 |
| Limbonis on hammock in front of Port Barton's bay |
Coming back
home after 7 month of backpacking Southeast Asia, and being so firm about not
going back to corporate work (unless it’s my previous company), I got a ticket
for Puerto Princesa on Christmas day and Flying back to Manila on New Year.
For some
reason, I almost got denied boarding, but somehow managed to make some great
excuses so I made it to Palawan.
From the
airport, I headed straight to the terminal where I can catch the trip to Port
Barton. Unfortunately, there was no more Port Barton bound transport, and so
took the San Vicente Trip instead and got off in the San Jose tricycle
terminal.
At the
terminal, the tricycle drivers were asking P300 for a habal ride for that 20kms
remaining to Port Barton.
I got back
into my Math. It normally take me 10 minutes for a kilometer walk, so this will
take me 200 minutes or 3.3 hours. It’s 4 o clock at the time, and it would take
me until past 7pm to get there. Well.. not a very good idea to walk in the
jungle dark, especially I have loads of grocery stock in my hands. Then again,
there’s no way I will be paying P300 from that point to get there. It would
have been only P250 if only I caught the direct Port Barton transport, and
after paying P90 to the San Vicente bound bus, my cost is already at P390.
And so I
waited. I told the drivers I can wait for another passenger to share the cost,
and make it at least only P250 for me. They were fine.
I’m glad
that everytime I travel, I always bring out that poor traveler loo (probably
even effortless because of the backpacker dress up, my skin, unattended hair
style, etc).
A little
while later, a driver flagged a van. It was a tourist van en route to Port
Barton. I was asked to Board. I paid P150 to get there.. Yipee! It was P240 all
in all.. cheaper than expected.
I got to
Port Barton and stayed with a friend who recently bought a piece of land there.
Everyday
was about waking up, preparing brunch, chopping wood, cooking whatever, harvesting coconuts,waiting for
electricity at 5:30, and walking at the beach to find if any place has any
crowd, and even making a broomstick out of coconut leaves.
Few days
passed, we decided to spend the New Year’s in the city. We did the countdown in
the Bay area where there was a 6-minute firework. Unfortunately, the new year
wasn’t as lively as everywhere else. We resorted to sleeping it away after
giving up on finding a place to drink.
 |
| our NYE dinner in Baywalk, Puerto Princesa |
Then, a few
days ago, I had an invitation from friends to climb Mt Batulao on New Year.
So, without
any proper gears, from the airport, I went straight ahead to coastal mall
terminal to meet my hike buddies. It was about 6:00pm when we met, stopped by
Tagaytay for dinner, and about 10pm when we started the trek. It was muddy,
windy, and fiercefully breezy. We camped at #10 and did our drinks right inside
the tent.
 |
| Mt Batulao photo courtesy of Gen E Sis |
After our descend the following day, we head
straight to Alibijaban island in San Andres, Quezon. From Nasugbu, we took the
jeep to the terminal in Olivarez, then a van to calamba, and then a bus to
Lucena. It was around 8pm when we reached Lucena.
From
Lucena, compared to my first trip to the island, there are now 3 other
companies that service the town. There were 2 buses ready to leave, but decided
to wait for Superlines – the supposed bigger company and expected to have
better seats.
We also met other San Andres residents who were waiting for the same bus, and
recommends indeed that we wait.
It was
about 2 hours later when the bus arrived. There were no more buses from the
other companies and this Superlines bus don’t look like there’s seats for us.
We had to stand in the bus, and could only feel so bad for the kids dumped in
any available space.
The
conductor said there were people getting off in Burgos, but there were only 2
of them, and around 25 of us stucked in the aisle. It did not even feel like
there was space freed out by the 2 passengers who just got off.
It was
already in Mulanay when all 4 of us got a seat.
By 3am, we
finally reached San Andres terminal. From there, we were going to wait for
sunrise and some boats bound for Alibijaban. There were some fishing boats
there, but did not want to charter for it would be more expensive that
necessary.
We laid our
sheets, and sleeping backs, and attempted to sleep in the pave way of the port.
Then, a
fisherman passed by and asked where we are bound. We told him ‘towards the
island’ and asked if we’d like them to drop us. We said NO need, but he said,
we can just pay him P200. That was a good bargain so rephrased our answer to
YES.
 |
| the group sleeping in the San Andres port waiting for a boat to Alibijaban Island |
We could
hear the waves right in the port, and I was so worried that my laptop would get
wet. I wasn’t really intending to do this straightaway from Port Barton, but
it’s just being ME.. totally spontaneous.
It took us
probably an hour and a half to get there. The sea wasn’t calm enough so
couldn’t run the engine fast enough. I’d fall asleep once in a while, and when
I get awakened, looking at sparks of light from the town and from the boats in
the island, it doesn’t seem like we are moving. The boatman seem calm though so
I was not bothered.
Somehow, we
managed to get on the shore by nearly 6am.
We were
received by my contact’s family, and the brgy Kaptain. We were escorted to the
free space where we can camp the night.
