El Nido: Big Lagoon, Small Lagoon

Day 13: El Nido - Puerto Princesa

El Nido is a small little pleasant town with many small streets. It has an established tourist infrastructure, but unfortunately, there is still no ATM (machine), so we brought enough cash to be on the safe side. As far as I've heard that the local government is gearing towards getting more tourists to come. There was even a plan to dredge out the bay for bigger ships to dock but the locals disapproved of the plans and eventually, it got shelved. Many people, however, has been talking about making it the next Boracay. I personally have nothing against development, but the locals should be careful on what types of tourists and tourism activities they wanted to attract. It needs a lot of careful planning to make it sustainable and keep it green.

Contrary to what people have heard, it is still quite affordable to visit there. The high-end resorts are mostly located on the islands around Bacuit Bay. 

We woke up at 7:00 o´clock the next morning and immediately launched to our much-awaited island hopping tour along with my friend Daisy and her two colleagues. We rented a boat for 2,500 Pesos, and we had it for ourselves; we are at liberty to island-hop at our own pace. Our boatman docked just right next to our hotel. First off, we went to the Big Lagoon, Small Lagoon, Secret Lagoon and Miniloc Island to snorkel. Everything is fantastic – the subaquatic biosphere, the limestones and the beaches. The colourful fishes came and kissed my legs esp. when we fed them with bread. Then we went to Simisu Island where we stayed a bit longer to snorkel and feed more fishes.

We decided we all had enough, so we asked our boatman to take us back to town. We wanted to get back to Puerto Princesa not so late, so off we drove after getting some lunch at a small eatery. We arrived around 17:30 (5:30 p.m.) and checked-in again at our favourite hotel, the Hibiscus Garden Inn.

I called up my nephews to pick us up from our hotel and took us to Golden Valley which is about 20-30 minutes tricycle ride from town. The trip around town gave us another glimpse of the city and city life where a regular tour would not afford. We stayed just briefly at my eldest sister’s place to give some gifts. Then off again to the second sister and did the same. We were so tired from the long drive from El Nido. Back to the hotel, my friend was so beat up and decided to just rest while I went out to meet a good friend of mine, Teng of Palawan Today, for dinner at Neva’s Place. It was a short sleep and up again at 5:30 a.m. to go to the world heritage site, Puerto Princesa Underground River.

The Municipality of El Nido is composed of 18 barangays (villages) covering a total land area of 50,000 hectares. Its population of 27,000 people is a combination of native Palaweños, with a heavy presence of migrants from other parts of the Philippines. The world's largest pearl was discovered by a Filipino diver in a giant Tridacna (mollusk) under the Palawan Sea in 1934. Known as the "Pearl of Lao-Tzu", the gem weighs 14 pounds and measures 9 1/2 inches long and 5 1/2 inches in diameter. As of May 1984, it was valued at US$42 million. It is believed to be 600 years old.

Taytay: The Road (Already)Taken

Day 12: Puerto Princesa - Taytay - El Nido

As I started this entry, the poem of Robert Frost was playing in my mind...

The Road Not Taken

 Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves, no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

We were excited to go to El Nido as it was only squeezed into our bit tight schedule. We got up at 4:00 a.m. to be ready and get on the road at 5 o'clock. Kuya Art texted that they were on their way to fetch us from the hotel then we will pick up sis Daisy on our way.

I can still remember back in the day when the trip to northern Palawan was a painful experience. The road was rocky, and when it rains, it gets so muddy that it's almost impossible to get to where you wanted to go. After 8 years of being away, it has changed, and now the road was paved and concreted even just until Taytay. At noon, we arrived in Roxas, and there we took our break and ate lunch at the small eatery just next to the pier. It's also the pier where boats plying the Araceli-Roxas route dock. After that, we were on the road again and stopped next in Taytay.

