We arrived at Puerto Princesa Airport at around 4:30 pm, a bit late than the 4:15 pm schedule. The airport is rather small for the numerous passengers on-board the planes. Our plane, Zest Air was fully occupied and so is the next plane which is the Air Phil. I can estimate that half of the passengers were foreigners mostly Europeans or maybe Americans. I asked myself why are foreigners more eager to visit Palawan while many Filipinos prefer to go to Hongkong and Singapore ? Are we not as appreciative to the beauty of our own country as they are? I mean, I know generally Filipinos are proud of our country but based on what I saw in the airport, how come there are more foreigners than Filipino travelers in Palawan? I assumed most of the Filipinos in the airport are locals of Palawan, only few were coming from different places in the Philippines so there were really more foreigners than Filipinos travelers.
After Underground River won as one of the New7Wonders of Nature reports took note of the significant increase of tourists in Palawan.
We hired a tricycle just outside the airport. I quickly noticed that the downtown streets of Puerto Princesa City was not crowded at all that you can roam around without heavy traffic. Tricycles are the means of transportation around the downtown proper though there are multicabs and jeeps going to far places of the city. We instructed the tricycle driver to bring us to Badjao Inn to get our Visitor Entry Permit (VEP), an entry permit in order to be able to visit the Underground River.
TIP:
Underground River's Visitor Entry Permit (VEP) is a necessity if you want to go to Underground River for a tour. You cannot visit the place without it.
Secure a permit at Protected Area Management Board office located at Badjao Inn Bldg., Rizal Avenue, Puerto Princesa City. It is about 2 km. from the airport. It is open during office hours: 8AM-5PM.
Go there after arrival at the airport if you don't have a VEP yet. Better yet secure one through travel agency in order to be sure you get your permit at your preferred date.
NOTE:
Because of the gigantic increase of visitors who wanted to go to Underground River, most of the dates are FULLY-BOOKED NOW. I just heard that as of this writting, February 18, the schedule are fully-booked until MAY 2012!!
As to the alternatives on how to get Visitor's Entry Permit (VEP), despite the fully-booked schedule will be discussed in my post soon.
It was almost 5pm, but we took our chance to go and see if we could secure the VEP for the Underground River. Quite expectedly, the office is closed. We took notice of the message written and hanged at the glass door of the office. It reads: Fully booked today, Feb. 16-19, 21-25. We don't really understood it then but I had a hunch that our preferred schedule of Underground River tour is no longer available. WE NEVER THOUGHT THAT THE VISITOR'S ENTRY PERMIT (VEP) IS LIMITED!
We only have until Feb. 23 vacation in Palawan and we plan to go to El Nido, which is a 5-hour drive from Puerto Princesa for some few days. What would happen if we cannot get the Underground River VEP? We cannot visit the much anticipated Underground River. I was really worried then. I would rather lose all other tours except the Underground River. This is what we came here for.Sad as it maybe, I'd rather lose the chance to go to El Nido and Honda Bay but NEVER the UNDERGROUND RIVER.
Brushing off my worry, I calm myself and decidedly to look for an affordable hostel/inn in Puerto Princesa downtown bearing in mind that I we will go back tomorrow. With the same tricycle driver we hired outside the airport (he's very nice BTW because he helped us find an affordable inns although I already have an idea about this) we made some few stops and ask some hostel staffs about their daily rate. Until we arrived at Puerto Princesa Inn at my suggestion and ask for their rates which is the cheapest at Php 750 per night. So we settled in. I heard about this inn/hostel through some Filipino bloggers who have been to this place.
PRINCESA INN
located at Malvar Street, Puerto Princesa City
Room rate : Non-Aircon: Php 400.00 (twin bed)
Aircon room: Php 750.00 (twin bed)
The room is nice enough for it's price. Aircon is a bit noisy but bearable. There is a TV.
At the evening we had our dinner at Kinabuch Restaurant. I read some good reviews about this restaurant in the blogosphere and so we tried it out.
The place as well as the ambiance is nice. A bit crowded almost full packed when we arrived, mostly were foreigners but it's still nice. It's an al-fresco dining with a laid-back attitude.
I love their kinilaw and sizzling shrimp. It's delicious and affordable. The kinilaw has a generous servings of tuna, mango strips, chili, bell pepper and different spices. It's literally and figuratively mouth-watering. I also love the sizzling shrimp although the shrimps were a bit tiny nevertheless I like the combination of it's sweet and spicy flavor. We spent Php 650 all including drinks.
I recommend Kinabuch Restaurant to those who love good food and good ambiance.
KINABUCH GRILL AND BAR
located at Rizal Avenue, Puerto Princesa City
open starting 5pm
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