Erich and Martine discuss, uh, her eye.
We woke up early to catch a bus that was leaving for El Nido at 7 AM. It’s an eight to ten hour bus ride mostly on dirt road; I wasn’t looking forward to it. As usual, I rushed to pack my things I left around the room and hoped I didn’t leave anything behind. We took a truck to the bus terminal because we thought we were running late. We weren’t.
Martine takes a nap on Sara in my shadow.
I didn’t know what to expect of the bus ride and how safe it was. I heard of stories of people stealing tourists belongings on the bus. I was paranoid about my laptop being stolen so I packed it in my dive bag which has a lock. The bus crew threw my hiking backpack and dive bag on the roof of the bus. Two bus crew guys stayed up on the top of the bus to make sure no bags got loose. That was nice.
Within about 10 minutes into the bus ride my lower back was aching because of the small seat and little leg room I had. At about the same time, the driver stopped the bus because something was wrong with it. An onboard mechanic opened up his toolbox on the floor of the bus and went to work under the bus. After a few stops and fixes, the bus seemed to work fine. By 10:30 AM, we stopped at an eatery to have a late breakfast. There I met Fred from France and Terry from the US. I was hungry and ordered some pork adobo with rice. Shortly before we left, I noticed Terry eating the scrapes of food off of Fred’s plate. That’s weird.
Bus crew putting the flat tire on the roof of the bus.
After an hour of driving from the eatery our bus got a flat tire on its front right wheel. I saw it as a time to get outside, stretch, and take pictures. Several others, mostly foreigners, joined me. Outside I met Andrea from England who has been traveling around with Fred and recently Terry. After replacing the flat tire, putting it on the roof of the bus, and balancing the new tire we were set to go.
About 2 hours of the bus ride are on paved road while the rest—about 7 hours—is driven on a dirt road. I was actually a little excited to get to ride on the dirt road. After seeing some rain clouds in the distant I got concerned about my laptop being on the roof of the bus. What if the sun heats up the moisture in my dive bag and then damages the laptop? If it rains on the bus are they going to cover the bags with a tarp?
Lunch at a small family eatery.
At about 1:30 PM, we made a stop for lunch at a small family eatery. I didn’t eat anything while Erich, Sara, and Martine ate lunch. Fred ate again and Terry ate the leftover scrapes off of Fred’s plate again. What a vulture! I wonder how long he’s done this since he started traveling with Fred. Does Fred know?
Sometime during our drive in the dirt our bus stopped for no apparent reason. The bus crew was doing something on the roof. Maybe a loose bag? I looked up at top and noticed they were putting a rain tarp over all of the bags; excellent. It was nice to see they cared so much for the bags on the roof of the bus. No worries.
The rain caused the road to get a little muddy. One part of the road we came upon was a steep muddy incline. All the vehicles in front of us lined up to go up the hill like cars in a roller coaster; each one would stop at the base of the hill, quickly accelerate to gain speed and momentum, and try to make it over the hill before sliding down it or to the side.
When it was our turn to drive up the hill, we stopped at the base of the hill and paused for a moment. I braced myself like I usually do right before I’m shot out of a roller coaster. The driver accelerated, we went up the hill, drifted sideways, then Sara and I moved away from the window as we saw a fuel truck come within a couple feet of our window. I realized we weren’t going anywhere anytime soon so I got out of the bus to see what was going on. The fuel truck was stuck in a ditch in the mud as well as our rear tires. Another truck managed to pull the fuel truck out. Once they did that, our bus gingerly got out of its ditch. I jumped back into our bus with my muddy feet.
Stuck in the mud.
Throughout the rest of the drive, the bus got more or less crowded as it picked up and dropped off people. At one stop, the bus dropped off a lot of rice but brought aboard a chicken. By 4 PM, about 8 hours after we left, we arrived at El Nido bus stop. El Nido was a beautiful area set among tall limestone rock formations. Geologically, it is different from most other parts of the Philippines which makes Palawan unique.
Erich finds comfort on Martine's shoulder.
Another passenger on the bus; now it's really getting crowded.
It didn’t take long to find a place to stay that we liked. The place we checked into was on the beach, had two beds plus an extra mattress, private shower, and a beautiful view of the bay for 650 pesos per night total for 4 people. We settled in a little and then broke out the rest of the rum and Coke to celebrate. Good times.
Rum, Coke, and a smoke. Time to celebrate.
The view from our 650 peso/night room.
Before it got too late, we ventured out to look for a dive shop to see if we could dive the next day. We walked all around El Nido looking for dive shops which was no easy task. It was all much more complicated than it should be; restaurants would advertise dive shops, but then when we would find the dive shop, we would then have to find the dive instructor for more information.
We did find a dive shop that was run out of the instructor’s house and bar. The instructor, Barry, was a nice English man that seemed decent. He was the cheapest for the dives at 3000 pesos for 3 dives. We booked our dives for the next day and then walked over to the Art Cafe which is supposedly a good spot to meet people, schedule trips, and get more information about the area.
Art Cafe is a really cool and useful place. Coffee was good, the interior was decorated nicely, decent food, there were a lot of travelers to meet, and there was a booking office to book activities and transportation. What a great idea to create a hub for travelers to get information, book activities, socialize, and hang out.
Dogs playing in the night.
After drinking a latte and checking out how to get to Coron in Northern Palawan, we walked out onto the beach to find a place to eat dinner. We ended up eating at a nice looking restaurant where I ate the hot and spicy squid. It was okay.
- jason
No comments:
Post a Comment