Philippines part 3 – Detox and island getaway…

Following our enormous weekend in Boracay and feeling very sorry for ourselves we made the quick flight back to Manila and then straight to the city in a forest; Puerto Princesa on Palawan. Here we had one thing on our mind…relaxation on some white sanded beach with crystal clear water! (We need our fix before moving across the world to Canada where we will soon be immersed in another sort of whiteness…snow!)

Initially, we spent 2 nights and 1 full day in PP and can recommend staying at the Duchess Pension where you’ll find cheap, clean rooms, good staff and a nice chill out lounge area! Although when he tells you that there is a noisy side (the right hand side of the budget rooms), believe him or you’ll possibly be kept awake by a super chirpy rooster who crows at various times throughout the day and night, an annoying yappy dog and a loud family in general, which are literally right outside your window! So take the left (twin share- not double beds) side option of the budget rooms.

We walked around the town for a bit of sight seeing and the Plaza Cuartel is definitely worth a look if you’re into history. Situated near the wharf of Puerto, it is a beautifully kept memorial with many stories to tell from World War II. An eerie feeling will arise when there, as you’re literally standing in the place where POW’s were kept, tortured then massacred in underground trenches. We spent a good while here, sitting and taking in the extremities of the actions that went on here.

Plaza Cuartel Entrance – Puerto Princesa

After that, we made our way down to the Bay Walk, where during the day it’s very bare with not much going on, however later that night, we found it to be full of restaurants and market type stalls with heaps of people either indulging in cheaper meals and drinks, walking along the water’s edge or learning how to ride a bicycle on one of the many bikes to hire.

While you are in PP, a visit to what a German friend we met in Laos titled ‘the best restaurant in the world’ should come into your plans somewhere. Now we probably wouldn’t go as far as giving it this title, however it was pretty epic, especially if you love seafood (being a seafood restaurant). The menu at first appears daunting as it doesn’t appear to present many options, but don’t be afraid to ask them to explain what some of the meals are, they are more than happy to help. We ordered one of the seafood sets (can’t remember the name) with a side of mouthwatering fried Kangkong with seafood. Delicious! Presentation and service is one of its assets and it’s probably best to only wear thongs (flipflops, slippers, jandals, whatever…) of some sort as you must leave your shoes at the door on arrival. It’s called Ka Luis and it’s about a 3 minute trike ride from Duchess Pension Hotel. Should only cost about 15 pessos each (two people).

Seaweed as an entree anyone?? Actually really delicious and tastes sort of like oysters…

Another wicked restaurant to visit in Puerta Princesa is called Balinsasayaw which is also another beautifully presented restaurant in a garden paradise with many food options! This is a little cheaper option (any tricycle driver should know where it is).

In Puerto Princesa, there is a brewery. It claims the title of Palawan’s first and only brewery which is run by two women, who along with their couple of staff, do a fantastic job at entertaining! Beers are about 150 pesos each, so not cheap for Asia. I’m no connoisseur but the place is definitely worth a look! It’s literally just around the corner from the Duchess Pension Hotel so very convenient and accessible for us.

A pale ale tickle your fancy?

We really were in a mixed state of mind here in PP and we found ourselves questioning whether we really wanted to travel all the way to El Nido (Palawan’s must see beach) to be faced with tourist upon tourist. With 8 days left on our visa before our flight to Japan we decided to travel half way up Palawan and stop at St Vicente. There is an island off St Vicente that was calling us and after a bit of internet research, Boayan island was where we wanted to go. From what we read this was a quiet island with little to no development. Perfect!

After reading the couple of blog articles about this island, we were under the impression that you can just walk into the tourist office at St Vicente and they will organise a boat trip across to the island. How wrong we were. Unfortunately, we found the tourist office to be full of very unhelpful workers who ummed and ahhed for ages, proceeding to tell us that Boayan island is off limits for camping or foreigners in general, and that instead, we must visit the specified tourist destinations like ‘Jermyn Island off Port Barton.’ Umm, no thank you!

