1:45 p.m.

Puerto Princesa, Palawan

So far, knock on wood, things have been going according to plan. The boat left from Coco-Loco at 8 a.m. like it was supposed to. We got to Roxas no problem where my trusty motorcycle was waiting for me with a full tank of gas. The three Canadians had taken the same boat and they got on a mini-van to Puerto.

I thought it would be a long and difficult drive to Puerto, but the 133 kilometers went by quickly and easily. It was still a 3-hour journey, but I simply kicked back and enjoyed the scenery. I was a little worried that the motorcycle wouldn’t make it. It made more and more noises as the hours went by. Towards the end, there didn’t seem to be any difference between second, third, and fourth gears when it came to going uphill. They were all equally without any power. First gear still had more torque, but I couldn’t really use first gear on that road.

I stopped at the Sabang turn-off to get a couple of liters of gas and the next thing I knew I was in Puerto. I hadn’t worn a helmet while I was away from Puerto and I rode into town without one. However, that didn’t last long. A police car came up behind me sounding its siren and waving me over. They made helmet gestures, and I put my little plastic lid on. Then they drove away.

The three Canadians told me that they were staying at a place called the Seaport Inn. My plan was to get a hotel room just for the afternoon so I could take a shower and rest a bit before the flight. I thought I could stay at the Seaport, but I decided I’d rather be near the airport. I went to the Seaport anyway just to say hello. The boys had offered to let me take a shower in their room, but their room was pretty uncomfortable and crowded. And it was downtown, far away from the airport. I said my goodbyes and drove off.

I’m pretty pleased with my plan so far. I found a nice little hotel right across the street from the airport. I already took a shower, and I’m now at a restaurant to get something to eat. Once I’ve eaten, I’ll return the motorcycle. Carlo’s place is only a short distance away. I can drop off the motorcycle and then walk back to the hotel. Then another shower before my flight, and I’ll have done all I can do to ensure a comfortable flight. I think I have another 3-hour layover in Manila. And my flight doesn’t land in Taipei until one in the morning. That’s okay, though. I knew my schedule was like this when I set it up. I figured it would be a fair trade-off for spending every last hour on Palawan that I could. On a longer trip, I might have come back to Puerto the day before and spent the night here. On this shorter trip, I wanted to spend every day here.

Dateline: Manila Airport, Sushhi-Noodle Express

I guess I don’t really trust airports. I keep expecting there to be trouble. And when there isn’t any trouble, I’m pleasantly surprised.

After my meal (bad pizza) in Puerto Princesa, I rode my motorcycle down the street to Carlo’s place. He was really pleased to see me. Perhaps he never expected that motorcycle to make it to El Nido and back. As it turns out, I didn’t go to El Nido, and I was surprised the motorcycle made it back from Roxas. Carlo showed me a brand new Honda XRM 125 that had just arrived and was for rent. He showed it to me as if it meant something to me. That’s what I had reserved and wanted from the beginning. It didn’t do me any good now. He also had some bigger motorcycles for rent. They were more like dirt bikes. Not sure if they would have been better or worse than my little 125. I saw guys riding them in Cambodia, and they seemed like overkill. They overpowered the villages that they went through.

It was only a short walk from Carlo’s place to my hotel. I rested there for an hour or two and then took a shower before walking across the street to the airport. MUCH easier than having to pack up a bicycle and then transport the heavy box.

Things weren’t entirely smooth in the airport, but it wasn’t that bad. I stood in line for a long time only to be told that I couldn’t check in for my flight yet. By the time I got back in line for my flight, a huge crush of people had showed up, so I had another long wait. People also seemed to be checking in for lots of other people. I’d think there was only five people in front of me, but each person was an agent for fifteen others. And they were traveling with very complicated luggage that presented all kinds of security concerns. It took them forever to sort through all that and get them checked in. By the time I was checked in, I was drenched in sweat, and all my showers and air conditioning and taking hotel rooms across the street had really amounted to nothing.

I had a bunch of pesos leftover and I bought a couple of souvenir t-shirts and souvenir fridge magnets for my co-workers. I’m sorry to say that I didn’t manage to send any postcards from Palawan. There literally were none anywhere I went. there were some in Puerto Princesa, of course, but I was there only for a very strange day, and I thought I’d be in El Nido eventually and could send a postcard from there. I ended up staying only in Nagtoban, San Vicente, and Coco-Loco and there were no postcards in any of these places. I did, however, buy a postcard in the airport. I couldn’t find stamps for it. I even got a great cup of coffee in the airport terminal, and I stood in front of an air conditioner until I started to feel human again.

I was glad to run into Mike in the airport. He works with me at LiveABC, and had also gone to Palawan for CNY. He spent most of his time in El Nido, and from the sounds of it, he had a great time. He did the tours there including a tour that involved spending the night on a beach. We had checked in totally separately, but by fluke they sat us together, and we got to compare notes on the short flight to Manila. We got separated in the luggage claim area, so I haven’t seen him here yet. I hope things are okay. Weird things happened with our check in. My bag was checked through to Taipei, and I was checked in for both flights. Mike’s friend had to check a bag, but it was only checked to Manila. Mike had no checked bags, but he wasn’t checked in to Taipei. I hope he managed to get on the flight. I haven’t seen him in the departures area yet.

I sailed through the procedures. It was much easier than my return last time. That was some Filipino holiday and the airport was a mad house. This time it was quite calm and simple. I paid my 750 pesos for my airport fee and changed most of my pesos back into US dollars. Now I’ve had something to eat. Next will be a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, I’ve come down with a terrible cold. Luckily, this is at the end of my trip, but I feel a bit like a social outcast. I’m sniffling and coughing and feel sorry for all the people on the plane that I’m going to infect.

Well, time for coffee.

 

 

 

Tags: El Nido, Palawan Motorbike Trip, Puerto Princesa, Taipei