Boracay to Palawan part 2

We arrived in Palawan (Puerto Princesa) early in the morning and checked into a place called Banwa pension where the 5 of us shared a dorm room. The Banwa Pension is also called the Art House because they have local artwork decorating the whole place made mostly by the Palawan tribes. It is a really beautiful place. We spent our first day there relaxing and unwinding from our 36 hours cooped up on a boat. We rented motorbikes and explored the town and the mountains. It was really nice to get some fresh air. Too bad my bike was haunted by what I can only guess was the White Lady of the mountain and every time I tried to drive it she took the handle bars and drove me off the road. So I thought it best that Alex drive and I rode on the back. The White Lady of the Mountain apparently didn't mind him driving so we were ok. It was May 5th and although the guys didn't know about the holiday I told them we all needed to go out for margaritas to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. We found a tiki bar with live music and ordered a pitcher of margaritas. After waiting for about 20min for our drinks I asked the server what the hold up was. I mean I get that Filipino time runs a bit slow but I was getting pretty thirsty. The server told me that they were out of the ingredients for margaritas and they had sent a guy out to the store to buy the stuff. Ok..How long do you think it will be? I asked. He said 20 more min. None of us felt like waiting that long so we ordered beers instead. So much for a Cinco celebration.
The next day the guys went out on a boat to swim with the whale sharks but I couldn't go due to lack of space. I was pretty disappointed but it was ok as I was still so sick from dehydration I think that I stayed in bed most of the day. That night we all went out to play some pool and got home and to bed pretty late. In the wee hours of the morning we were all woken up when Patrick sat straight up in bed and shouted "There's a fu**ing monkey in the room! He just crawled across me!" None of us said anything because of course there was not a monkey in the room but when we asked him about it in the morning he held strong to his story and said that it was not just any monkey but a white monkey that crawled across him in the night. Hmm...must have been the White Lady again. Haha.
We really wanted to go up to Sabang to the underground river but the tours going that way were all really expensive so we made a plan for the next day to rent motorbikes again and drive ourselves. It worked out well, we wound up saving about 600php each and the drive up was absolutely breathtaking! In fact, I think that was the best part. I mean the underground river was really cool but being on the open road and taking in the gorgeous countryside can't be beat. I really wanted to hike the monkey trail and see some real monkeys while we were in Sabang but we didn't really have time after out tour throughout the river. The next morning we made a plan to go up to Northern Palawan to El Nido. The guys wanted to take a private van because it takes less time but it is about 400php more per person. I let them do that on their own and I took the bus. I arrived only 1 1/2 hours later than them and when I got there I found that the place we wanted to stay was booked up so they had to take a more expensive place. It was really nice though. Right on the beach. Matthieu Peter and I shared one room and Patrick and Alex shared another. El Nido turned out to be yet another paradise. So many islands surrounding it and boat tours that go out to tour them. The first day there Peter and I missed the tour that the other guys went on so we decided to rent motorbikes again and try to find a secret beach that I had heard about. I had met a local guy the night before and he offered to come with us and show us around. First he took us to the natural hot springs. We had to park our bikes and walk to them. It is really incredible that water can naturally be that hot. Boiling. You could see the shells from eggs that people had hard boiled in the water. Crazy. You could make a lot of pasta there. Walking back, June (our guide) told me to be careful because in the mud all along the way there were patches of quick sand. Of course I like to squish my bare feet in the mud and I told him not to be silly. Getting sucked in quicksand was something that only happened in the movies. Not 2min after I said that I took a step and slurp.. my whole left leg disappeared. The more I tried to pull it out the further in I sunk. It was really hilarious. I mean who really sinks in quicksand?? The guys pulled me out and off we went to find the secret beach. No wonder this beach is secret...it is nearly impossible to get to. When I was told there was a secret beach I just assumed that that meant it was less crowded than the others. No. It was deserted. It was the longest white sand beach I have ever seen with no one on it. Crystal clear water. Amazing.
The next day I again missed the boat tour with the guys. I had made friends with an Israeli guy Mattan and he and I found our own tour. Two guys named Pip and Tattoo were are tour guides and Mattan and I were the only ones out for the tour so we pretty much got to say where we wanted to go and how long we wanted to stay. It was a perfect day. Snorkeling in turquoise clear lagoons and laying around on white sand beaches. We stayed in El Nido for a couple more days not doing much aside from relaxing. Watching the sunset with friends and bonfires on the beach.
The morning we decided to leave and head to Port Barton we thought it best to take the 5am bus to beat the heat. I of course overslept and had to take the 9am bus without the guys. What was supposed to be a 5 hour bus ride turned into an 8 hour bus ride because we got at least 4 flat tires. I think I must have bad tire karma. It's a good thing I was riding on top of the bus instead of inside because it was so hot that day. I think I may have died of heat stroke otherwise. The bus dropped me off at the road leading to Port Barton (22km away) and the only way in was by tricycle. I was almost there when the tricycle got a flat tire...surprised? Eventually I made it and just in time for sunset. Once again I found myself paradise. This time by the name of Port Barton. We stayed at a really nice place right on the beach where a private room only cost 300php. The electricity in Port Barton is only on from 6pm to midnight. I thought those were weird times to have electricity. I didn't mind though. It was so cool there that you didn't need a fan to sleep anyways. As wonderful as Port Barton was it was probably not the best idea to go there. Me and the guys had booked plane tickets from Puerto to Manila for the following day so we really didn't have much time to do anything there. And we didn't realize that it was going to be nearly impossible to get out of the town. There are tricycles to take you into town but none to take you out so you have to take a private van and it is ridiculously expensive. The guys did this but I had met a group of locals and wanted to spend one more night. My new friends offered to drive me to the main road early early in the morning so I could catch the bus back to Puerto. That night we sat around drinking Tanduay of course. Because of a festival that was going on in the town for the next couple of days they let the power run all night and the towns people set up a disco on the basketball court in town. Me and my new friends all went. I of course walk around barefoot. One of my friends looked down and said "where are your slippers?!" I explained that I don't like to wear them so they said if I wasn't go to wear shoes than they better not either. They all took off their shoes and tucked them into their pants. I thought that was really sweet. When we got into town there were so many people and my new friends were so protective of me! They wouldn't let anyone that wasn't in our circle talk to me or dance with me. We danced for hours and got home late. We all fell asleep in the grass and hammocks outside the resort. We got an hour of sleep at least before having to wake up and drive to the main road so I could catch my bus. I made it on the bus and to the airport with an hour to spare before my flight. Met back up with Alex and Peter and we boarded the plane and flew back to Manila.