Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and, with a population of over eleven million inhabitants; by far it’s the largest city. Its high-rise buildings, heavy traffic congestion, intense heat and naughty nightlife may not immediately give you the best impression — but don't let that mislead you. It is one of Asia's most cosmopolitan cities with magnificent temples and palaces, authentic canals, busy markets and a vibrant nightlife that has something for everyone.

For years, it was only a small trading post at the banks of the Chao Phraya River, until King Rama I, the first monarch of the present Chakri dynasty, turned it into the capital of Siam in 1782, after the burning of Ayutthaya by Burmese invaders but they did not take over Ayutthaya. Since then, Bangkok has turned into a national treasure house and functions as Thailand's spiritual, cultural, political, commercial, educational and diplomatic centre.

Bangkok is served by two airports: Suvarnabhumi Airport and Don Muang Airport. Suvarnabhumi Airport is used by almost all airlines in Thailand.  For our case, we departed Singapore by 5:30PM and reached Bangkok at 7:00PM. From Suvarnabhumi Airport (สุวรรณภูมิ, pronounced "soo-wanna-poom"), there are different ways to go to the city. You can take taxi, airport link or minivan. But taking the airport link is the fastest and cheap way if you are on budget, but if you are a bunch of 4 then taking taxi is reasonable.

Upon touchdown at Bangkok, we went to Immigration section. To our surprise, there are a lot of tourists who just arrived. We were able to clear immigration after an hour perhaps. Then we proceeded to buy ticket from Airport Link to Phaya Thai. 

 

It is actually a token where you tap on the station gate and drop it when you arrive at your destination. 

Then we took BTS Skytrain from Phaya Thai to Phra Khanong, actually Ekkamai is nearer to where we stayed during our trip.

We stayed at Aravinda home living, it is not actually a hotel but a type of what I would refer as inn. The room is 115 SGD for 4 nights (2 pax). It is cheap but I wouldn’t recommend this place because it is not near the city area and you will need to walk to the BTS for at least 15 mins.

Breakdown for Day 0:

This blog has been long overdue, nevertheless it is better late than never… :)

Puerto Princesa — one of the cleanest and greenest cities in the Philippines, dubbed as The City in a Forest. It is home to the famous Underground River, to the beautiful islands of Honda Bay, and to a lot of other unique and wonderful sights.

It’s a famous tourist destination among locals and foreigners alike. The only problem is that visiting the sights can sometimes get too costly. Although the prices for the tour packages are more comfortable and hassle-free, a cheaper alternative is to do it the backpacker’s way. Of course this means roughing it out! I shall share with you our itinerary and experiences we had on our trip.

My sister and I went to Palawan (Puerto Prinsesa) trip on February 7-9, 2013. We took Cebu pacific flight via Cebu and reached there almost noon time, and took flight back around noon time on the last day. So basically, the trip is around 1.5 days only.

Upon arriving at Puerto Prinsesa airport, we took tricycle to our hotel which is approx 15 mins drive and cost PHP 60. Inform tricy driver to bring you to Aniceto Pension in Roxas St, Corner Reynoso St. We stayed at Aniceto’s Pension House, I sent an email to the owner, Ms. Tess, asking for any vacant room on the date of our tour. We reserved a standard fan room for 2 which costs PHP 550 only, and later she upgraded it to aircon room for free. Yey! And take note, no down payment is required!




DAY 1: Honda Bay – Baker’s Hill – Hotel

We negotiated with the same tricycle driver to take us to Sta. Lourdes Wharf for Honda Bay Island Hopping and Baker’s Hill afterwards. We agreed on PHP 600. After checking-in and securing our things, then off we start our tour.

The boat rental price ranges from PHP 1,300-1,800 depending on the seating capacity and motor power. The maximum number of people the smallest boat can carry is 6 while other boats can carry as many as 12-14 people. In our case, we actually do not mind sharing the boat with other tourists, but then we can’t wait to get to the waters to start the tour! Hence, We shared the 6-seater boat which is PHP 1300 with 1 Caucasian men. If you already have the assigned boat, proceed to the cashier and pay for the boat rental. On the adjacent window, pay for the terminal fee for PHP 45.00/head. And environmental fee of PHP 10.00/head

Then you are ready to go island hopping!

So, we only spent PHP 805/head for the island hopping tour and tricycle, while booking for tour package will cost PHP 1600/head. It would be cheaper if you are 6 people in the boat.

Take note that the following entrance fees are on top of the mentioned fees (as of this writing):
     Pambato Reef: PHP 50/head
     Lu-Li Island: PHP 60/head
     Pandan Island: PHP 125/head
     Star Fish Island: PHP 50/head
     Cowrie Island: PHP 75/head

You will pay these entrance fees at the island itself so it is up to you if you go down from your boat and visit all 5 islands or not. Your motorboat rental comes with two boat men: the captain who is in-charge of the navigation and the one acting as the tourist guide who will be in-charged of you in the islands.

