wander-buff

Trip down memory lane

[wander-buff]

We depart from Puerto Princesa airport and compared to Busuanga, PPS is more spacious and accommodates shops where you can buy souvenirs, gifts or their local delicacies. Apart from our fare, we also paid P250 for terminal fee. Thank God and our flight is not delayed especially it rained hard yesterday.

And so we bid goodbye to Palawan for now.

062215 at Puerto Princesa International Airport - Puerto Princesa, Philippines

[wander-buff]

We stayed at Palawan Suites for a couple of hours and bought some souvenirs - danggit (dried fish) and different varieties of cashews haha!

Our last destination was the firefly watching. We came first among the other tourist thats why we ate our dinner first so we won’t get cramped on our time. Seafood for the win! My friend told me that it was very serene and indeed it was. Trees lit up with yellow dots, like christmas lights for a couple of seconds. The area is in total darkness, I can’t even see my friends faces haha! Unfortunately the planktons are not present because it rained the day before *sigh*. Another unfortunate thing is we didn’t get to capture some photos on our tour since it’s total dark.  How did all the pro photographers do that?

And that’s how we wrap up our Puerto Princesa tour.

062115 at Iwahig Firefly - Puerto Princesa, Philippines

[wander-buff]

We’re wearing our swimsuits, we’re wet, we’re actually gear up to swim on the beach but the weather didn’t allow us. We cancelled going to a beach because of the heavy rain falls and since there are a lot of tourists on the van, it took almost 2 hours for us to reach our guesthouse.

Anyways, a buffet is waiting for us after our underground tour and since we’re no longer have to go the beach, I totally pig-out. After that 2 months of workout and diet, I needed this. 

062115 at Sabang Wharf - Puerto Princesa, Palawan

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It was 5-7 minutes walk from the shore. And they warned us not to give snacks for the monkeys but since it’s raining, monkeys are nowhere to be seen. We rode the boat, took some souvenir pictures us (you can buy them if you want after the tour) and off we go to underground river which is considered in 7 wonders of the world. I really need to see this that’s why I made sure to go Puerto Princesa aside from Coron and hopefully the government would give their support on maintaining the beauty of the underground. 

The guides sure have an amazing imagination to name some formed stalactites. There’s an altar, onion, woman, gloves and more. I’m even having a hard time looking up. Too bad most of my photos are blurred >.< It was the experience that I treasured the most though. And aside from the beauty of the underground, we enjoyed the wittiness of the tour guides. You won’t get bored on their jokes.

062115 at Underground River - Puerto Princesa, Philippines

[wander-buff]

Exactly what the news said, there’s a storm on the day of our tour, *sigh*. Sure we’ve waited for almost an hour to calm the rain first at Sabang Wharf and since the tourist guides assured us that it’s safe to tour ... all my trust is in them hah! And after a while, we board our motor boats (bangka), it was actually not scary at all. There’s sea waves but our ride was smooth and we landed safely at Underground river. The boat ride is 15-20 minutes but looking at the vast sea and those islands, you won’t get bored at all.

062115 at Sabang Wharf - Puerto Princesa, Philippines

[wander-buff]

Unfortunately we spent most of our time on our cabin because of the heavy rain fall. I can totally feel the swaying of the ferry and the loud splashes of the sea. Good thing I brought my pen and notebook, I was able to take notes of what we’ve experienced on board. Despite that, we’re able to reach Puerto Princesa safe and sound.

062015 at 2Go - on board to Puerto Princesa

[wander-buff]

Since we booked for a cabin, we we’re allowed to eat on their dine-in area. It’s convenient in a way because we can eat properly on a table and chat for a while. The room is spacious and a lot of passengers don’t eat on time so lucky there are still vacant seats.

062015 at 2Go ferry

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We’ve decided to go on a whole day ferry trip instead of booking a flight. Why? Because we’re on a budget and the fee difference between 1k and 6k is huge...for us :D And spending an overnight on ferry won’t hurt, I must say it’s an experience for a traveller. 2Go is the official ferry ride around Palawan and it took us 14hrs from Coron to Puerto Princesa. And here’s a snapshot of the view deck where they held performances and let the passengers unwind.