After
setting up the tent and my hammock, we decided to take some nap. Afterwhich, we
walked onto the shores of the islands with the kids.
 |
| Limbonis in Alibijaban Island photo courtesy of Gen E Sis |
 |
| Water Pump in Alibijaban Island |
 |
| Alibijaban island |
The
following day, we set to leave the island before noontime. After brunch, and
cleaning the utensils we’ve used, we hitched from the Kaptain’s boat who is
bound to town to buy some construction materials. They were actually building
some sheds for future visitors.
From town,
we thought it would be too early to be bound to Manila, especially that by the
time the bus is in Candelaria, and Laguna, traffic would have been irritating
to a suicide level. We decided to take a side trip to the beaches of San
Narciso.
The beaches
we’ve seen just nearby the town of San Narciso were nice except that they were
not maintained at all. There was too many coconut husks on the shore that spoil
the view of the blue and fine white sand.
We were not
so content to settle in these beaches so we took a walk further.
Towards the
beach of the next cove, we’ll have to walk back to the main road, or just trek
its boundaries. We are used to trekking anyway, so didn’t mind getting onto the
wild bush and get off the ridge.
From the
ridge, we were also seeing some nice rock formations, and thought about walking
all the way there.
 |
| my broken slippers from climbing the boulders of Talaw Talaw or Taraw Taraw, San Narciso (photo by Gen E Sis) |
 |
| Talaw Talaw, San Narciso (photo by Gen E Sis) |
The rock
boulders surrounded by waters weren’t so bad after all. The water was not so
deep, so thought about walking towards them. We climbed all the way up the 2
rocks. Villagers say the area is area is called Talaw Talaw (or Taraw Taraw as
others said).
At around
past 3pm, we decided to go back to the Terminal so not to miss the bus.
Unfortunately,
all the buses that arrived were packed so we waited back to the junction
between San Narciso and San Andres. We got the bus there, although again, it
was standing.
As we drove
further, there were more and more passengers to a point that you can’t even
move from the time you find your position in the aisle. There were probably
more than 50 of us in the aisle, including mothers with infants. The driver is
a big fucking nut.
In Mulanay,
I was asking for a refund so I can just sleep in the town and not endure any
more of it. Driver refused and I wasn’t wealthy enough to let go of my 200
pesos.
Lesson
learned: avoid Superlines! Avoid Superlines! Avoid Superlines. Their drivers
are dirt cheap futile.
We were in
that situation until Lucena City.
From there
I decided to call it a night and attempt to travel back the following day
instead. I was already tired.
|
| Limbonis on hammock in front of Port Barton's bay |
Coming back
home after 7 month of backpacking Southeast Asia, and being so firm about not
going back to corporate work (unless it’s my previous company), I got a ticket
for Puerto Princesa on Christmas day and Flying back to Manila on New Year.
For some
reason, I almost got denied boarding, but somehow managed to make some great
excuses so I made it to Palawan.
From the
airport, I headed straight to the terminal where I can catch the trip to Port
Barton. Unfortunately, there was no more Port Barton bound transport, and so
took the San Vicente Trip instead and got off in the San Jose tricycle
terminal.
At the
terminal, the tricycle drivers were asking P300 for a habal ride for that 20kms
remaining to Port Barton.
I got back
into my Math. It normally take me 10 minutes for a kilometer walk, so this will
take me 200 minutes or 3.3 hours. It’s 4 o clock at the time, and it would take
me until past 7pm to get there. Well.. not a very good idea to walk in the
jungle dark, especially I have loads of grocery stock in my hands. Then again,
there’s no way I will be paying P300 from that point to get there. It would
have been only P250 if only I caught the direct Port Barton transport, and
after paying P90 to the San Vicente bound bus, my cost is already at P390.
And so I
waited. I told the drivers I can wait for another passenger to share the cost,
and make it at least only P250 for me. They were fine.
I’m glad
that everytime I travel, I always bring out that poor traveler loo (probably
even effortless because of the backpacker dress up, my skin, unattended hair
style, etc).
A little
while later, a driver flagged a van. It was a tourist van en route to Port
Barton. I was asked to Board. I paid P150 to get there.. Yipee! It was P240 all
in all.. cheaper than expected.
I got to
Port Barton and stayed with a friend who recently bought a piece of land there.
Everyday
was about waking up, preparing brunch, chopping wood, cooking whatever, harvesting coconuts,waiting for
electricity at 5:30, and walking at the beach to find if any place has any
crowd, and even making a broomstick out of coconut leaves.
Few days
passed, we decided to spend the New Year’s in the city. We did the countdown in
the Bay area where there was a 6-minute firework. Unfortunately, the new year
wasn’t as lively as everywhere else. We resorted to sleeping it away after
giving up on finding a place to drink.
|
| our NYE dinner in Baywalk, Puerto Princesa |
Then, a few
days ago, I had an invitation from friends to climb Mt Batulao on New Year.
