Puerto Princesa City Tour

Dec 6, 2017

I scheduled our city tour on my birthday. I contacted Kuya Ricky a few days before this and was really grateful with him saying yes even in short notice. I'm sure you'll never regret to have a city tour with him. You can contact him through these numbers: 09157816964 (globe) and 09194074955 (smart).

After breakfast, Kuya Ricky came and got us on his tricycle which can fit 2-3 persons. These were the places we visited:

1.Immaculate Conception Cathedral

Entrance fee; Free

It was under renovation at the time of our visit. Kuya Ricky said the feast is on December 8. There was a mass going on when we came so we just stayed outside.

2. Plaza Cuartel

Entrance fee: free

This is where more or less 150 American soldiers were massacred by Japanese troops. Some soldiers managed to get away by swimming to the sea to the Iwahig River. Now it has been transfromed to a leisurely park.

3.The Boulevard

Entrance fee: Free

The area comes alive during night time especially that they have erected a huge Christmas tree near it. And since it was still daylight, there were only a few people. One thing I have noticed about Puerto Princesa is that the city is very clean. People are do not litter anywhere.

4.  Kuyba Almoneca.

Entrance fee: 100 pesos

It is a private property with 2 caves. The first cave contained a stone formation which looked like the face of Jesus.

The second cave had a very tiny entrance and I was shocked to see what was inside.

There were 2 pools of spring water. Guests are able to enjoy the pool.

I can say that the place is more on the religious side. There is also a tiny but serene chapel where we stayed for a few minutes.

5. Butterfly Farm

Entrance fee: 50 pesos per person and 40 pesos for Senior Citizens.

I really thought that I would be bored in this place but I was wrong.

It was like a mini zoo for me. First off, our guide showed us a millipede whose a cousin of the centipede. I used to see this as a child in our old house's backyard and I used to kill them because they look scary. But the guide said that they have a good use in the ecosystem and are already a bit rare nowadays.

Next he showed us a pet gecko brought from the pet shop. Very different from the house geckos that bites people. This one is very behaved and cute.

Next one is the scorpion. Sorry I didn't hear much of what he said because I was in awe of him touching it. I remembered he said that when UV light will hit its shell, the color is actually blue. 

These are larvaes that the supplier gives to the farm and will hatch in a few days to become beautiful butterflies. Heaps of them!

Also saw the Palawan Bearded Pig sleeping in his room because it is a nocturnal creature. The same as that of the Palawan Bear Cat

Next up, we went to the Palaw'an Village which is still part of the Butterfly Farm. Our guide was very knowledgeable about them and showed us their musical instruments, the bag used they use to hold their things and their hunting tools which are all amazing. We also got to have a picture with them. 

Saw this nice map of the province of Palawan outside the Butterfly Farm.

We then went to Ka Inato for lunch. Since it was my birthday, I invited Kuya Ricky to join us. We had their pancit, lechon kawali and shrimp. We reserved dessert for later and headed on to our next destination.

6. Mitra's Ranch

Entrance fee: free

We saw an aerial view of PP here. There were activities such as horse back riding and zip lining. People can come into the Mitra House but they have to pay a fee of 20 pesos for the maintenance. 

7. Baker's Hill.

Entrance fee: Free

This is just a few meters from Mitra's Ranch. I liked it there because its like a place where you can take lots of selfies and also has a viewing platfrom. They have an aviary which includes different kinds of birds and beautiful peacocks. Their bakery is one of the must go to places because they have affordable baked goods which can be gifts for people back home. I recommend their hopia which is about 50 pesos for 1 box and contains 10 hopias already. I also love their choco crinkles shaped into bite sizes for 25 pesos. The one I bought didn't even reach Cebu because I gobbled them all up while waiting at Puerto Princesa Airport. 

We also headed to the Pasalubong center (8) to buy gifts for people back home. The shop sells pearls, wallets, shirts, ref magnets and keychains.

My sister was amazed that Palawan Pawnshop really originated in Palawan. Their main office and head office is in Puerto Princesa. She could not pass the opportunity not to have her photo taken in one of these popular places to send money. 

To cap off our tour, our stop number 9 and the last stop was at Noki Nocs where we tasted their famous Halo-halo. Yes, it was a delicious way cap to our whole day tour. It was easy and comfortable for all of us and I did not regret trying out a tricycle tour in the city.

Thank you for reading and 'til next blog! ;)

Puerto Princesa Underground River Tour

Dec 5, 2017.

We were a bit tired from the trip the night before but we had to wake up early for our Underground River Tour. I had a very good sleep because of Inn Greenspace's very thick and heavenly mattress and pillows. Although our breakfast was not prepared early by the kitchen staff, they gave us bread and bananas for take away since our pick up for the tour came in early.

The van contained 10 of us tourists: 6 Filipinos, 2 Belgians and 2 Scottish couples to be exact. Our tour guide was Marie who was very enthusiastic. The drive to the Underground River was about 1 hour and 30 minutes and instead of waiting in the port where there are a lot of tourists, Marie gave us an option. We can either do the Mangrove boat tour or the Zipline. Majority of the group voted for the Mangrove Tour and so all of us went on a boat to see and learn about Mangrove Trees. This costs 350 pesos per person.