062015 at 2Go - board from Coron to Puerto Princesa

[wander-buff]

And to wrap up our day, we went to dine near our inn - Cornelio’s Food Hauz and Tita Esh. Since Tita Esh is jampacked, we decided to have pasta at Cornelio. I noticed that most of the dishes here at Coron took a while to serve, minimum of 30 minutes waiting but the best part of it, it’s delicious! I ordered the seafood pasta, creamy and perfect to my palate. And for the dessert, we opt for Tita Esh halo halo *burp*

061915 at Cornelio’s Food Hauz and Tita Esh

[wander-buff]

Last stop of our itinerary is Twin Lagoon. During this tour, I totally appreciate the use of life vest. I won’t be able to enjoy the wonders without it haha! Our tour guide set our team to lie on our back while holding the other person legs and he’ll pull us into the main area of Twin Lagoon. And everyone are staring at us haha! This beach and sea water is surrounded by tall, awesome looking rocks. Why didn’t I learned swimming in my early years uuggghhhh! This is a great swimming escapade, I totally envy those who can swim freely.

We’re completely exhausted from swimming so it’s a good thing they provide us our snacks! Shocks, I always eat in this trip haha! All in all it’s a satisfying, relaxing and fun island hopping that I’ll totally repeat again.

061916 at Twin Lagoon - Coron, Philippines

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Next island we went to is CYC.  The island is surrounded by mangroves and we even saw a jellyfish in the shore. Well compared to Banol, this isn’t the ideal island to swim to. Most likely because of the jellyfish around the area. Hence, there are more trees here which also adds to the island’s serenity.

061915 at CYC - Coron Philippines

[wander-buff]

Of course an escapade wont’ be complete without food. And I was informed that seafood is the main meal here at Coron. And so it was, different kinds of grilled fish and pork , crabs, veggies and fruits. It was a sumptous meal indeed. Our meal tastes much better just looking at our surrounding. This island is also a must in your itinerary.

061915 at Banol beach - Coron, Philippines

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I enjoyed staying here at Banol beach. Aside from the white sand, there are only few tourist and families staying that’s why we had fun swimming and basking on this noon time sun. It’s only a small island but the blue-green-white colors struck me the most, so picturesque.

061915 at Banol beach - Coron, Philippines

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Excuse me for this mandatory shot. Our second stop is Twin Peaks where you could do snorkeling to see the beauty of the corals. I wasn’t able to take dip though but when we reached the another stop which is Balinsasayaw, I didn’t hesitate and gather all my courage to do so. And true to that, beauty is found beneath the sea. Bright blue corals and different types which is a first. I only see corals on aquariums and to be able to see here in this vast clear blue sea is magical!

061915 at Twin Peaks - Coron, Philippines

[wander-buff]

Our first stop is Kayangan island. Luckily the sun is up and the water is soooo clear, I could actually see the rocks and the little fish on our way to the deck. I actually lost count of how many steps it was before we reached the viewing deck. And voila, I was mesmerized by the view fall in love with it at first sight. You could actually see the bright colors of blue and green here! It rains the night before that’s why there are mosquitoes around but no worries I assure you they’re just normal and malaria-free.

You could take a deep and just make sure to strap your lifevest if you don’t know how to swim just like me :p If I only have underwater camera with me >.< We stayed here for an hour or so. It’s a must island indeed.

061914 at Kayangan Island - Coron, Philippines

[wander-buff]

Mt. Tapyas is always on scene wherever you go on Coron. The highest peak in the island where the huge crucifix is entrenched on. Sadly, we weren’t able to add it on our itinerary.

061815 to 062015 - Coron, Philippines

[wander-buff]

‘Tis the season for flight promos and we have to grab them fast. And since it’s our first to Palawan, we just all wanted to go to Coron, El Nido and Puerto Princesa. But in the end we opt for Coron - 14hrs Ferry ride - Puerto Princesa. Since going to El Nido will take another 7 hrs van ride from Puerto Princesa so Coron and Puerto Princesa it is. For 4500+ roundtrip tickets, it ain’t bad I think.

For this post, I didn’t apply my usual sahara filter because I don’t want to take out and fade the colors of Busuanga in this photo.

Once we’ve reached Busuanga airport, loud drums are playing in the background that sounded like we’re on a festival - Welcome to Busuanga!

061815 on board Cebu Pacific - Busuanga, Philippines