So, without
any proper gears, from the airport, I went straight ahead to coastal mall
terminal to meet my hike buddies. It was about 6:00pm when we met, stopped by
Tagaytay for dinner, and about 10pm when we started the trek. It was muddy,
windy, and fiercefully breezy. We camped at #10 and did our drinks right inside
the tent.
|
| Mt Batulao photo courtesy of Gen E Sis |
After our descend the following day, we head
straight to Alibijaban island in San Andres, Quezon. From Nasugbu, we took the
jeep to the terminal in Olivarez, then a van to calamba, and then a bus to
Lucena. It was around 8pm when we reached Lucena.
From
Lucena, compared to my first trip to the island, there are now 3 other
companies that service the town. There were 2 buses ready to leave, but decided
to wait for Superlines – the supposed bigger company and expected to have
better seats.
We also met other San Andres residents who were waiting for the same bus, and
recommends indeed that we wait.
It was
about 2 hours later when the bus arrived. There were no more buses from the
other companies and this Superlines bus don’t look like there’s seats for us.
We had to stand in the bus, and could only feel so bad for the kids dumped in
any available space.
The
conductor said there were people getting off in Burgos, but there were only 2
of them, and around 25 of us stucked in the aisle. It did not even feel like
there was space freed out by the 2 passengers who just got off.
It was
already in Mulanay when all 4 of us got a seat.
By 3am, we
finally reached San Andres terminal. From there, we were going to wait for
sunrise and some boats bound for Alibijaban. There were some fishing boats
there, but did not want to charter for it would be more expensive that
necessary.
We laid our
sheets, and sleeping backs, and attempted to sleep in the pave way of the port.
Then, a
fisherman passed by and asked where we are bound. We told him ‘towards the
island’ and asked if we’d like them to drop us. We said NO need, but he said,
we can just pay him P200. That was a good bargain so rephrased our answer to
YES.
|
| the group sleeping in the San Andres port waiting for a boat to Alibijaban Island |
We could
hear the waves right in the port, and I was so worried that my laptop would get
wet. I wasn’t really intending to do this straightaway from Port Barton, but
it’s just being ME.. totally spontaneous.
It took us
probably an hour and a half to get there. The sea wasn’t calm enough so
couldn’t run the engine fast enough. I’d fall asleep once in a while, and when
I get awakened, looking at sparks of light from the town and from the boats in
the island, it doesn’t seem like we are moving. The boatman seem calm though so
I was not bothered.
Somehow, we
managed to get on the shore by nearly 6am.
We were
received by my contact’s family, and the brgy Kaptain. We were escorted to the
free space where we can camp the night.
After
setting up the tent and my hammock, we decided to take some nap. Afterwhich, we
walked onto the shores of the islands with the kids.
|
| Limbonis in Alibijaban Island photo courtesy of Gen E Sis |
|
| Water Pump in Alibijaban Island |
|
| Alibijaban island |
The
following day, we set to leave the island before noontime. After brunch, and
cleaning the utensils we’ve used, we hitched from the Kaptain’s boat who is
bound to town to buy some construction materials. They were actually building
some sheds for future visitors.
From town,
we thought it would be too early to be bound to Manila, especially that by the
time the bus is in Candelaria, and Laguna, traffic would have been irritating
to a suicide level. We decided to take a side trip to the beaches of San
Narciso.
The beaches
we’ve seen just nearby the town of San Narciso were nice except that they were
not maintained at all. There was too many coconut husks on the shore that spoil
the view of the blue and fine white sand.
We were not
so content to settle in these beaches so we took a walk further.
Towards the
beach of the next cove, we’ll have to walk back to the main road, or just trek
its boundaries. We are used to trekking anyway, so didn’t mind getting onto the
wild bush and get off the ridge.
From the
ridge, we were also seeing some nice rock formations, and thought about walking
all the way there.
|
| my broken slippers from climbing the boulders of Talaw Talaw or Taraw Taraw, San Narciso (photo by Gen E Sis) |
|
| Talaw Talaw, San Narciso (photo by Gen E Sis) |
The rock
boulders surrounded by waters weren’t so bad after all. The water was not so
deep, so thought about walking towards them. We climbed all the way up the 2
rocks. Villagers say the area is area is called Talaw Talaw (or Taraw Taraw as
others said).
At around
past 3pm, we decided to go back to the Terminal so not to miss the bus.
Unfortunately,
all the buses that arrived were packed so we waited back to the junction
between San Narciso and San Andres. We got the bus there, although again, it
was standing.
As we drove
further, there were more and more passengers to a point that you can’t even
move from the time you find your position in the aisle. There were probably
more than 50 of us in the aisle, including mothers with infants. The driver is
a big fucking nut.
In Mulanay,
I was asking for a refund so I can just sleep in the town and not endure any
more of it. Driver refused and I wasn’t wealthy enough to let go of my 200
pesos.
Lesson
learned: avoid Superlines! Avoid Superlines! Avoid Superlines. Their drivers
are dirt cheap futile.
We were in
that situation until Lucena City.
From there
I decided to call it a night and attempt to travel back the following day
instead. I was already tired.
.jpg)
