So we had two full days in Puerto Princesa which was just perfect, there were a few sights to see and it was really pleasant wandering along the Baywalk each evening, having a beer and just watching the locals doing their thing. The next leg of our journey was San Vincente. We had booked to stay in a beach hut in a place called Sunset Colours on Naonao beach and to get there we booked a shared van that would take us to the jetty in Port Barton and then the guys at Sunset Colours arranged to pick us up by boat and take us to our accommodation on Nao Nao.
We booked a shared van with the hotel in Puerto Princesa which cost us US$10 each and it took about 3 hours in total to get to Port Barton. The van was half full when it picked us up promptLy at 10am and after a few more stops in Puerto Princesa it soon filled to full capacity with westerners, there were no local Philippinos at all.
The journey itself was very cramped in the van but it was good to chat with fellow travellers and share experiences of where they had been and where they were planning to go… there was an interesting mix of travellers – some had been travelling for a while (they were knackered) and some were just starting their journey (all mega, mega excited). There was one stop for about 15 minutes by a restaurant where we managed to grab a coffee and some nut brittle to keep us going.
We arrived in Port Barton around 1pm and were due to be picked up from the jetty at 3.00 so we had a couple of hours to kill. Tracy stayed with the luggage and I went for a wander.
We had planned to stay 2 nights in and we did. There’s not really a lot to say about what we did, as we did absolutely nothing. It was good to finally have the opportunity just to kick back a little on the beach after our long haul over to the Philippines and a couple of very hot sightseeing days in Puerto Princesa. We simply chilled – walked the beach, read a lot, took inm some rays and chatted excitedly about our plans and expectations for the next 6 months in South Asia.
Sunset Colours is an OK place to stay and as they were recovering from almost two years of Covid and a massive typhoon in December 2021, nsee below for more on this, I have reserved my judgement and made some allowances for this – for my thoughts on the Sunset Colors please see the ‘Accommodation Review Posts‘ section for the Philippines.
Sunset Colours is an OK place to stay and as they were recovering from almost two years of Covid and a massive typhoon in December 2021, nsee below for more on this, I have reserved my judgement and made some allowances for this – for my thoughts on the Sunset Colors please see the ‘Accommodation Review Posts‘ section for the Philippines.
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On December 16th 2021 Tyhoon Rai, a category 5 super typhoon, hit and devastated western coasts of the Palawan Islands causing heavy rainfall, strong winds, flooding and mass damage to buildings. Noanoa beach was hit particularly badly and as I walked the beach and reviewed the damage I guess about 70-80% of the beach houses had been destroyed. Sunset Colors, where we were staying, sustained considerable damage and there only appeared to be four beach huts out of about twelve that were were in a good state to rent – they had been damaged by the storms but had been repaired.
It was heart breaking to think that the locals, who rely on tourism for their livelihood, had first been hit by almost two years of Covid and then had to contend with the devastation caused by a super typhoon… needless to say, as I was to discover in my travels through the countries of South Asia, the locals kept smiles on their faces and rocked on into the future… such resilient people.
One thing I did notice on our last night was that I had been bitten quite a bit by mosquitos, or at least that’s what I thoughT. It turns out that I had been bitten by something other than mosquitos, which resulted in me visiting a health clinic in El Nido and being tested for blood poisoning – more on this in a later post.
All in all it was a very relaxing two days in our beach hut on Noanoa beach, but now it was time to move on and spend a few days in Port Barton.