Fun facts I gained from the Mangrove Tour:

1. Mangrove trees are either male or female. This can be distinguished with their leaves.

2. Mangrove fruit is elongated and are eaten by monkeys.

3. The crocodiles get stuck in the mangrove roots and so they are not seen in the area.

After the tour, we had lunch which was included in our package. It consisted of Filipino dishes such as pancit, adobo and fried chicken. We ordered another dish, the Tamilok or wood worm. It is one of the must try exotic food in Palawan. It was scary to taste at first but when you do so, it tastes like squid.

We then went to the port where we rode a small boat to where the Underground River was. We transferred to a second boat with a rowing boatman to get into the cave. The staff made sure that our audio device was working before heading inside.

The Underground River is pretty big - 8 kilometers long and was explored by the group Laventa. Only 1.2 kilometers is navigable by boat. I liked that there is an audio device wherein you can clearly hear the information about the site. There were a lot of bats and stone formations - stalagmites and stalactites formed by nature. There is a part of the Underground river named as the Cathedral where stones are somehow shaped like that of a big candle, of Mother Mary and of the 12 Apostles. I can't help but tilt my head and stare upwards and open my mouth (but opening the mouth is not advised as there are a lot of bats and their poop may be land in your mouth!)

After the tour, we were brought back to Puerto Princesa City and dropped back to our respective hotels.

I am super happy to have had the chance to visit this UNESCO world heritage site. This one is now  checked on my list. Thank you for reading and 'til next blog! :)

Our Trip to Puerto Princesa, Palawan

I saw a promo flight from Cebu to Puerto Princesa which falls on my birthday and persuaded my sister for our annual family trip. She agreed and off we went for my birthday. I want to share with you all how I arranged our trip and fell in love with Puerto Princesa. 

Flights:

AirAsia has 1 direct flight to Puerto Princesa from Cebu daily. This was the flight I chose for our trip and was scheduled to depart 1845 and arrive PPS (Puerto Princesa) at 2000H. Our departure was delayed for about 30 minutes but we didn't mind it too much because we were excited. The promo I got was 990 pesos for 1 person.

Since my sister didn't want to fly back to Cebu late at night, we opted to buy our return ticket with Cebu Pacific. Our flight was supposed to depart PPS at 1230H but was delayed to 1330H and finally left PPS at 1600H. It was an excruciating wait at the airport but we had no choice but to do so. The promo fare I scored was 999 pesos for 1 person.

So for 1 person, the total flight cost was about 2,000 pesos. 

Accommodation

There are tons of accommodation options in PPS. Me and my sister researched for nice hotels near or in the city. I capped our budget and found Inn Greenspace which is at the heart of the city and just a few minutes walk to the center of action. For 3 persons in a room and for 3 nights and with breakfast included, we paid a total of 4,700 pesos. What a great bargain! I also love that they have free wifi and gave us free pick up and drop off to the airport.

Underground River Tour

our tour mates for the Underground River.

This is one of the must see sites  in Puerto Princesa. There are heaps of agencies and hotels that offer the tour which ranges from 1700 pesos to 2200 pesos. One has just to read reviews of these agencies and research a lot. For the three of us, I paid Tripidito Travel a total of 4,800 pesos for the whole day tour which includes pick up, buffet lunch, and environmental fee. 

I will write a separate blog about our Underground River Tour :)

City Tour

I opted not to take advantage of the city tours offered by popular agencies because they cost a lot. While doing my research, I found out that there are tourism accredited tricycle drivers that do the tours. I was lucky that I came across Kuya Ricky's number from another blogger and messaged him if he can do a tour for us. This was just a few days from our trip and he obliged. For our city tour, I paid a total of 600 pesos. You can contact Kuya Ricky at 09157816964(globe) or 09194074955(smart). He is very kind and knowledgeable about Puerto Princesa and we had a great city tour with him. 

I will write a separate blog about our PPS City Tour :)

Some fun things I learned while visiting PPS:

1. Their dialect is Kuyunin or Cuyonon. It is a mix of Visaya and Spanish therefore we can understand some words but they generally speak to Filipino tourists in Tagalog.

2. There are a lot of Opp Shops or Wag-wagan (ukay-ukay) in the city. For me who loves to get nice fashion in cheap prices, this is truly paradise.

3. It is the greenest city in the Philippines and has strict laws about tree cutting.

Our itinerary:

Dec 4: 1915H - departed Cebu City

            2030H - arrived Puerto Princesa. We immediately found our driver waiting for us :)

            2045H - Check in, freshen up, dinner and sleep

Dec 5: 0700H - breakfast at hotel

            0730H - pick up for Underground River Tour

            1630H - back to the city

            1730H - explore some Op Shops (ukay-ukay), dinner, watch news

Dec 6: 0800H - breakfast at hotel

            0930H - start City Tour

            1130H - Lunch at Ka Inato

            1330H - Mitra's Ranch

            1400H - Baker's Hill

            1700H - dinner

Dec 7: 0800H - breakfast at hotel

            1130H - left for airport

            1600H - depart PPS

            1700H - arrive Cebu

This is just a simple itinerary because we now like vacations that are not so busy and with enough time to relax and sleep.

I want to come back to PPS in the future and also try their Iwahig Firefly Tour. Please stay tune for my blogs about PPS Underground River Tour and City Tour. Thank you for reading and 'til next blog! :)