The journey to Puerto Princessa takes almost three hours. At peak times, there are only 47 passengers and around 1.2 tonnes of fish in / around / on the jeepney. We would have liked to stay a little longer on Sabang’s beautiful beaches. But I finally need internet again. And electricity. And laundry that is clean and dry after washing.
Uli hits the bull’s eye with her choice of accommodation: Lotus Garden isn’t cheap, but it’s an absolute dream. We spend the last few days in a Japanese pavilion above a pond with koi and water lilies. Fine wood, air conditioning, TV and walk-in shower, plus an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet in the evening. Internet at 5kB/s seriously sends me into a speed frenzy.
The staff walk around in kimonos or karate chaps. The boss has a black belt, the staff have a red belt and the counter tuck, which is apparently mandatory for every Filipino restaurant, has a pink belt. Delicious, even if Uli forbids me to talk to him about it. I retire to my room, switch on the 24-hour Videoke channel on TV and sing Christmas carols in Tagalog with a light heart. Shortly afterwards, Uli forbids me to do that too.
Puerto Princesa, with its 200,000 inhabitants, is the capital of Palawan and doesn’t have much to offer apart from relatively untouristed real Philippine life. Prices are generally quite low. There are few hotels, tourists and sights. Wait, there are over 100 kilometres of paved roads here. You can’t beat the feeling! We hire a scooter and tour around. There’s a hustle and bustle on the harbour promenade. Only an hour later are we told: this is the Christmas market, so we’ve just been Christmas shopping.
A shopping centre opens. We run in mainly because of the air conditioning. Inside, the market criers outdo each other with the MW output figures of their systems. As Filipinos generally only live for the now, tinnitus doesn’t play a role. Shopping is fun here – for us and for the Filipinos. We joke about what they call “XXL”. And the Filipinos just look up and grin at us.
The nearby Butterfly Garden is definitely worth a visit. Right before my eyes, a 15 cm butterfly dies of old age – it simply falls off the leaf. A little later, I overload the off-road capability of the scooter, which ends in a flat tyre. As everywhere in the Philippines, the nearest “Vulcanising Shop” is only 100 m away. “Vulcanising” is to be taken literally here. Instead of a chemical reaction, flambéing is favoured here: Cut out rubber patches, place them on tyres, clamp them in a press, pour petrol over them and light them. wait 15 minutes. Done. Cost: a nice 50 cent.
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.