Leaving that office, we felt very disheartened and even more annoyed with the town itself and our decision to come here, although, with a touch more determination to make it to this mysterious Boayan Island. It shouldn’t be so mysterious, I mean it is a large island that has local occupants spread throughout and I think there is also a resort under construction but we obviously had to dig a little deeper in search of a way there.

It was then, walking down the street and having lunch at Nipa Bar and Grill Hauz that our attitudes began to change. This restaurant is a MUST if you find yourself in St Vicente. Located opposite the local market, the service is outstanding, and the food is even better.. (I would go as far as saying it was better than the aforementioned ‘Ka Luis’ in Peurto princessa)!!! Massive call I know!

Sunset over St Vincete

We were staying at Ursula Guesthouse (because this is where the minivan dropped us off) which is right on the beach and we even got to sleep in the beachfront shack for 300 pesos a night. Cool place with a lovely lady who obviously runs the show, but as it was the off season, we found there to be no one else staying and the restaurant not open, apart from one night where one of the local boys celebrated his birthday there, busting out cheesy hip hop songs, turning the place into a karaoke lovers heaven!

Our beach hut at Ursula Guesthouse

We got our western fix of pizza at the Peace and Love Resort and after chatting to the German owner Steve about the surrounding areas to check out, hired a motorbike for the following day.

Peace and Love Resort – St Vincente

With this freedom, we were able to explore little hideaway bays and small local fishing villages where just by chance we happened to meet Rossy. The man behind making our Boayan trip possible!

Taking me back to our Laos days….

I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts…

Sunset over the Rossy’s fishing village

After a casual chat about his family and village, we were quick to learn he owned a boat (Baby Boat they called it) but still a boat none the less which would in fact take us to our desired destination! We asked him whether it was possible if he could take us to check out Boayan Island and with a very enthusiastic yes, we found ourselves back there the following morning ready for a day trip across.

One too many cocktails that night at Peace and Love Resort saw us being totally under prepared to actually camp over there that night, so we decided to only go for a day trip and if we loved it that much, we would go back the following day for a couple of nights. That we did I might say, as after our first stop of visiting a local village and doing some snorkeling, he took us to our own private beach which he claimed was his cousins land and it was for sale.

Rossy, Micka and the Baby Boat on ‘our island’ – Boayan Island

Relax time…

The sand was white as white and the water clear as day and we couldn’t resist the urge to return the following day with our camping gear! We ended up staying two nights on this island and probably a total of three full days there. It was a magical place, and we made many plans to purchase the land and build our own sanctuary there. Dreams were short lived though, after learning that it the 7.4 hectares was selling for just over 1 million AUS dollars. Slightly out of our budget… (could we crowdfund it?).!

Our boat, our gear and our island… Perfect

Rossy was very keen for us to purchase some land though and when he came to pick us up on our last day, he proceeded to show us around the island more, in search of a cheaper option. It turns out he has some land there too, not beachfront but close enough which was much more reasonably priced at about $50,000 AUS dollars.

Boating with the locals

So we do not own our own beachfront property YET, but he was very excited to hear that maybe next year or the year after we might come back for a visit and see if the land is still available…we have to leave our options open right…?

High Fives all round

Selfie on the back of a bike with many small followers

Rossy was a beautiful, generous man and we feel very fortunate to now call him a friend. Micka did some reef fishing with him and we got to know his beautiful family and we really do hope to visit sometime in the future.

If you are in the area, we’re not sure the name of his village as it was not on our map but if you drive past Peace and Love Resort and just keep following the dirt road for about 5kms, you’ll arrive at a small seaside fishing village. Continue right to the end of the road running parallel to the beach and as you begin to make the right hand turn in the road, you just might find Rossy, or some other willing boatman, sitting under a shack, overlooking the beach.

So here we are, with only one sleep until Japan…