Palawan has always been the dream.
Hang on, I’ll say that again for good measure: Palawan has always been the dream.
This is why when it got announced that we would have the Youth for Christ International Conference in Palawan for 2014, I never second-thought. I was going.
And boy, was I going to enjoy it.
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Palawan is an island province in the Philippines and is part of the 4B (MIMAROPA) region. It is the largest province in the country in terms of area of jurisdiction, and – and this is a highly subjective, although also severely true observation – is the cleanest place in the country.
No wonder people call it one of the most beautiful places in the world.
We spent 5 days in Puerto Princesa for the conference and 2 days in El Nido, and even with all the sights we’ve seen and treasures we’ve stumbled upon, I still don’t mind going back.
Puerto Princesa is the capital of Palawan, and is only two hours away from the Underground River, a new wonder of the world, and the Ugong Rock, a monolith whose summit you can reach by winding through it via spelunking (trivia: ugong is a Filipino word for echo or sound, because the rocks will make a deep sound when you rap at them with your knuckles).
El-Nido, on the other hand, is a 6-hour drive from the capital, and is home to a multitude of islands (all of which are, while varying in size and composition, pristine and surrounded by clear waters). The cottage which we stayed in had steps leading to the beach, its waters usually coming up to our toes even before we can step off the stairs, which meant that, quite literally, we could simply jump from the porch to the sea.
In the grand scheme of things Palawan-related, I have only been an audience to but a small part. There’s Coron, and the rest of El-Nido, and Culion, and a hundred other places I haven’t been to, and so as I type this entry up, I’m already excited for the next time I come back.
Of perpetual finds 