Irresistible as Port Barton was, I had to leave it behind since my transport needs to. I had my early lunch and prepared myself for a grueling 6 hour trip to El Nido. There were only five passengers left on our outrigger, since the rest decided to stay on in Port Barton. At least I would have some more leg room. I was still enjoying the peaceful and calm waters of the bay of Port Barton when we were already in the open sea. You could really tell the difference as we started bobbing up and down from the waves.
The waves probably were nothing to be worried about, I’m sure our able boatmen have seen far worse than this, so we just leave everything in their capable hands. Since this is going to be long trip, I got to know my ship mates better. They were two couples, an young Australian and French lady touring the Philippines. They were actually on their way to China to do some documentary in Inner Mongolia. They told me that after China they will make their way to France. This will be an awesome 6 month trip. It still surprises me no end that people could actually go on trips for that long.
The other couple, an elderly couple, was a Turkish man and an Albanian woman. Strangely enough they both live and met in Canada. The Turkish man is a professor who worked for a University in Iloilo in central Philippines. He just finished his tour of duty there, so he was touring the Philippines. Having stayed in the Philippines for a while, you could say that they are quite familiar with the Philippines. After their tour they would then go back to Canada.
Time runs very slowly at sea. Although we are tracing the northwestern coast of Palawan, there is nothing much to see except from the large island on our left. Without any entertainment, no TV, no internet, I was quickly becoming restless. The Australian couple was make themselve busy basking in the sun and taking pictures. While the Turkish couple was just sitting in the middle of the boat.
Already a few hours in to the trip, the waves were getting bigger and bigger. The splashing of the water from the front was soon reaching us at the back of the boat. It does seem that our boatman was in a hurry to get to El Nido. I guess you can’t blame him since our estimated arrival time there would be around 5 in the afternoon. I can’t imagine having to sail rough waters in the pitch dark. Even so, he would seem to charge ahead into waves causing the water to splash way inside the boat. Needless to say, we were all soaking wet from all the splashing.
After a particularly rough patch of sea, the boatman metioned to me, “It is just around the corner!”. That got me excited, then I realized that reaching that corner would still take us a while, so I had to endure more splashing. I have to protect my camera all the time, I don’t want it dying on me just when I’m almost there.
Then we saw it. Small Islands started appearing, and they were getting closer and closer. It was the Bacuit Archipelago which comprises El Nido’s famous Islands. Now that the islands were very close, every one started to get really excited. Cameras started coming out. The Australian couple with their waterproof digital camera started snapping away. So did the Turkish professor, with his digital SLR.
After a few minutes, the islands were all around us. Magnificent limestone island just jutting out of the water. Against the blue sky, they really looked great. Around another corner then we finally saw our destination, El Nido town! It looked like a small town by a small bay. As we entered the bay, the seas grew calmer, but the passengers grew more excited. Whether it was because of the wonderful landscape or just because we’re finally there doesn’t matter anymore.
Then after 6 grueling hours at sea, we finally landed. Again, there was no formal pier for outriggers, so we waded our way to shore. Unfortunately, while wading to shore, I stubbed my toe and my sandal got caught in a rock while wading to shore and the strap snapped. Probably my fault since I didn’t bother removing the sandals before leaving the boat.
After taking some pictures together, we all went our separate ways. First things first, I need to find a place to sleep. I was really tired.
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