The Palawan Diary

We went to Palawan primarily to enjoy my El Nido Resorts prize. The prize has a 6-month validity and I chose October because I already have plans for November while December and January are monsoon months in Northern Mindanao.  The prize did not included airfare so I was on the lookout for promo fare.  The ITI flight from Manila to Taytay was out of the question. The alternative was fly to Puerto Princesa.

I took the Butuan-Cebu-Puerto Princesa route:

We arrived at Puerto Princesa around 12 noon and we were able to settle to our home for the night at around 1pm. One can go around Puerto Princesa by hailing a tricycle. We hopped to the nearest Jollibee but changed our minds and went to Chowking across the street. We missed Chowking because the branch in Butuan closed down.

We had orange chicken lauriat and chinese sausage chow pao.

We had an afternoon to spare because we were scheduled to go to Taytay town the following day. I have done a little research so I already know that tourists can hire a tricycle for a day tour around Puerto Princesa  for  P600 per tricycle.  We did not arrange this tour beforehand so we just went by gut feel. A tricycle passed by and the driver sounded nice so we decided to hire him. We learned that tricycle drivers in Palawan are also trained as tour guides. They know where to bring tourists for day tours. Our tricycle driver was Reygen. (You may call him at 0999-5667658) He brought us to the Crocodile Farm, Mitra’s Ranch, Baker’s Hill, Butterfly Garden, Binuhatan crafts and Immaculate Conception Church.  In transit, he would share anecdotes and information about our destination.

These are the photos from our half-day city tour.


We asked that we be dropped at Robinson’s for our dinner. Reygen offered to wait for us so he could bring us to back to the pension house. We declined even if it was part of the tour fee so he could go home. It was a long afternoon for us. We like Reygen. He is a nice young man so we decided to hire him to fetch us from our pension house and bring us to San Jose Terminal for our van to Taytay early in the morning the next day.

I have already reserved van seats with Lexus transport. We took the 7am van ride from Puerto Princesa to Taytay.

At the agreed time, Reygen was already waiting for us outside our pension house. Four hours later, we reached Taytay.

Taytay has this hollywood-ish sign.

Taytay is a port town where Apulit guests are fetched. Several other boats were docked at the port.

Its main attraction is Fuerza de Sta. Isabel, a fort, which we were able to visit after spending 4 nights and 3 day in Apulit Island.

After roaming around this area, we were ready to go back to Puerto Princesa. We made reservations through Lexus. We also called Reygen to fetch us up in the terminal when we arrive. He was already waiting for when we arrived at the terminal.

I love Palawan. I will be back for Honda bay, the fireflies, Iwahig, the underground river, Coron, Calauit and El Nido.  I don’t know when. I hope soon. 😀

10/23/2012: My friend reminded me about San Vicente, Palawan.  How can I forget?

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Source: google.com via kat on Pinterest

40 Responses

  18. Pinay Ricamora

    You are very lucky to have won the prize! I have only been to Coron and it was a wonderful experience in itself! You are lucky to have found a good driver… we can still find them in the province. I love your last phrase… I believe there is always something wonderfully new to be found wherever I travel!

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