One thing that is guaranteed to happen when you talk to local people while traveling is they tell you about the best places to visit in their region. Nothing brings a sense of pride and a genuine smile to people’s faces like sharing what they consider the gems in their city, province, or whatever geopolitical entity. Almost everyone we spoke with on Palawan was rating El Nido as a must visit. Incidentally, it is also the most well known spot on the island. There is something about white sand beaches and picture perfect cliffs that gets people excited, every time.
We had to do some math. El Nido is located at the very north of the island. Google Maps estimated it would take us about 4 hours to cover the 240 km to that location. Knowing the capabilities of our modest scooters, we figured it would probably be closer to 5 hours, if not all 6. That’s a better part of the day spent on the road, and then another day to get back. Neither of us thought it would be worth it. Instead we asked for a recommendation for the 10th most popular spot, something that perhaps just barely registers on the tourist radar.
Destination: Port Barton. Estimated travel time: 2 hours. Ambitious, but achievable.
The road was in reasonable condition, but made less pleasant due to people burning dry leaves all over the countryside, with smoke spreading thick and wide.
We booked a tiny cabin just on the edge of the hip part of town. It was simple but had all the necessary luxuries like a warm shower and an air conditioner. A bit of leaf burning smoke made it inside, but by the second day we stopped noticing it. A cafe across the street served breakfast consisting of rice, a fried egg, a mystery meat sausage, a glass of juice and a cup of instant coffee. A mini banana was added on request, free of charge.
The roads were lined with fighting cocks, tied to all sorts of random immovable objects, such as poles or carcasses of old cars. We didn’t see any fights, and I didn’t mind it that way.
At one point we observed a small group of people carrying a piglet from one location to another. The piglet was screaming and trying to break free. The people tackled the piglet with such lack of skill and elegance, I thought they must be domestic tourists who will surely return to Manila in a few days and tell all their friends how exciting it was when their auntie let them handle a real animal.
The beach in Port Barton had white sand. Foreign tourists were far between, but local kids enjoyed it to the full. Good snorkeling required a boat, so we decided to join a small tour. In the evening we agreed with a certain guy to meet at the beach the next morning at 8. Turned out he partied a little too hard that night, and was nowhere to be found in the morning. All the other boat operators laughed a little when they realized who we were looking for. Oh no, they said, he was so hammered, he would not be able to run the boat today. Thankfully, we managed to find an alternative, checked out several snorkeling spots and declared them a solid “ok”. The highlight was a lunch stop on a small island where the crew prepared freshly caught fish along with a number of other delicacies. Life in Port Barton was slow and unpretentious.
When it was time to head back to the airport in Puerto Princesa, instead of taking the straight forward way, we decided to test an alternative dirt road out of town. The little scooters were easy to maneuver on the rocky terrain, but low clearance and poor suspension made for a hilariously shaky ride. On the map the path appeared to connect with the rest of the road network. In reality we hit a major snag when we reached a set of rice fields. The road formed a boundary of these fields. Freshly flooded, they converted the road into soft muddy mess, and we decided to turn around before our scooters got sucked in past the exhausts. It was fun while it lasted.
We reached Puerto Princesa just as the sky began to release lavish quantities of rain. It was a perfect opportunity to stop in a restaurant by the waterfront, refuel and admire the largest outrigger boat we have ever seen.
Next time we will know to request knobby tires.
