01.28.10

Palawan Ho!

Posted in Playing the Tourist at 10:44 pm by Administrator

We’re back in Manila, but I’m gonna update with some of the Palawan happenings. . .   This is a shot of our approach to Palawan, which is about a 45 minute flight from Manila.

And here’s a pic of the Puerta Princesa airport, which looks to me about three times larger than the Tagbilaran airport in Bohol.  Uh, yes, this picture is pretty much the size of their airport for both arrivals and departures.

I turned around to get a shot of Aaron with our chariot (Cebu Pacific) behind him.  Auntie Lits and Uncle Al are on the side.  Small plane, but not as small as the one Brian and I took to the Isle of Man, which IIRC, had propellers, and a single aisle with two seats on each side.  This plane had a single aisle with three seats on either side. And while all of the Pines seem to have tricycles, they are a tad different from island to island.   Here’s what the tricycles look like in Palawan.

Okay, so far so good. . . We got to the airport on time, flight was nice and painless, our baggages were all intact and accounted for, and now we’re in the van to whisk us away to our vacation resort. . .  Now, the fun begins.  But wait!  I need to back up with a few insider details.  Our travel agent told us that the ride from the airport to the resort would be “one” hour and that the resort was located in the southern portion of Puerto Princesa (you know how mom and dad are adamant that they don’t want to be in the “southern” part of Palawan because of all those nasty Muslims trying to kidnap people and hold them for randsom).  However, upon arrival the person who picked us up told us that our ride would be “two hours and that the roads are under construction.”  Another tidbit of info is that we arrived at 5PM, that means that dinner would be after 7PM, and we’d be traveling in the dark going “s-o-u-t-h” past Puerto Princesa into Narra.

All is quiet.  We push our way through the city traffic.  Then off we go into the countryside, first on the smooth road, then comes the bumpy road.  As if that wasn’t bad enough for Daddy’s myeloma back, there were two more hours of that to come as the “night” rapidly fell upon us  and we continued to head s-0-u-t-h. No words needed to be spoken.  I could feel the vibes eminating from the elders. . . “Marla, what in the world did you get us into?! This is that last time we let you book a trip for us!  Do we have some words for you!”  Luckily it was dark because if they could look at me, I’m sure I would have felt the daggers.  And all the while I could feel my own temper rising as I had specifically told the travel agent that my parents needed their trip to be “e-a-s-y” as my dad is not well.  I would tense up with every bump hoping that my dad’s back was okay.  Mommy kept asking, “are we almost here, yet?” as we drove deeper and deeper south in the “dark,” which in the tropics is very dark since there are no street lights like in the big cities.  Then came the mountain winding road, and I could hear the “clicking” sounds from the elders as they held on to their seats as if the van would roll over the cliff.  Could it be worse?

Yes, it was worse.  The driver was heavy on the breaks, and I was getting “nauseous.”   My head was spinning when at last we arrived at the front of a resort by the ocean.  Our driver hopped out and slid the van doors open.  We stumbled out to find cute little filipina girls awaiting us with sampagitas (flower leas).   They welcomed us with their sweet smiles and voices as they led us up the steps to a table with fresh buko (coconut) drinks.  The night was dark, we could feel the mosquitos whizzing by.  I looked up, and I saw the most butokay (geckos) I’d ever seen in one place all my life!!!!  Emotionally I was a wreck as I was feeling the conflict of the terrible ride in, with the sweet warm welcome of the girls.

Luckily, Mom, Dad, Auntie Lits, and Uncle Al seemed relieved once they saw the resort.  Here’s mom and dad as they sat to have their buko drinks.

Al and Lita had recovered quickly and were starting to let loose.

Aaron and I were still in shock.  I was still nauseous, my head was still spinning from that driving and wondering how my dad’s back was doing, worried about all the mosquitoes for Aaron’s sake, and wow, I hope those geckos aren’t infesting our rooms! Do the toilets flush?  Is there warm water in the showers?  Is there actual “beach” access?  Here’s a pic of Aaron and me looking pretty much how we felt–like crap.

With a little fresh buko juice, nice “stable” ground,a dinner about to be served, I began to see how well the staff at the resort were treating us.  A small entourage led us to our rooms (it was so dark at night that they had little lights to help led our way while I could hear the ocean waves crashing).  Our luggage had already be transported to our rooms while they were serving us cool drinks.  The rooms were nice and clean and touched up with plumeria flowers.  The toilet flushed after all, and there was warm water.  The beds were clean and we had several movies to watch.  Aaaahhhhh, maybe after a good nights’ rest, things will look brighter in the morning. . .

To be continued. . .

Marlakins

P.S.  Tonight we head out to dinner with one of Marissa’s friends.  Then tomorrow morning we head out to Hidden Valley.  As far as I know, Hidden Valley is a hot springs resort in Laguna about 2 hours away.  We’ll stay there for one night, then head back into Manila.

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