Just a few minutes in San Vicente and I could feel my mood rising and rising. It was exactly the sort of place that I like to come across. At first, I was a bit disappointed that there were no beachside bungalows and that sort of thing. It’s just a typical Philippines town. It’s not a tourist town. But that has its own charm and appeal, especially when the town is small and quiet and friendly like San Vicente. It is on the coast, so that makes it interesting to begin with. I only spent a few minutes driving around to get the lay of the land, but it was clear that there were lots of fishing boats and docks and other interesting things to check out. Then, to my utter joy, I saw a sign for a hotel. It was called the Picadoral Lodge. It wasn’t the beachside bungalow of one’s tropical paradise dreams, but it is otherwise perfect. I pulled into the courtyard on my motorcycle, and a young fellow who spoke perfect English took me in hand. He said that they had three types of rooms: a basic room for 500 pesos, a slightly better room for 600 pesos. Then they had one room with air-con for 800 pesos. I thought about going for a cheap room just on principle. But, to be honest, the air-con room was in the best position and had the best view of the area. The cheap rooms were down below and would probably be noisy. The air-con room was at the very top and had a wonderful balcony with a table and chairs. The room itself is fantastic. It’s big and fully furnished with two beds and a table. It has big windows and a nice sink and mirror right in the room. Then it has a full bathroom with running water. And it is airconditioned. It’s as comfortable as can be. I was so glad to find it. 800 pesos is about $20 Canadian – more than I’d normally spend on a cycling trip, but I’d already budgeted 1,000 pesos a night for hotels. I knew that Palawan was a bit more expensive than the norm. It’s a small price to pay for this much comfort. (I’m told it even has wi-fi – which blows my mind. Wi-fi? Here?)

The young fellow who checked me in was extremely helpful and friendly. I put in an order for a can of Coke, a large bottle of water, a thermos of hot water, and 5 packages of instant coffee. He brought all of this up in a few minutes and handed it to me at the door just as I stepped out of the shower – gloriously clean and fresh. There’s nothing like a few days of “roughing” it and then a long day on a dusty road to make you appreciate a good shower.

The story isn’t over, though. The young fellow told me that though San Vicente doesn’t have any bungalows or that sort of thing, it does have a beach. It isn’t in the town limits or anything. It’s a bit up the coast. However, we are talking about a major beach – 14 kilometers long. 14 kilometers of tropical beach without a single bungalow or cottage. Looking for an investment? This might be the place. The young fellow told me that though there are no places to stay on the beach, they are starting to build them. A couple of businessmen have purchased land and are starting to build. It seems that I have hit San Vicente at exactly the right time – before the explosion of development. I’ll be able to say, “I saw San Vicente before there was even one bungalow.”

I don’t know if Palawan is going to be busy year-round or if this is just a Chinese New Year thing, but places like San Vicente could really take off if things continue like this. The young fellow told me that they are even building an airport just outside of town. That should bring lots more people. I don’t know if there are any “attractions” in this neighborhood other than the beach, but if there are some – a waterfall or some good diving or a mangrove swamp, this place could become very popular. We’ll see. I’ll drive out to the beach tomorrow and see what it looks like.

After I drank three cups of instant coffee and wrote some of the above, I decided it was time for dinner. The young fellow pointed me in the direction of the market right across the road. He said that his mother’s sister runs a canteen there called “VillaNueva” or something like that. Before that, however, I went in search of a pharmacy. It was a joy just to stroll down the empty streets of San Vicente. I was the only white guy in sight and everyone was very friendly and “Hi, Joe”ed me from all directions. I found a pharmacy just a bock or two away and I stocked up on some creams that will hopefully take the sting and the itch out of my infected bites. I even bought some Cooling Johnson’s Baby Powder – which I can tell you is the cat’s meow. It feels fantastic on my hot, sunburned, icky skin.

When I left the pharmacy with my purchases, I pulled my digital camera out of its pouch and held it loosely in my hand. There were a couple of things I wanted to take a picture of. And as I walked around, people started asking me to take their picture. “One picture” or “One shot” they say. I obliged them and took a picture of a young guy at a DVD shop and then of a bunch of guys who make a living driving motorcycle taxis. The motorcycle taxi guys wanted me to join them for some local firewater, but I pleaded off saying that I was going to have dinner. I rarely have good experiences with local firewater.

I found the canteen inside the market area very easily, and this was the icing on the cake. It was perfect in every way. Simple, but clean. Local, but funky. And the food was on display and cheap and filling. I could see trays of all kinds of dishes – fried vegetables and beefsteak and various things. I got a big bowl of plain rice and an order of this beefsteak stew, and it was delicious and simple. The woman who runs the place really is the sister of the woman who runs this hotel I’m staying in. She asked me what I would like for breakfast. I gave my order and it will be ready at 8:30 tomorrow morning. I’m not sure why the breakfast order has to be given in advance, but I’m not complaining. Scrambled eggs with diced tomatoes and fried rice. Can’t beat that. Certainly beats fish for every meal.

I don’t know that I could stay here for weeks, but I’ll have no problem staying for a couple of days or even a few days. I’d much rather spend my remaining week in a place like San Vicente than El Nido – particularly now that the Chinese New Year crush is on. If I hadn’t already done all the snorkeling and experienced all the beautiful islands around El Nido, it wouldn’t make sense to miss El Nido. But since I’ve already had that experience, I won’t be missing too much.

