Our neighborhood in Puerto Princesa
Visiting the island of Palawan in the Philippines turned out to be very different from what we expected. Our first stop was Puerto Princesa.
Our next stop after China was Palawan. I was planning to do a lot of writing in Palawan and expand this newborn of a blog, but that didn’t happen. I was also excited for all the day trips, island hopping tours, and adventures Palawan has to offer. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen either—at least not to the extent I would have wished for.
Nevertheless, our stay in the Philippines—though I still had an amazing time—was very different from what we imagined due to something we could have predicted but didn’t. And it’s not the weather.
Our neighborhood in Puerto Princesa
But let’s start at the beginning. After a long travel day starting in Guangzhou, China, we finally arrived in Puerto Princesa in the Philippines, a city on the island of Palawan. We gave ourselves three days to spend there. However, I wouldn’t recommend Puerto Princesa for more than a day. There isn’t too much to do, apart from visiting the Underground River—the main reason most tourists stop by Puerto Princesa. This subterranean river system was chosen as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature and is supposed to be astonishingly beautiful. But I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen it.
Even though I said three days in Puerto Princesa is too much, it still wasn’t enough for me to get myself up and go visit this beauty. When I finally woke up from the travel-day tiredness and recovered from my bellyache (Palawan, compared to our previous days in China, had a very warm tropical climate, and I’m just not made for this weather. I always get bellyache and feel exhausted on such sunny days), the weather was predicted to be really bad (it wasn’t in the end—another thing we learned: we just can’t trust the weather forecast in Palawan), and all the tours were getting cancelled. So, after coming to this city to see The Wonder, we didn’t manage. But that’s okay. We still had a nice time.
The weather was very nice. Sunny, humid and no rain.
The beach outside of our hotel
There were almost no tourists in the city. We experienced true Filipino culture, warm nights, and lots of mosquitos. And finally, after a month of bony chickens and oily vegetables in China, we had a cozy, tasty dinner a few meters away from our accommodation. I was really excited for our time in the Philippines. It felt like a proper backpacker experience—the tropical side of it, full of the ocean and cliffs to jump from, taking siestas during the day because it’s just too hot to be outside.
We even booked a hotel close to the ocean, planning morning sunrise swims. However, after visiting the seaside, we quickly realized that it was absolutely a bad idea to swim there. The sea was quite dirty in that part of the island, and there were A LOT of stray dogs on the beach.
So what we did most of the time was just walking. Walking along the beach, in the city, in the mall, walking to find a reasonably priced tricycle. But I very much appreciated it. Although Erik is way more active and outdoorsy than I am, I like to recover from too much sun and fresh air in the comfort of my room, preferably with a book and air conditioning. I also had to apply to some master’s degrees.
The city of Puerto Princesa
Since this is my gap year after finishing a bachelor's degree in Physics, I have to find a master’s to fill my time next year. I’ve been debating prolonging this year to another one, but I already see myself prolonging it each time it seems to come to an end, which is unsustainable. But right now, I am not excited to come home to Europe and scheduled days, expensive restaurants, and rainy mornings. I chose the Netherlands as the country for my next studies, which now sounds like everything I don’t like about Europe—but, funny enough, I actually love the Netherlands. I wonder if this is some self-sabotaging mechanism in me.
Nevertheless, I was using my time in Puerto Princesa to apply for a master's degree when I was hit with a wall! I needed a reference letter for my chosen program! For an experienced, extroverted, active student this might seem obvious and normal, but for me, it was a real problem. I have never talked to a professor outside of an academic scope and couldn't imagine asking someone for a favor. After a day of stressing out, I decided to contact my thesis supervisor and, even though it took me three hours to write a five-sentence email, I sent it. He was really nice and agreed to provide me with a reference letter. Felt like a real accomplishment in my career! :D
So much about Puerto Princesa. Or maybe more about my academic struggles and less about Puerto Princesa. Well, to conclude, I would recommend making a stop in Puerto Princesa to join a pre-booked tour to the Underground River—but not staying longer than a day or two. Otherwise, I’d choose to spend more time in a different location on Palawan, for example, Port Barton.
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