SE Asia Travel Part 3

By Noel

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PUERTO PRINCESA

Our next stop on our cruise line vacation busy schedule led us to Palawan Island on December 2nd. One of the intriguing experiences was our arrival at Puerto Princesa, a coastal city on Palawan Island. It is the central gateway hub for accessing different resorts in Palawan by air or sea. Puerto Princesa has history, nature, good food, green landscape, and relaxing beaches. However, I was surprised to see the city's dedication to environmental conservation. 

Before I proceed, don't get caught or mispronounce the word "Princesa ." One of the passengers aboard our cruise line explicitly corrected my wife when she said 'PRINCHESA".' Interestingly, that passenger astutely corrected my wife with the solid verbal pronunciation of the word 'Princesa". Utterly shocked, my wife gave me that look of "whatever" as I silently grinned, facing an elevator bulkhead.

I visited Puerto Princesa in 2019 before the significant COVID-19 pandemic. We flew in then, so there were no major local scenes for the locals to meet the passengers. But this time around, with the cruise line pulling into the port, it's a different story. Somehow, having a significant cruise line tied up in the pier, it's a major scene for locals to meet us with open arms. However, we were treated with a different kind of hospitality. The port is like a military compound with controlled exit and entry. Passengers from the ship, when they disembark, must walk to the gate approximately 500 yards from the port entry gate. 

My wife and I, along with Michelle, Chuck, and Jonathan, decided not to take the excursion offered by the ship (good thing we didn't) as we knew well in advance that the tour took approximately two hours to get to the destination and the boat is due to leave by 8 PM. We wanted to avoid taking those chances of missing the ship, so instead, we decided to do our tour ourselves. Upon our exit at the ship's port entry gate, to my surprise, we were greeted by a massive group of locals wanting our business to offer a tour trip around the city, selling souvenirs, soliciting, asking, and pandering. It wasn't a pretty sight, and I was quite disappointed as Michelle and Chuck were inching close to returning to the ship and saying, "F" this.

We walked up the hill for about 20 yards, and the locals were following us and persistently giving them our business.

My inpatient grew as my natural image (Navy Senior Chief) again displayed, LOL. I felt I must control the scene. I said some explicit words and started speaking their language.

When they heard the different tones of my mouth, the crowd slowly dissipated, showed discouragement, and left the area. That's when I started dealing with some selected locals, and we contracted three tricycles to tour us around the city. Another passenger, a couple (Lee and Joyce) from our ship, was also being scolded by locals, and they decided to join our tour instead. 

If you have yet to experience riding a tricycle, it is a motorized bike with an additional enclosure. The other section involves the third wheel, seating for three people (2 main seats and one more facing it in opposite directions), a roof, a luggage holder space behind, a top and windshield, and front facia taken from any scrap car. The driver rider rides as if he is riding his motorcycle- no changes made to its handle, headlight, etc. As the bike moves, it drags along the enclosure, carrying more people than a small car that is ten times more expensive. The tricycle I was occupying with my wife, and Jonathan struggled to climb uphill as I asked the driver if we could make it. We were doing less than 10 miles per hour as other cars and buses were constantly annoyed to pass us. 

First Tour Stop: Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation (Crocodile Farm and Nature Park)

To my surprise, this place is not just a tourist attraction but a research center and conservation center. The significant species housed in this farm are saltwater and freshwater Indo-Pacific crocodiles. It cost us about 40 Philippine pesos (less than a US dollar) for entry.

An enthusiastic speaker with memorized lines explained the facility and its work, which is based entirely around conservation of the species. She then took us on a walk across an elevated ledge metal grate approximately 12 feet from where the vast and multiple reptiles were waiting for us to fall and get consumed. It took some guts to trust the strength of those corroded metal grates.

 There were other wildlife encounters on the grounds including other reptiles, such as snakes, mammals, and Palawan Peacocks. When in Puerto Princesa, it's worth seeing this conservation place.

Next Stop: Butterfly Eco Garden and Tribal Village

After the Croc experience, an epic glimpse of entirely different worlds witnessing the Butterfly Garden and the Tribal Village culture. It was an inexplicable and exciting sight, as Michelle and Chuck completely missed it. Of course, it costs us about 40 Philippine pesos for entry, as you can enter the place without paying (no one is collecting the ticket). Nonetheless, I was intrigued by the presentation.

A guided tour who entertained us walked us through a netted overhead with butterflies buzzing a makeshift area in the garden.

I have never seen so many colorful butterflies flying all over with engaging storytelling from a well-spoken local.

We spent about fifteen minutes in the park, and we were invited across a road and into the Tribal Village, where the storyteller introduced an indigenous tribe.

The cultural sharing from the natives (non-English-speaking, small, dark-skinned natives) and the cultural presentation was magnificent, as the inhabitants of the islands presented us with handicrafts, music, dances, and hunting techniques as frequently seen in Hollywood" Star Wars" movies as the technique that similarly adapted by the Ewok character at Endor. 

An idea to visit Mitra Farm: 

We were on our way to the Mitra Farm when our tricycle, on an uphill ride, struggled to climb up the road to Mitra. Our driver insisted we make it, but I quickly interrupted him and stopped the other tricycles to turn back instead for safety reasons. I didn't want to take chances of missing ship movement. Looking at the clock, doing that tour with a tricycle with a lawn mower power struggling to climb is impossible. I instructed the driver to take us back to town for souvenir shopping. If you plan on shopping for souvenirs and other gift ideas, Puerto Princesa is the place to go.  I bought cheap items and other cool stuff.

UNDERSTANDING THE LOCALS:

We started the day with rough hospitality, but in the end, our Puerto Princesa day was an excellent experience. I learned that negotiating with the locals gave me a different perspective at the end of the day. Understanding the nature of their economy and poverty, the local's actions in such mannerisms just to get our business and earn a living is heartbreaking, and I was full of sympathy. On a sad note, as I see similar circumstances in the United States, I hate seeing panhandling using children as the common denominator. 

Above is our group with our amazing tricycle drivers from that day.