Friday February 12

8:05 a.m. Restaurant at the Puerto Pension in Puerto Princesa

It’s pretty late for a guy on the road to be having breakfast, but it’s always that way the first day. But I was really tired yesterday. I had hardly slept at all before my last day in Taiwan. And then I literally got zero sleep the next night with my flight leaving at 1:30 and arriving at 9:30.

I woke up pretty early this morning, and I could have gotten up, but I just felt too groggy. I felt like I should wake up early and be on the road at the crack of dawn and all that. But it wasn’t to be. To be honest, I’d rather spend the day here in Puerto Princesa just doing nothing. I’d like to read a book and do some more exploring. But I’m sure I’d end up regretting it. There are nicer places out there.

I spent most of yesterday just trying to get used to the motorcycle. It hasn’t been easy. Driving the thing is easy enough. It has an automatic clutch, which means that to change gears, all you have to do is press down on the pedal. You just click up from neutral to first to second to third and then to fourth. Then you press down on the back pedal to downshift. The problem seems to be one of size. You are supposed to rock your foot on this pedal – press with the ball of your foot to go up a gear and press down with your heel to go down a gear. However, the way my foot sits on the peg and the pedal, there is almost no way I can do that. I can’t actually press backwards with my heel. I’d have to cut all my tendons and ligaments to do it. All I can do is put my heel on the back pedal and then push backwards and down with my whole leg. It isn’t exactly an efficient action. Alternatively, I can move my whole foot and press on the back pedal with the ball of my foot as well. That isn’t satisfactory either, and I worry that I’m going to miss and put my whole foot into the rear wheel or something.

I’m also not used to having to think about changing gears. I’m so used to the scooter that I instinctively just keep driving and I forget to change gears. To change gears, I have to really think about it, and then I’m not paying attention to what is around me. Just driving takes all of my attention. That will likely change when I leave the city. The traffic in Puerto is really bad. There are hundreds of those tricycles, and those things are crazy. They pull all kinds of crazy stunts, and when they turn, they literally turn on a dime. They can just spin around in almost any direction. They’re not like other vehicles that turn in nice arcs. They just spin and they can jump out in front of you without warning. They are also really slow. My little 125 is by far the fastest thing on the road. If I drove at a normal speed for me, I’d be racing past them like I was in formula 1 racer. I have to really concentrate to keep my speed down to a safe level.

This motorcycle is not the most comfortable ride either. I think it must be too small for me, because my legs get really tired. I have to force them onto the pegs. Nothing on my body seems to fall naturally where it is supposed to fall. It’s far less comfortable than even my scooter in Taiwan. And that scooter is too small for me as well.

I have more confidence in it now at least. When I first saw it, I didn’t think it was reliable enough to make it to El Nido. After driving it around, I’m a bit more relaxed. It will probably do the job. I still haven’t figured out how to do deal with my backpack. I hemmed and hawed a great deal when I was in Taiwan about how to pack. In the end, even though I didn’t need it, I decided to use my full backpack. I only filled it halfway with the stuff I was going to bring. Then I figured I could put my daypack inside it as well, and then wear the backpack as I rode. I wasn’t sure if I could strap anything to the motorcycle. I’m still not sure about that. I haven’t tried. I won’t actually have to bear the weight of the backpack. I’ll just put the straps over my shoulders and let the pack rest on the seat behind me. At least that is the plan for now.

The most interesting part of the day was a drive I took out of the town. Puerto is a really confusing town in some ways and very simple in others. It’s confusing in that you think of it as a normal town or city, and you expect a certain pattern to the streets. But really it is just an overgrown village. The whole place has built up around one street – Rizal. Everything centers on Rizal. I drove out along Rizal out of town past the airport and then kept going. I had no idea where I was going, and I was a little surprised when the road came to a dead-end at the ocean. When I look at a map now, I’m not surprised. Puerto is on a peninsula and Rizal runs across that peninsula from side to side and dead-ends on each side.

I had a very odd reaction (for me) when I reached the dead-end. I think I’m just not adjusted to the fact of being in the Philippines yet. And I’m not used to having a motorcycle. I’m simply not comfortable yet. Anyway, the road stopped at the ocean. I turned off the motorcycle and put down the kickstand. Then I walked away and I left the keys in the ignition. I turned around and got the keys. The whole time, I felt like perhaps I was trespassing. I think the problem is that I have been inside this tourism bubble this entire time. I had this idea that I was going to a resort island. I’d been there before, and everything was going to be easy and simple. It’s like I’m part of some kind of tour group. So it took me by surprise to suddenly be in the Philippines for real.

There was sand at the edge of the water, but you wouldn’t call it a beach. It was covered in garbage and thick piles of washed-up seaweed. There were broken-down shacks everywhere with people staring at me out of small windows. I had this feeling that I was trespassing. I felt out of place. A little to the right there was a big cluster of shacks on stilts built out over the water. A rickety assortment of gangplanks reached from the shore to these shacks. Lots of people were walking around and going in and out of these places.

As always, I knew nothing about these shacks. I assumed these people lived in these shacks, which means, of course, that they are very poor. But somehow, poor people hadn’t factored into my plans to return to Palawan. My head was full of Tour A and Tour B and Tour C – going out to the islands and snorkeling and relaxing and cold beer. I forgot about the people that live here and that some of them might be poor.

I felt oddly vulnerable, too. I haven’t been sure what to do with my valuables. I wasn’t comfortable leaving them in my hotel room. So I had everything with me in my daypack – my passport and all of my money and ID. If someone stuck a gun in my ribs on this beach, I’d be in trouble.

I didn’t stay very long in the end. A bunch of kids noticed me and they all started calling out to me and moving in my direction. I didn’t want to deal with that, so I made my way back to my motorcycle and left.

Meals have been pretty straightforward so far. There are restaurants everywhere, and everyone speaks English, so ordering is a painless process. For dinner, I had “Chicken Mammi” – essentially chicken soup with noodles. It was very good and came with a mango or papaya shake. Shopping is also oddly easier than it is in Taiwan. I always have trouble finding things in Taiwan. For this trip, I tried to find a small bottle of shampoo and a small bar of soap. But I couldn’t find them anywhere in Taipei. Here I find exactly what I want everywhere.

 

 

 

Tags: Palawan Motorbike Trip, Puerto Princesa, scooter, Taiwan