We drove to the Airport to see the tourist bureau and I was given a lot of pamphlets and where I should go first. We left Iloilo in the dust after asking direction a half dozen times, yes, you guessed it no road signs. Getting gas was a real experience too. In town gas stations looked like gas stations but outside the city it is sold in one liter Coke bottles for about 23 pesos in the Sory, sory stores. Oh well it is always raining in Palawan in rainy season I was warned in Boracay that Palawan is very rainy has Dengy and Malaria. But that was part of the adventure. No, I didn’t take any malaria pills I just did what the natives do about it, “nothing!” This time the road was US quality, white concrete and new for miles and miles. Wow, great but around the mountains falling rocks that just stay on the road with no signs. You have to drive knowing that a panic stop is in order at any time. The travel bureau told us it was just a little way for the resort and beaches with a rough road for a few miles called Pacungan. Wrong! It was the road from hell. The bike almost didn’t make it but the scenery was unbelievable. White cliffs and winding roads in the mountains to get to the West side of the island. We stopped to pee and were attacked by hungry mosquitoes so we did that real quick. I seen a big black object cross the road it was a large monkey. We finally get to the resort if you can call it that and looked for a hotel room. It was amazing what they call resorts, but compared to ordinary local houses these places were resorts, everything is relative. We were greeted by some young men who insisted on showing us around. It is natural to suspect anyone in these circumstances but they all turned out to be just friendly and glad to see some tourists. On the beach nipa huts for 300 pesos, the owner will cook. On the other side of town [4 sory-sory stores] there were more nipa huts but no beach. Overnight stays were 100 peso or for the deluxe 200. Again no fruit to be seen. Not even bananas, I thought that to be strange but Oh, well.
To be continued: page 14
