Solo Travel to Palawan Island, Part 1

Dogs playing in the sand at sunset. Naked children running, splashing, and laughing in the water. A honking motorized tricycle speeding past me, jarring me out of my reverie. 

Palawan Island in the Philippians is a popular tourist destination for its relaxing atmosphere, crystal clear water, amazing snorkeling and diving, a myriad of white sandy beaches, secret lagoons, underground rivers, and much more. 

I had eight days off from work due to the May 1 Labor Day holiday in China. Unfortunately, Martin’s school only gave him three days off, not enough time to do much. A Filipino friend had mentioned how great Palawan was and after discovering it wasn’t too hard or too expensive to get there from Hong Kong, I booked my first solo international flight and first solo vacation.

I love traveling with my husband. We’ve fallen into a comfortable routine when we travel that makes even the most foreign place feel like home. Despite this, I was excited to discover myself in a solo adventure. My confidence traveling has increased tremendously since we left Minnesota back in the summer of 2014 (nearly 4 years ago!). As a result, I only felt excitement for this trip. Anxiety and worry left me alone.

Getting There

I flew into Manila for an overnight layover. Initially I liked this plan, but a delayed arrival and a crowded airport meant only three hours at a dingy hotel in a bad neighborhood trying to get some sleep. Sleep didn’t come.

I arrived in Puerto Princessa, the largest city on Palawan Island by 8:00 a.m. on my first day off. I promptly found a guy with a van who would drive me the 230km (143 miles) north to El Nido, the main tourist town. If you’re lucky, the journey takes about 5.5 – 6 hours due to the curvy, hilly roads and a plethora of small towns. Unfortunately, I was unlucky. My ride took a mere 4.5 hours. As my driver pretended he was in the Indie 500, he also dozed. While I appreciated that he knew the way so well he could do it in his sleep, I would have rather he had stayed awake. 

Finding Happiness

While I had done some research before arriving, I felt no desire to see, eat, or do anything on the list of tourist activities. I wanted to experience Palawan in my own way, not in a way someone else said that I “should” do it. I loved wandering around the small town of El Nido and doing whatever I felt like doing in that moment for as long as I felt like doing it. 

My first night, I found a cafe called Happiness that had a meal that sung me a love song: chickpea salad and freshly baked pita bread with perfectly sweetened (i.e., not too sweet) kalamansi juice served on beautiful wooden plates with a bamboo straw. Toto, I don’t think I’m in China anymore. The quote on the wall said:

A chef must think like a scientist, organize like an accountant, inspire and motivate like an actor, move like a track star, plate like an artist, and cook like a grandma.

Joy.

Exploring by Water

The main thing that tourists like to do is take a boat tour. Every tour operator offered the four standard tours at a standard price. I couldn’t bring myself to sign up for one even if it promised to show me a secret lagoon. Instead, I rented a kayak for an adventure on the water alone. At first, I felt very confident about this idea. Then, I started to question myself: maybe paddling in the sea and snorkeling in an unfamiliar place alone was stupid. 

The kayak rental shop was surprised I was alone. “How many people?” they asked me several times. “Have you kayaked before?” Yes. “Do you know how to swim?” Yes. “You have to wear a life vest.” Good. “Do you know where to go?” No. They showed me a map and told me where to go. They took my name and my hotel information and told me several times to return by 4:30. I felt comforted that they knew where I was going, who I was, and when I should be back; I started to relax.

As soon as I hit the water I was overwhelmed with joy. I knew this was the right decision. The color of the water changed from clear to turquoise to deep blue depending on the depth. I loved watching the fish swim under my boat. I loved the feeling of using my body to move myself through the water. It was a 40 minute exhilarating paddle to the first idyllic beach. I spent the whole day exploring beaches, resting when I got tired, staying for as long as I liked, kayaking and snorkeling whenever I wanted, reading in the shade of a palm tree. There was always another boat or people nearby. I wasn’t alone, nor was it crowded. I was happy and at ease.

I had so much fun that the next day I decided to do it again. Part of me felt guilty for doing the same thing twice. The voice in my head nagged at me: I should try a tour to have a “real” Palawan experience. I should do something new. No! I get to say what I want to do and how I want to experience Palawan, not Trip Advisor or Lonely Planet!

I went even farther the second day. I got scared by a 2 foot lizard. I saw the most beautiful parrot fish while snorkeling; I followed it around as it ate. It was a wonderful day, but I was feeling a little lonely.

Connecting with Others

Even though I met up with some Russians I knew from Shenzhen who were also vacationing in El Nido for some drinks one night, I had had very few other conversations with people and I was starting to feel lonely. Then I realized that the only way to feel less lonely was for me to make the effort to talk to others. 

Besides kayaking, I also went to two morning yoga classes at a nearby hotel. The view of the sea in the morning as I was doing yoga was magical. I made the effort to talk with the other classmates and learned that one of them was a English girl who had just moved to Guangzhou (a city next to Shenzhen). We exchanged WeChats of course. 

Returning to Puerto Princessa

The ride back to Puerto Princessa was also dangerous, but for an entirely different reason – the van was malfunctioning. About two hours from our destination, the driver pulled over and made me and the other girl sitting in the front seat get out. He flipped the seat up to reveal a steaming hot battery and other equipment. No wonder I had been sweating! (I thought the nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit weather was to blame!) After fiddling with it for a few minutes, he asked some of the passengers to help push start the van down a hill. As I jogged behind the van I wondered what I would do if it took off without me. Thankfully, once the van had started, the driver let all the passengers, including me, back into the van. 

Because of the problem with the battery, the AC no longer worked. Fortunately, it was dusk, so it was easier to keep cool. However, the battery problem also affected the lights…No lights and no sun is a problem. For a while we followed another van very closely: oncoming cars could see us. And another van followed behind us: we could see in front of us and those behind us could see us. When those vehicles left us, it became more dangerous on the twisting, hilly, narrow road. 

About 20km from our destination, the van gave up. We got out and waited on the side of the road until another van came to rescue us. I attempted to play with the three puppies that had been traveling with us but they were more interested in running around on their own. I had no worries about this problem. My life was inconvenienced but not in danger. I had paid the driver to take me to Puerto Princessa – it was his job to solve this problem. 

 

The second half of my vacation was unforgettable as well. Read Palawan Island, Part 2 for the details.