Picturesque Palawan

Growing up, the word "Palawan" would evoke in my mind dreamy images of a mystical, sunkissed island, its lush mountain forests inhabited by diwatas and nymphs.

When Cebu Pacific (the Philippines' leading domestic airline) held a super-sale of budget airfares to Puerto Princesa, Palawan's capital city, I immediately went online to purchase a pair of tickets for my husband and myself. No way was I going to pass up this chance to visit this land of dreams.

(I later learned, from one of our tour guides, that Palawan is not one but more than a thousand islands!)

My husband had been to Palawan, more than 10 years before, but nonetheless, he excitedly agreed to a "typical" Palawan holiday, and we visited all the "must-see's" for first-timers like myself: we spent a day traveling to and exploring the Underground River in Sabang, a day snorkelling off the islands of Honda Bay, a day exploring Puerto Princesa city ... and every evening feasting on scrumptious Puerto Princesa fare.

While the phrase "tropical holiday" will evoke, for many people, just a few days lounging around on a beach, Palawan has much more to offer than that. Palawan is a province--yes, for exquisite beaches and beautiful snorkelling--but also for spelunking, mountain- and forest-hiking, scuba diving, eating, and exploring ... all in a beautiful lush paradise, among a population fiercely proud of their homeland and protective of its ecological beauty.

Palawan did not disappoint, and, as you will read in this journal, I discovered what many have discovered before me: that 4 days and 4 nights is not enough time to explore the wonders of this province. I will definitely be back.

Quick Tips:

* Palawan is a lot bigger than many people realize! The main attractions are hours' drives away from one another. There are three main airports frequented by tourists in Palawan. Tourists who fly into Puerto Princesa, the city's capital, are usually those who fly in for Sabang's Underground River, hiking, and snorkelling in Honda Bay. Tourists who fly to El Nido are those who are looking to spend several days relaxing in one of the exclusive, high-end beach resorts (though there are also places to hike near there). Tourists who fly to Busuanga are usually there for Coron's legendary scuba diving.

* Palawan still has occasional malaria outbreaks in the more remote parts of the island, and a cautious traveler would be wise to bring insect repellant spray/lotion.

Best Way To Get Around:

* Palawan's tourism industry is fairly well-developed. Day tours are readily available from hotels and tour operators in Puerto Princesa to the two most popular highlights: Sabang's Underground River (two hours away from the capital), and snorkeling in Honda Bay. Many exclusive beach resorts allow day passes for visitors who want to spend time on their beachfronts: tour operators offer day- or overnight trips from Puerto Princesa to such resorts as Dos Palmas (Honda Bay), and several other exclusive resorts in El Nido.

* Those who prefer to plot their own itinerary have the option of renting vans (with the service of a driver included) by the hour.

* Adventurous travelers, of course, might prefer to backpack around the island themselves, taking public transportation (jeepneys from one area to another; tricycles around towns and cities), but be forewarned that the roads around the island are not good, and you will be traveling through very rural, sparsely populated areas.

The next time I go to Puerto Princesa, I will definitely stay here again.

Puerto Pension (approximately 25 rooms) is a delightful pension house run by a delightful staff in an excellent location, on a street parallel to Rizal Ave., the high street of Puerto Princesa city.

We were greeted at the airport by Romy, who helped load our and four other guests' baggage into a van. During the drive to the inn, Romy chatted cheerfully with us, answering our questions about Palawan. In about 10 minutes, we arrived at the inn: a pretty structure, decorated in typical Palawan-style: with woven rattan walls and bamboo furnishings.

By telephone, we had originally booked a US$23 dollar room, but the person who was staying in the room we had booked had decided at the last minute to stay an additional night, so Ryan, the helpful receptionist, offered us a bigger $28 room, for which he later gave us a slight discount (given that it wasn't the room we had originally booked). For that price, we got a clean air-conditioned room with a queen-sized bed, four decent pillows on the bed (not those old lumpy pillows you usually expect to see at budget accommodations), a small television with cable TV, a personal refrigerator (with reasonably priced drinks in the mini-bar), and a private bathroom with a water heater in the shower. The price included a continental breakfast (toast, fresh fruit, egg, and coffee/tea/hot chocolate) that could be upgraded to a heartier breakfast for about US$1.50. Breakfast could either be brought to the room (a table and chairs were set up on the veranda outside each room) or eaten in the restaurant on the top floor of the building, with a beautiful view of the sea. We ended up upgrading our breakfast every morning, starting each day with delicious danggit (a kind of dried fish) and garlic rice.

We arranged two of our tours and two luxurious massages through the front desk. When we asked, the staff gave us helpful suggestions as to which restaurants to try and where to eat.

The only caveat I would give anyone is a teensy bit of noise. The floors were wooden, so we could hear the footsteps of the guests directly above us. Moreover, the inn is right beside another pension house that has a videoke bar; we weren't bothered at all by the noise from our room, but I'm not sure whether the guests nearer to the videoke noise might have heard the music through their walls.

At the end of our trip, when we got to the airport, I realized that I had left two items behind. After a quick phone call, a staff member promptly delivered the items to the airport. How's that for service.

Palawan is fresh seafood country, and, apart from Vietnamese food, seafood is the best thing to eat in Puerto Princesa. Seafood restaurants abound.

On our first night in Puerto Princesa, we took a tricycle (the regular fare is P6 per head [double if you ride alone] and goes up depending on the distance) to Ka Lui's, a seafood restaurant near the airport. The restaurant is a beautiful establishment, built in traditional Palawan style, on bamboo stilts, with woven rattan wall coverings, and beautiful native decorations. We got there quite early, at around 6:30 pm, so it was easy to find a table, though we'd read online that the restaurant gets full rather quickly and that reservations are usually needed to ensure a free table.

We were asked to take off our shoes at the entrance to the restaurant, making it feel like we were entering someone's traditional provincial home, rather than entering a restaurant. Indeed, the whole restaurant--with its casually placed throw pillows and interesting artwork on the walls--felt like the cozy home of an explorer who had travelled throughout south-east Asia and had built up a collection of bric-a-brac from around the region.

The menu had the day's date on it, giving us the impression that they changed their menu everyday, depending on the day's catch. There was an option to order a set meal for less than $10 for two, but instead we ordered a variety of side dishes: we ordered tuna sashimi, tuna kilawin (a Philippine dish wherein fresh fish is soaked in vinegar until it "cooks"), grilled tuna belly, and prawns sauteed in garlic butter. (The Philippines, by the way, is the world's number 1 supplier of tuna, and tuna is very cheap in this country, in comparison with its price in other countries.) The food was divine, and came with a free bowl of clam soup. The tuna was the freshest we'd ever eaten, and we happily devoured everything in a short while.

After the dinner was over, the waiter brought us free dessert: a variety of fresh fruit slices served in a bowl made of half a fresh young coconut.

In a word: yum! Truly scrumptious!

Ka Lui's is open Mondays through Saturdays, for lunch and dinner.