at last, palawan! (part 2)

...i woke up around 6 am, and had a slow start. my tito, who insisted on taking me to the bus station instead of just letting me take a tricycle, woke up at 6:15 and had to get dressed and start the car in all of 5 mins. we zoomed off to the terminal which, as it turns out, really was some distance away. when i got there, the (ordinary) bus was almost full.

good thing my companions had reserved seats already. the ride past trees and fields dotted with houses, and hills in the distance, was nice. at first. but then it became hotter and dustier, and i became sleepier. i was able to take naps. but eventually, 5 hrs into the ride, the road transformed from paved to rough. i refused to move from my seat during the first stopover at roxas. but finally, mustered enough strength (and driven by my rumbling stomach) to get a late lunch at taytay. they were preparing for their town fiesta, and booths were being set up at the town square. as we went into the homestretch of the ride, i was covered in soot. katti's left arm and shoulder were sunburned from sitting beside the window. i was not liking it. even when rene started pointing to the sea and the islands of el nido that came into view, we could only look quizzically. the tourism office staff fetched us from the bus station and we had a short briefing where i discovered to my utter surprise that i had been assigned to conduct a writing workshop! then, we were allowed to rest and freshen up. that's when we were able to see:

then it wasn't so bad. except for the fact that i wasn't able to swim that day.
the next day, we started with a good breakfast with this view:

i met the kids that joined my class--all two of them! which made it easier for me, because we just had to observe and write. that afternoon, i snuck off to the beach after the session around 5. after i had been swimming for about 30 mins., i spotted 2 boys with improvised skim boards. they let me try it out. after 10 mins, though i had not learned, neither did i make any embarrassing splashes. then i gave up. but the boys, who turned out to be twins vacationing from puerto, said i should try again the next day. and i did, for the next 2 days. i stood on that board for almost a whole second eventually!
i snuck off with my students to eat at art cafe. the seafood pizza is delicious!!! and the people at the ground floor souvenir shop, joan and josephine, are very nice.

after the festival was over, we went island hopping on the 26th. first, we went to the small lagoon. initially, i did not want to swim from the boat to the lagoon--i wasn't confident i could get there successfully just on a life jacket. eventually, one of the organizers, bong, probably tired of egging me on, took a bunch of us on a balsa to get to the lagoon. indeed, it was worth it! the water was so green, and i could walk around in the water without tiptoeing on the sand.

i could've stayed there forever. but we eventually wen to simizu, named after a japanese family who went diving and were stranded, and eventually died there. the waves were strong and there were a lot of stones underwater.

then, we went to commando beach. there, the sand was finer, but there were a lot of jellyfish in the water. the wind was also strong! so i just sunbathed and walked around the beach.

this is lila, she's 3 yrs old, and very well-behaved and well-adjusted. she's the daughter of shyo and tanya, an adorable young couple who teach at aborlan (south of puerto prinsesa):

when we got to shore, it was dusk. but i passed by the beachfront of el nido town again, wanting my last swim for this trip to be a truly beautiful one. and it was! i even spotted the twins and said goodbye. then, we had dinner at balay tubay, which is something like ayuyang in baguio. and they let me play the bongos!
before breakfast on the morning of our departure, i spotted the percussion group on the sand. a few nights before, we watched them dance, and 2 of them did the fire dance with the poi. this time, when i saw one of them practicing, i walked up and asked to try it. i was able to do the basic poi "exercises". but it became too hot to do anymore. and i would not have dared to try it with the pouches lit!
as we got on the bus back to puerto prinsesa, i knew that despite the hot, bumpy, long ride ahead, i would always have this on my mind:


(though, thankfully, it rained halfway through our journey, so it wasn't as unpleasant)