I had the chance to visit Palawan, one of the many beautiful islands of the Philippines. Palawan is also one of the provinces of the Philippines. Situated on the western side of the country this long sliver of land is bounded on the west by the South China Sea and on the east by the Sulu Sea. With this much water around it, it is no wonder that it is considered quite remote, needing more than a day to sail from Manila to the provincial capital of Puerto Princesa.
I took a 8:30am Cebu Pacific flight from Manila and got there an hour later. As expected, the domestic airport was a little run down. As soon as I get off the plane, I immediately noticed how much better the air is here compared to Manila. It says a lot since I’m standing right next to a plane! Anyway, before entering the terminal building is the “baggage claim” area. I wait until the airline personnel unload our bags and just wheel them towards the waiting passengers. Then a free for all ensures. Everyone and his mother tries to get hold of their bag. Eventually I got my bag, entered and exited the airport terminal building ready for my adventure!
Just outside the terminal building are touts offering to bring you to tourist destinations. Looking very much like the tourist that I am, they all swarmed at me, I politely refused them and they went off to bother other people. I just hope that the airport management helps to get rid of these people as it doesn’t the lend the airport a good image.
My first task is to figure out how to get to San Jose Bus Terminal. I asked the security guard how to get to the terminal, he advised me to stay away from the touts and just wait outside the airport grounds. Outside the airport gates is a “highway” where I waited for passing public transport. A motorized tricycle stopped and I got on, I asked the driver if he could take me to the San Jose Bus Terminal. He told me that it was a little far and advised me to just get off at the main junction and get another ride to the bus terminal.
When we got the junction (it was a short ride), he pointed me to the “multi-cab” that will take me to the bus terminal. He even told the driver of the multi-cab to bring me there. I thought that these are really nice people. This may be an exaggeration, but I hardly ever see people like this in Manila, and yet, the first people I meet in Puerto Princesa are a really helpful lot.
A multi-cab is basically a small truck converted into a passenger vehicle, with two benches along the length of the vehicle. Passengers would sit on these benches face to face, jeepney-style. Payment is just like how people normally pay in jeepneys, that is, pass the money along until it gets to the driver. Any change goes back the same route.
San Jose Bus Terminal is a just outside the city center. The terminal is simple but surprisingly pleasant with all sorts of people just sitting around doing nothing. I assume most of the people here are waiting for their ride to the more remote towns of Palawan. I guess, for me, anything not Puerto Princesa is considered remote.
I was disappointed to know that the last bus to Sabang has already left. If only Cebu Pacific would adjust their schedule a little earlier, it would have been a little more convenient for tourists to get around the place. People with cash to spare can rent their own van complete with driver to their destination. This is ideal for large groups of people. But for people like me who do not have the cash, I had to make do with the available public transportation.
I found out that the last trip to Sabang is around 2:00 in the afternoon. It is a jeepney named Eduardo-2. The trip will take around 3 hours and I want the fresh air so I quickly talked to the driver and reserved a window seat on the right of the jeepney by leaving my stuff there. Actually I was quite hesitant to leave my stuff in the open jeepney but I don’t really have anything else to reserve a seat with.
It was almost lunchtime and I wanted to grab some food to eat. The bus terminal is right beside a public market but i didn’t really find anything nice to eat. The bus terminal “building” has a small canteen which sells local food. I randomly chose anything just to fill my stomach. I also grabbed some chips for me to munch on during the 3 hour trip.
It seems like the Eduardo-2 jeepney has some mechanical problems which the driver seems to be trying to fix. I’ve read in some travel guides that because of the road conditions in these parts of the country, breakdowns are not uncommon. I just hope this is just some preventive maintenance they’re doing, as I do not want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere. As schedules seem to be optional in this part of the country, I would pass by the jeepney every now and then just to make sure they do not take my stuff to Sabang and leave me behind!
Some time around 1 in the afternoon, the jeepney came to life, giving hope to the fact that we are finally about to leave. But to my consternation, the jeepney left without anyone on board (except the driver, of course), but it left with my stuff! I later found out that the jeepney went to the petrol station to fill up on fuel for the journey ahead. Happily, the jeepney really did come back, with my stuff, of course. It was already two in the afternoon, and the driver started calling out to the passengers to get on the jeepney. My journey to Sabang was on it’s way!
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