As the typhoon is blocking our further route to Coron, we drive three and a half hours south again by minivan. Shortly after Roxas, we change to a trike. It takes us an hour through the mist-shrouded rainforest mountains to the west side of Palawan to the small coastal town of Port Barton. At some point, the trike driver says “Oh oh, the road is in bad condition.”. An euphenism par excellence.
The road ends up being a single 15 cm deep muddy track with deep ruts and large puddles. Our driver rocks them all and gets a big tip. We get into our accommodation right on the beach and walk a few minutes over to the “centre”. Port Barton is the first place on this trip that really feels Filipino. Bankas in the bay, not too many and not too few people. Good cheap restaurants right under the palm trees on the cosy sandy beach slow us down nicely.
The weather forecast for the next day looks much better in Port Barton than in the north of Palawan. So off we go again with kite and board on a banka to go island hopping. There are loads of little Robinson Islands in the sea off Port Barton. Some are inhabited only by fishermen, others are home to modest resorts. On the second island, the wind is blowing quite well onshore from the south-west at 20 to 25 knots. The beach is quite crowded and the tall palm trees are only ten metres downwind – but after a week of travelling, it’s time to go kitesurfing.
I set up the 10m and look for a launch helper. The spot is too small and the wind too strong for the inexperienced. I search the whole small island. Nobody has ever launched a kite before. A little frustrated, I pack up again. Just a few minutes later, a nasty last spur of the typhoon suddenly chops across the island with heavy rain and gusts of around 60 knots. All the travellers take refuge in the only shelter. The palm trees bend into a hail of coconuts. Life jackets and plates fly away in the horizontal rain. Bankas are torn loose, the captains tug at the ropes. I rescue shoes and a rucksack on our banka off the island.
A good hour later, the spook is over. I hope it was the last tail of the typhoon. Even though it’s quite funny to experience a week of binary rain (0 to 100 in one second) or to be steam-cooked in permanent humidity between 80 and 90% – I’ve had enough. I’m glad I didn’t go out and remember: even in the last foothills of a typhoon, laminar wind can apparently suddenly turn into a storm. The rest of the tour goes without a hitch.
Once again there is no internet until the next morning when we set off for the harbour of Puerto Princesa in the next minivan and trike. There is a third company that offers a small ferry to Cuyo – if the Philippine harbour authority lifts the complete ban on all shipping that is still in place after the typhoon.
Behind the national Philippine hip hop dance competition taking place in the centre today, we bump into the good Adam again. He tells us about the devastating typhoon damage in El Nido. The power was out for several days. The next morning, we have a good dinner at the highly acclaimed Ka Lui and learn that the four-day complete shipping ban due to the typhoon has finally been lifted. We buy a cheap ticket for the 16-hour crossing on the “MV Blessed Journey” over to Cuyo. May they live up to their name…
Frank Woelky, born in 1973. Kitesurfer since 1998. Since 2006, I have been combining kitesurfing and web design on trips lasting several months off the beaten track.