HONDA BAY

First stop is Pambato Reef.

Pambato Reef is for snorkeling only. You can easily recognize it because of its floating cottage with a giant pawikan/sea turtle roof. According to our tour guide, it is best to take the Pambato Reef snorkeling first (in the early morning) when the waters are still. At the cottage, all snorkelers will receive the instructions on how to use your snorkel set and the do’s and don’ts of the Pambato Reef snorkeling activity. You don’t need to worry if you can’t swim. Your tour guide has their life rings so you can just hold on to the ring and snorkel while he moves you around!

Second stop is Lu-Li Island.

Lu-Li Island or the Lulubog-Lilitaw Island was named as such because it cannot be seen during high tide (lulubog) and can only be visited during low tide (lilitaw). The island is mainly for swimming and fish feeding.

Last stop is Cowrie Island.

Cowrie Island is definitely good for just for lazing around and swimming. It’s very clean shoreline, and turquoise to sky blue to deep blue waters is very tempting that you just wanted to jump off the boat. But we decided to just take photos of this beautiful island.

After taking some photos of the Cowrie Island, we texted the tricycle driver so he can start driving to the port to fetch us while we head to the wharf. We ended the island hopping at around 5 PM.

After saying thank you to those men who kept us safe across the bay and who made our Honda experience informative and fun, we are ready to head to Baker’s Hill.

BAKER'S HILL
Entrance Fee: free

As the name implies, it is home to one of Puerto Prinsesa must -taste: Baker’s Hill Hopia. Well apart from their hopia, every food they sell is really addictive! Their chocolate crinkles really brought out my sweet-tooth! If you come here, make sure to allocate a generous budget for food because the place just makes you want to eat, and eat, and eat! Apart from their food and restaurant, their landscaped gardens and playground makes it perfect for a family hang out.

We had dinner at restaurant and cost us PHP 347 

After dinner we bought hopia at the bakery before tricycle driver bring us back to hotel. Hopia is around PHP 35/ box of 10.


DAY 2: Hotel – Underground River – Mangrove Tour – Ugong Rock Caving and Spelunking – Hotel

Today we booked via tour because you need permit to visit to Underground River. We actually seek Ms. Tess to help us find a tour. The Underground River Tour + Lunch is PHP 1500/head and the tour guide brought us to even more places but admission fees at our own expense. Other places include Mangrove Tour, Ugong Rock Caving and Spelunking and Zipline.

The tour guide picked us up 7AM at our hotel and also picked up other tour participants. It was approximately an hour and a half van drive to Puerto Prinsesa Underground River (PPUR) from the city.

When we got there our guide reported to the Tourism office before we boarded a motorized pump boat to the Underground River cove. We passed by many beautiful limestone cliffs along the way. The waters are a deep blue and light green close to shore and easy on the eyes. That boat ride is only about 15 minutes long.


We then landed in a cove with a large limestone cliff and it was a short walk to the next cove through indigenous trees

Along the way you might be lucky to see one of huge monitor lizards, locally called "bayawak". Then you will board a small paddle boat and a boatman who will do his best to amuse, entertain and educate you to the treasures of the PPUR. The waters outside the cave are usually a beautiful turquoise blue. The entire tour inside the river cave takes 45 minutes.

One person will be assigned to hold the very large flashlight and will be directed where to point it by the canoe (banca) guide. Just when you begin to focus on one great stalactite or stalagmite, he will be on to the next one. Digital cameras have a hard time focusing in the dark cave with only the flashlight as light source.

It's dark and humid in the cave and there are bats and starlings flitting about. The guide explains you can't swim in there because the water is brackish, which is to say, the fresh water mixed with the sea water. Watch this youtube video for some idea of the tour

After the underground river tour, we went back to Sabang Wharf for buffet lunch and more photo session...


Then the tour guide brought us to the Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour. To get there, one will need to make a 15 minute trek from Sabang’s port area through Sabang beach resorts. And arriving at the starting point, one will need to register and pay PHP 200 to join the boat tour. The tour offers an educational tour by boat through Sabang’s mangrove forests. 

The highlights of this tour is to try woodworms or ‘tamilok’ as they are called locally. Tamilok is favorite dish of the locals. It is not actually worm but a type of mollusk. It lives inside dead woods and best eaten raw with vinegar. Look the Chinese tourist happily gulp in the tamilok... brave!



Then last stop of our tour is the Ugong Rock. Ugong Rock, found at Brgy. Tagabinet, North part of Puerto Prinsesa has taken its name from the echoing sound of the rocks produce when tapping it. Ugong Rock Adventures offer a different kind of experience. You would climb up through steep rocks, pass through narrow passages and cry your heart out at their zipline, where they boast of to be the fastest zipline in the country. Entrance is another PHP 200.

After a full day of sight-seeing and adventure, our tour guide drop us off at our hotels.

DAY 3: Last Day

We just head for brunch before heading to airport. If I recall correctly, we had bistek, caldereta and mango shake. The meal was about PHP 420.