During the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, Taytay was founded in 1623. Taytay became the capital of the Province of Calamianes, the entire territory of Palawan, in 1818; and the Province of Castilla, a land area occupying the northern part of Palawan, in 1858.^[1] During the American era, Taytay ceased being Palawan's capital, and its administrative boundary was reduced by approximately 500,000 hectares upon the creation of the Municipality of El Nido in 1916.^[2]
The historic Taytay Fort, the Fuerza de Santa Isabel, built in 1667 under the Augustinian Recollect Fathers and named in honor of Spain's Queen Isabela II in the 19th century, was used as a military station during that period. This famous relic was completed on 1738. It was mainly used to defend against Moro raiders in their colorful war boats while the Spanish soldiers fire at them with their huge cannons. The fort's small chapel and cannons are still intact.^[3] The fort is now under the supervision of the National Museum.
In 1957 the Island of Dibangan was constituted into a barrio.

We made a brief stop in Taytay. From Taytay, you can also make some island hopping. While Roxas was pretty simple and laid back, Taytay appears to be more touristy.

While the road from Puerto Princesa to Taytay was already in an excellent condition, the asphalted road ended there. Between Taytay and El Nido, the road was paved on some parts or on just on one side, but mostly it was only the old dirt road from some 15 years ago. There were still some potholes and pits.

Cebu: Not So Blue In Maribago

Day 9: Cebu 

Breakfast at the hotel was a buffet with a selection of mainly Filipino dishes, rice, fried fish, tocino and some fatty meat. Too bad for my European friend who is very picky about food, he was lucky enough to have a toast and jam.

Since the smog and urban chaos already got into our nerves, we decided to have a day at the beach. Off we went to Maribago Blue Waters on Mactan Island which lies about 45 minutes from Cebu city. We first went to Mactan airport to see how much time we would need for our next day flight and also stock up some local currency in our portemonnaie.

Maribago Blue Waters looked very good at first. They have several pools, and if it weren't so expensive, we would have probably stayed there. As a day guest, we still had to pay 1,500 pesos (inclusive of 700 pesos food voucher) and a towel. We wanted to have lunch there anyway. After paying for our day pass, the staff gave us a map of the resort and then we proceeded to the changing and shower rooms. There was very little water coming out of the showerhead, so I decided to just go to the outside showers.

We headed on to the beach as I wanted to check it out first. It was a man-made beach just like most of the beaches in Mactan area. I've read from our travel guide that the white sand of the beaches was extracted from other islands and brought to this beach. It was not necessarily a dream beach, but it was okay. On the other side was a man-made island which you can go to on foot during low tide. In the "lagoon" is quite full of seagrasses and algae. The type of green algae which only mean that the water is not necessarily clean.

From the island, we wanted to go down to the real sea but were not allowed by the staff since he told me that there was a Korean guest who was injured going down to the rocks. So we just lied there in the sun where the best seats were reserved for in-house guests.

Then we decided to just swim in the big pool. There were also loungers around. The food was alright, but unfortunately, we could only use our vouchers in one restaurant. It would have been better to restaurant-hop within the resort as one can have excellent choices of food. The service really needed some improvements. The waiter went off immediately even though we hadn't finished ordering. Then we had to wait for over 40 minutes for our food. I've ordered a mango shake and got only a smoothie. In my experience, every "mango shake" I've ever had has either yoghourt, cream or milk in it. When I asked the waiter why their shake has no milk, he condescendingly told me that mango shake never had milk. Tsk tsk. I probably should have asked for mango juice with crushed ice. Buhuuhu!

When we're done for the day, we returned the towels at the reception they were asked by the guards inside if we need a taxi. But what was the use of asking if you were just told to go outside the resort and take a cab from the street? Interested to see what other guests had to say? Check out the TripAdvisor review.

Next time, I would instead go to Panglao or some other cheaper but more beautiful beaches in Bohol if I would like to get away from the smog and chaos. Cebu City, by the way, is only ca. 1.5 hours from Cebu pier with Supercat and another 20 minutes with the van to Alona Beach!

On our way back, I asked the cab driver to stop by at a guitar making shop where I bought a pasalubong for my niece. Maribago is famous for its guitars, and there are countless shops around. Then we head on back to our hotel to change clothes and then, out again for dinner at the SM Mall. I accompanied my friend to a pizzeria, but I ate at the mall's food court.