from the long journey from the UK. We stayed in a place called the Panja Resort in Barangay Tagburos… a little far out of town but we were dropped into town by the nice guys at the hotel whenever we wanted to go… for my thoughts on the Panja Resort please see the ‘Accommodation Review Posts‘ section for the Philippines.
For the rest of our arrival day we chilled, swam in the pool, had supper at the hotel and enjoyed the feeling of starting our six month adventure in the Philippines. I also tried out my new drone and took aerial shots of the hotel and surrounding area. Before I left the UK I bought a lightweight DJI Mini 2 drone (perfect for travelling) to try my hand at taking some aerial shots of the places I visited on my trip.
On our first day in Puerto Princesa we had a cheeky lie in and then an okay breakfast of omelette, toast and coffee… I always like to have a couple of eggs for breakfast when travelling for the protein and energy. Also, if I’m staying in a cheap place where perhaps the quality of the breakfast is not great I’ll usually ask them if they can boil me up a couple of eggs for breakfast… can’t go wrong with a couple of boiled eggs and some toast to start the day.
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Our first excursion was to Plaza Cuartel. It’s an outdoor park and a landmark in Palawan that used to be a penal colony during World War II. Initially it was built by the Spanish as a garrison to protect the country from invasion.
During the Japanese Occupation in World War II, it was turned into a penal colony by the Japanese to hold hundreds of American prisoners of war. Towards the end of World War II, when the Japanese knew that they were on the brink of defeat, they decided to execute the prisoners. An air raid warning was sounded to get 150 prisoners into the shelter trenches and then the Japanese soldiers set them on fire using barrels of gasoline. Prisoners who tried to escape the flames were shot down by machine guns. Other prisoners attempted to escape by climbing over a cliff that ran along one side of the trenches but they were then later hunted down and killed. Only 11 men escaped the slaughter.
The remains of the American soldiers were brought back to and buried in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Missouri, United States.
This is just a summary of this terrible act but I’d like to suggest that you read an excellent account of it that has been posted up on Wikipedia.
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Just opposite the Plaza is a cathedral called ‘The Immaculate Conception Cathedral’. Unfortunately, there seemed to be an event going on so I was not able to go inside and check it out. I suggest that if you ever find yourself visiting the Plaza Cuartel then it may be worth checking out the cathedral.
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MAfter visiting the Plaza we wandered the streets for a while soaking in the sights, sounds and smells and then made our way to the Baywalk – everything in Puerto Princesa seems walkable and getting to the Baywalk is pretty straightforward… just ask a local.
Puerto Princesa Baywalk is a long stretch of a well-paved promenade on Sandoval Street and is a popular hangout spot for both locals and tourists alike.
Locals and tourists come to the Baywalk to relax and enjoy the view of the bay. You’ll see many locals jogging, brisk walking, strolling or just hanging out. There a wonderful cool breeze that flows into the bay making it perfect for relaxing and unwinding at the end of the day.
We had a delicious meal of chicken satay sticks, calamari and like a prawn spicy mix with rice from one of the restaurants right on the front… it was delicious. We also had quite a few bottles of Red Horse beer which was very good and very cheap… I say we had quite a few but we did actually end of getting very, very tipsy. It was great fun.
On our second day we pretty much wandered the streets of Puerto Princesa taking in the unfamiliar sights, sounds and smells. Whenever I visit new places I do like to spend a lot of my time there simply walking the backstreets watching the locals getting on with their lives. I seem to get a much better feel for a place doing this than arriving, zooming around the usual sights and heading off to the next place… something I’ve never been keen on… spending time in a place walking the backstreets and people watching seems to help me connect with a new place.
In the evening we did some research on where to eat and headed to a place that served traditional Vietnamese dishes called Pham Chaolong, where we had a deliciously authentic chalalong – a Filipino version of ‘pho‘. I took some video footage of our supper so please find a short clip below… this is my first ever proper travel video so let me know what you think, with suggestions, in the comments
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We took a tricycle back to our hotel each night but unfortunately our journey on the second night did not go to plan. Our hotel was about a 15 minute tricycle ride from the Baywalk area and the last ten minutes or so was over a dirt track full of massive potholes,.. It was petty much the bumpiest ride of my life. It got to the point where the tricycle slid off the road and into the ditch by the side of the road. The poor driver struggled and struggled but it was plain to see that he could go no further, so h told us that our hotel was up ahead and left us to it. We walked on ahead only to find that our hotel was nowhere to be seen. Once we kinda realised this, we retraced our steps towards a light that we thought was our hotel, it was and we managed to get back there safely. However, not before I twisted my ankle in a pothole. Needless to say my foot ballooned up the next day and caused me quite a few problems over the next month or so.
I did take some footage of the tricycle ride back to our hotel, if is interests you please find a link to it below for your entertainment, hopefully it captures a little of what it is like to take a journey in a tricycle… for those of you that haven’t
After two days in Puerto Princesa it was time for us to move on to our next port of call, a beach hut on the coast of San Vincente, Palawan Islands – via Port Barton
