The Van Ride: The Seven Hour Journey to Puerto Princessa to El Nido

So there is no direct flight I could get my hands on from Shanghai directly to El Nido so my trip consisted of a flight from Shanghai to Manila, then Manila to Puerto Princessa then a 7 hour bus ride to Tapik Beach, my hotel about 45 minutes away from Downtown El Nido.



Right off the start my transport van waited for me at the airport with a little handwritten sign with my name on it, and despite the one and a half hour delay from Manila to Puerto Princessa on the Cebu Airline I managed to get the last only good seat on the van.  Both of my flights had been delayed which gave this shotgun front row seat the start of an epic adventure I would embark on.

(To be frank, do not book Cebu Airlines. They're always running late, flights are always delayed, and are a pain in the ass especially if you have a connecting flight to catch the same day. I have spoken to employees of the airline and even immigration officers and they all say the same thing, book with another airline next time.)



The van was taking me to El Nido and dropping me off directly to my hotel in Tapik Beach. Thankfully it was booked by the wife of the owner of the hotel after brief email exchanges.
The van was full in the back seats and the only available seat was up at the front next to the driver and it turned out to be for the best. I had a whole 180 degree uninterrupted view of the 7 hour road trip. I felt like I had won the seat lottery because there were many beautiful and breathtaking views  my eyes encountered.



The driver was very friendly and talkative (Yes, he spoke English). I guess not many people spoke to him and seeing how our van was extremely quiet, I was more than willing to ask him questions on the day to day life in the Philippines. I asked him on the places we were passing by. He pointed out a few local places with great food and local famous places like the biggest cemetery in the entire island. I cracked a joke when I noticed a large banner in front of the cemetery in large font saying

"Open for Business" 

earning a few chuckles even from that silent passengers in the back seats.

The Avengers and Batman family business trike.

I had done a bit of weather investigation I checked google for an 11 day weather forecast and I saw it was going to rain during my entire stay. However, during the trip, it rained on an off and between the stormy grey clouds, there were large streams of sunlight beaming down everywhere shining through like little patches of hope that my trip would not always be gloomy.

Now, the driver of the van was a total pro who would probably put the best NASCAR driver to shame. Hands down, the most frightening and yet exhilarating mini road trip I have even been in.
He rode through curves, and passed slower motor vehicles, whether they were motorbikes, trikes, cars, trucks, or ox pulled carts, he out maneuvered them with the slickness of a car salesman and seasoned veteran NASCAR driver. I often glanced at the speedometer and the needle mainly titter-tottered between 120kmp to 100kmp and occasionally slowing down to honk at something blocking the road or slowing down when passing through bridges and sometimes he'd also slow down just to get past the sharp curves of the road.

I took pictures on and off whenever I could but we were going too fast for me to get any great pictures without them being blurry. In fact, the majority pictures I did manage to get, were blurry or shaky due to the bumpy road and the speed we were going. 

We stopped a few times because needed a 5 minute leg stretch. None of the other passengers got off. The third time the driver stopped, this time for gas, I loudly asked anybody if they wanted to get off to stretch their legs a bit or buy a cold drink from the little gas station store. Almost immediately, all the passengers became animated and all of them got off to stretch their legs or whatever. 10 minutes later we were back on the road and a happier me was finally able to doze on and off this time.

Now this road was nothing like we first worlders are used to. For one, this was strictly two lane roads, one for coming, one for going. And two, we were constantly reminded we were right in the middle of jungle, sometimes we were side by side endless rice fields, and small cluster villages. I was exhausted out of my mind but I couldn't look away. It was like watching a Nat Geo episode through the windshield of the van. Sometimes there was no cemented road, only an endless red dirt and muddy road that was only one lane but could manage two vehicles if exact precision and prowess was used. It was eye opening and exhilarating to be able to witness first hand how people really had to live with mud and dirt roads, endless green pastures, and houses--houses that were made of bamboo and leafy thatched roofs.

Think of a tiki house. That's how people's houses looked like but bigger or smaller. Some had tin roofs, others had metal bars over the windows. Some even had mosquito nets on instead of glass panel windows. In fact, most of the houses I saw had no glass windows and the houses were on a raised platform of what seemed to be more bamboo sticks. Houses on stilts.

A lot of areas here on the road had warning signs on the road that it has a heavy flood area so that really did explain why the majority of the houses were on a raised platform with plenty of space under the houses.

I also saw many dogs everywhere. Lots of dogs. They are on sides of the roads, resting or walking peacefully behind people, or playing with children, or each other. Regardless of where we were on the road, the dogs would not be far. Unfortunately, because dogs were everywhere, and cars would drive fast sometimes, it was not uncommon to pass by a dog that was run over in the middle or on the side of the road.

We reached downtown El Nido around 6pm and dropped the first batch of tourist. When I saw how close I was to the famous El Nido clusters of Mountain, it really hit me. If someone had told me that at my age, I would get a chance to stay for two weeks in this paradise that I had dreamt of going since I was kid when I based a school project on Philippines, I would have laughed in their faced not believing it for a single second.

I was really here, on an island in the Philippines where I never thought I would ever get a chance to see at 28.

El Nido itself was crowded, obviously more touristic than any of the towns we passed by, and also much bigger. Seeing other transport vans carrying other tourist causing traffic congestion while they stopped to drop off other as the motorbikes taxis, and other transport vans beeping at each other, trying to pass one another on the narrow dirt road. It was certainly busy and a bit overwhelming for the senses after a magical and serene ride through peaceful sceneries. Food, car exhaust, people noise, music, and rolled together with the briny saltiness in the air that came from being so close to the sea, inundated my senses. Needless to say, when headed back on the narrow road 25 minutes later, I was very much relieved.

I know its blurry but it was REALLY a bad bumpy road, and it was hard to take a stable picture.

Two of of our passengers got off at Nacpan, a seriously adventures trek though a wooden bridge, mud caked roads, and another dangerously precarious bridge held up mainly by mud and rocks and cement planks stretched out large enough for car tires to get across. By this time, the sun was past the horizon, coating the sky in a bright multitude of orange, pink, and purple  streaks across the sky that faded to the dark blue that comes when the night chases the sun.

The roads had zero street lights and there were no house lights. The only lights the driver had to work with were the quickly fading light of the sunset and the headlights.

Under the cover of the night, already pushing past 7pm  the last of the passengers were dropped off so it was only me and the driver and the endless dark road. He pulled up to a small entrance on the tiny street, barely able to fit the width of the van. I could see thought the little bit of dim headlights that the road looked like sand now, and when we passed the entrance of the of the little street, it opened up to a field of darkness. Occasionally the driver avoided hitting large rocks and coconuts. That's when I finally heard it. The fain sound of water rippling in soft waves. We were on the beach but I couldn't figure out where the water was since the right side had little shacks and more homes were there.

The driver came to a stop on the beach in front of the shack and we were greeted by friendly barks and waggly tails and soon, the guesthouse staff. Everyone was extremely polite, helping me with my backpack and suitcase. They gave me my first full meal of the day then showed me to my cottage where I took a cold shower, and passed out from all the excitement of the journey I endured.

I shall write another post(s) about my adventures in the Philippines.

Until next time!

Zai Jian!