swiss German, it's expensive, but there is an internet connection.
• A Vegetarian restaurant, on Manalo street, near Roxas avenue. I'm not used to vegetarian food, but this one was good.
• A chineese restaurant, on the airport road, this one was ok.

So, the few places I tried were good, which means that most of the restaurants in P.P should be good. And depending how is your stomac once you are there, you can also vous try the cheap food they sell in the street.

To leave Puerto, you could choose between : rent a van with Go Palawan, take a Bus (or a jeepney) at the bus-station. So I took a Jeepney to get to Sabang.

Sabang & Underground River

Sabang is the place to reach if you want to discover Underground River. There's nothing excpet walking throuhg th Jungle, the beach is not so nice but bungalows are pleasant. I met a guy from Switzerland who was staying there for more than 3 weeks, some people really know how to enjoy each place...

That's very simple : there are about 6 to 7 restaurants and resorst. The cheapest is "Coco'slad" with bungalows for 2 pax @ 150 pesos. About restaurants, we tried the one next to the jetty : there is the Regular menu and the Special menu, the difference between the 2... the dessert. To get to Underground River, it's first required to purchase a permit
at the office, and the number of people per day is limited. With 150 pesos you are allowed to get there through the Jungle, and with 300 pesos the return trip by boat is included.

I advise you - unless you are very healthy - to pay 300 pesos, to get there by walking and to get back by boat. In fact I paid 150 and I was so tired (and in a hurry) on the way back that I took a boat, which cost me 300 pesos more !

About Underground River : So i'ts a river where the guide shows you various natural sculptures such a Cathedral, the virgin, a Dinosaur...I even saw Madonna.

El Nido

From Sabang, I went to El Nido byroad : leaving at 10:00 am on Monday, I arrived at 1:00 pm on Tuesday. Here is the journey :

• A Jeepney from Sabang to Salvacion, then a bus - I got it by chance - to Roxas (50 pesos). This first part lasts from 10:00 a.m to 4:30 pm
• From Roxas, I took a Jeepney (60 p) to Taytay at 11:00 pm (which arrived only 3 hours later) then arrived there at 1:30 a.m
• This first part was just like the Camel Trophy, we got stuck in the mud, we went through rivers, etc...
• In Taytay, I choose the 100 pesos Night : among one of the 2 hotels in the village, the worst I saw in Philippines
• The next day, we were told that the road to El Nido was closed, so we took a boat from embarcadero to El Nido (200 p), and arrived at 1:00 pm

So, you should plan at least 2 days to reach El Nido from Puerto Princessa. Then, you could enjoy those wondefull among the nicest in Palawan and Philippines. Wonderfull Islands with many dive spots, and warm crystal water.

I stayed at Bayview : 150 pesos for a very good Double room, with seaview.

• During the day: go for Diving, or discovering the many islands around
• During the night : Restaurant, pub and/or disco

I passed my PADI licence : 300 USD with MAC MAC Scuba Diving, I really enjoyed diving with James, un Californian guy who used to be Cook at the Pan Pacific Hotel in San Francisco. Go there and enjoy

Usually, I ended the night at the "Shipwrecked" where I could tasted very good Cocktails listening some musics from around the world. I really appreciated the boss : Risty, a very nice 27 years old girl.