We had booked a shared minivan to take us to El Nido, a seaside town. I don’t know why it is called “the nest” in Spanish but it feels like it is named after a Nestle infant milk powder. The ETD was 0930 but we had to ready at 0830 in case we were collected early in the pick-up route around town. We were collected at 0815, as soon as we had finished our breakfast.
After going around town a bit to collect other people, we eventually hit the road in earnest around 0930. The van was cramped. We had one meal break in Roxas which I used to stretch my legs too. The road was unsealed and dusty in parts but it was far from the worst rides I’ve experienced.
I enjoyed the scenery along the way. Parts were very lush with coconut groves while others were drier. Palawan is sparsely populated and the land is rather untouched. So, rivers run clear and there isn’t much litter. Rather paradisical, really.
We reached El Nido about 1530 and checked into the Strong Tower Inn which Karsten had booked by phone during the journey. We had agreed to share a twin room in light of the tight accommodation situation in El Nido. His friends were staying at the same place.
All five of them study and live in Beijing. I later understood that the place is so busy due to Chinese New Year. Many expats from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea are all holidaying in the region.
We grabbed dinner at Pukka, one of many beach-side restos in El Nido. The food was great, as was the location.
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- El Nido beach looking rather quiet when I arrived in the late afternoon.
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- El Nido beach looking rather quiet when I arrived in the late afternoon.
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- Our hotel is located in a residential area. I would have like to be on the waterfront. But it doesn’t make a difference when you’re out on the water all day.
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- Our hotel is located in a residential area. I would have like to be on the waterfront. But it doesn’t make a difference when you’re out on the water all day.