I found that my mood was quite upbeat during dinner – more upbeat than it has been since this trip started. It’s fitting, then, that a small incident brought me back down to earth a little bit. While I was eating dinner, I heard a kitten mewing very loudly. For a while, I couldn’t tell where it was coming from, but it was one of those very distressing calls that you hear from a kitten that has been separated from its mother. Then I spotted it. It was a tiny newborn across the way from the canteen. I felt terrible seeing this poor thing. But then some children came along. I was a little nervous because they seemed a little rough. But one girl kept everyone in check and she eventually picked up the kitten and pet it and then ran off with it – hopefully to take care of it. That made me feel very warm and good. Then I left the canteen. This canteen is right in this enclosed market area that is right on the water. So it was only a few meters to the fence that ran along the water. I took a picture of the sunset. Then I turned left and walked along the fence until I saw the group of children on the other side of the fence beside the water. And they were drowning the kitten.

I could have intervened, but I didn’t. No point saving the kitten unless I was prepared to adopt the thing and take it home with me. And I got all logical very quickly: I can save this kitten, but what of the dozens (perhaps hundreds) of litters of kittens that get born here every year? I’m sure they die by the score all the time. And the same with puppies. There are packs of wild and semi-wild dogs everywhere, and they breed year-round with most of the puppies dying. I was pleased to see that the dogs at Nagtabon were a healthy and happy bunch for the most part. In the early morning, they raced around the beach like mad things diving into the water and swimming around whenever they felt like it. Peep Peep was the happiest and friendliest dog I’ve ever seen. I guess she was one of the lucky pups that actually survives and grows up.

So here it is, 8:00 p.m. The anti-inflammatory cream that I bought seems to be taking the edge off the itchiness, which I’m happy about. I wanted to get some anti-biotic cream to see if that might cure the infections, but they didn’t have anything like that. All they had were anti-fungal creams. Best I could do was a balm, or this anti-inflammatory, and that at least is dealing with some of the symptoms. I’m hoping my body will fight off the infections, whatever they are, but I’m not counting on it.

So far, I’m pretty pleased with this trip. At first I was worried. I booked a flight to Palawan mainly because it was cheap and because I wanted to be part of the big tourist migration. I wanted to be packed into the jeepney to Sabang and then on the boat up to Port Barton and El Nido. That seemed to be a good way to meet people, and I wanted a social kind of scene. But the second I found myself at the Puerto Princesa airport jammed in with lots of other tourists and then packed into a mini-bus to be transported to my hotel along with the other tourists, I hated it. Even as I drove around Puerto Princesa and saw all the other foreigners around, I didn’t like it. I still might have enjoyed meeting some people – like how I met those three German boys – but not when there are so many of them everywhere that it is even difficult to find a place to stay. I don’t want to fight with people to find a cottage and then fight with them again to go on a boat tour. How silly is that? But I guess that’s the way it is when you take your holiday at the exact same time as everyone else in Asia.

Once I left Puerto Princesa, though, I made a couple of very intelligent decisions. The first was to follow that enticing road to the coast where I discovered that hidden gem – Nagtabon. It could have been a bit more comfortable as far the bungalow went, but how lucky was that? I found an incredibly beautiful beach at the end of a tough and interesting road. And there just happened to be two rustic bungalows to rent. It couldn’t have worked out better than that. I could have been among the hordes at Sabang walking from place to place trying to find a place to stay. And the beach at Sabang is nothing compared to that at Nagtabon. People go to Sabang to go to the Underground River, and I already did that last time. So I’m very pleased with my decision to go to Nagtabon. And now I’m in San Vicente having a somewhat authentic experience – one that practically no one else is going to have. Only those with their own transportation would even think of coming here. And of those, only a few would come here. There really isn’t anything here to attract anyone. Long Beach might be nice, but there is nothing on the beach yet.

For my next destination, I have my eye on a little fishing town up the coast called Liminancong. It is almost to El Nido, so it is a bit of a journey away. However, it sounds like an interesting place. It’s a little bit different in that I know about it because it is mentioned in the Lonely Planet. That means it isn’t off the radar. Still, I can’t see very many people going there. It doesn’t have beautiful beaches and all that. It’s more of a typical Filipino town, but it apparently has four docks of fishing boats and a ramshackle kind of hotel or two. It would probably be an interesting place to hang out – the kind of place I’d love to discover were I on my bicycle. To be honest, much as I enjoyed Nagtabon, it was a bit lonely there on my own. At least in a place like San Vicente, there are canteens and markets and fishing boats. There aren’t any other foreigners, but there are people to chat with and watch and that sort of thing.

Tomorrow, I guess I’ll relax in San Vicente. After my 8:30 breakfast, I’ll hop on my motorcycle and ride to Long Beach. I don’t imagine I’ll hang out there long. I love the ocean and beaches and coastlines, but it’s not like I’m going to lay a beach towel out on the sand and put up a beach umbrella and just sit there. I’ll check it out and see what’s what. Maybe go in for a swim. The young fellow said you can ride your motorcycle along the entire beach. That would be cool.

Then I’ll come back for lunch and a rest before going on to explore the town in the cool of the late afternoon.

 

 

 

Tags: El Nido, Long Beach, Palawan Motorbike Trip, Puerto Princesa, San Vicente