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Writer's pictureJanine

Palawan

Report from 23 November to 29 November 2023

From: Philippines

  • We are travelling each for ourselves

  • Port Barton to El Nido / Janine



Janine


Port Barton

I'm still in Port Barton and have been busy with myself and my fructose diet. Many days I've been hiding away in my shell, only venturing out occasionally to speak to a few locals. But slowly my sense of adventure is returning. I have our tent with me and start asking a few locals whether it's possible to camp on the beach. They are totally helpful and say "yes of course", you just have to make sure you ask the restaurant/hotel in front of the beach section in question. I find a spot on the beach in front of a dilapidated resort and decide to spend the night here. It was a lovely night!

 


San Vicente

The following day, I met a German couple on the road who told me that they were travelling to the nearby town of San Vicente today. As this is a huge diversions overland due to the lack of roads, they are travelling over by boat. I spontaneously ask them if they will give me a lift. They do. When we arrive in San Vicente, I ask the people in the harbour if they know of any cheap accommodation. I'm a bit nervous about travelling like this because I'm alone and I don't have a mobile phone. But it works! Half an hour later I'm in a room for the night - not really nice, but cheap. So all the important things for today are taken care of and I set off for the nearby beach. At 14.7 kilometres, Long Beach is the longest beach in the Philippines and the second longest beach in the whole of Southeast Asia. And really, this beach is soooooooooo long. Awesome! And simply no one to be seen. I only see two people in the water at the very, very far end. I enjoy this place for a while before I decide to walk to the two people. An eternity later I arrive there. It's a local couple fishing with nets. From the shore, the man runs into the sea as far as he can so that he can just about stand. His wife stays close to the beach while he makes a wide arc until he slowly struggles back up towards the beach about 50 metres further to the left. It is exhausting work. Once on the beach, the two pull the net into the dry and read in their prey: a handful of tiny fish and crabs have become entangled in the net. As soon as they get out of the net and into the bucket, the whole process starts all over again. I sit down on the beach and watch them. At some point, I start to help untangle the fish from the net. The woman is delighted. Unfortunately, she hardly speaks a word of English, but she does know one thing: "friends".




The three of us carry on for a while until the sun goes down and it gets dark. The two of them are on the beach with their motorbike and sidecar. I ask them if they can give me a lift along the beach so that I don't have to walk all the way back. The ride on the sidecar along this endlessly long beach was simply incredible. My hair blowing in the wind, the roar of the sea, the palm trees on the other side, the last soft glow of the setting sun. The deserted beach passing me by at breathtaking speed. The two great people not only take me back to the road, but even back to my accommodation. 



San Vicente and Alimanguay


This morning I'm already travelling again. Karli told me about his hitchhiking experiences and I was hooked, I want more adventures! I decide to follow his example and hitchhike. As I don't get a lift straight away, I walk along the road and wait for a car to pass. No such luck. No cars, just Morrader. During the next hour of walking, I see 2 pick-ups. And so I keep on walking, walking, walking.



At some point I decide that I don't feel like walking any more. I decide that I'm now prepared to pay to get somewhere and hail a trycicle. Trycicles are the local taxis, something like tuk-tuks in Thailand - just a motorbike with a covered sidecar. Well, and then? A trycicle just doesn't turn up. Crap. So we keep walking. Walk walk walk. And then a motorbike with two young men stops and asks me if they should give me a lift. I ask them if they are sure, after all there are three of us plus my 15kg of luggage. But they eagerly nod.  So I get on the back and off we go! Wuhuuuu. It doesn't take much longer and then I'm in Alimanguay. I like the place straight away: there's a picturesque beach. I decide to stay here for the night and sleep on the beach again in my tent. Now I just have to write to Karli to let her know I'm OK. My mobile phone is still broken. So I just have to charge my laptop and find a WLAN. I'm despairing at this task. At first it seems as if I'm going to fail. Then I strike up a conversation with an older gentleman. He was a very successful DJ in Denmark and has now been living here for two years. His best mate is the owner of the restaurant I'm sitting in. I strike up a conversation with him too. Suddenly everything is very simple. I get WLAN and can charge my laptop. And not only that, I get the offer to pitch my tent in a little "tree house" here. And to use the shower too. I get such a warm welcome from the family. I think they even set a plate for me at the family dinner. Wow.


It's simply marvellous here. Almanguay is really beautiful. I'm really sad that I have to leave tomorrow. I would so, so, so like to stay here longer;


Karli and I have a flight to Bohol in 4 days and I wanted to have a quick look at El Nido, a very well-known and hip city on Palawan, beforehand.



El Nido


I leave Alimanguay the next day. The nice family tell me that they thought I would stay longer. I take a motorbike taxi and van to El Nido. Pfffffffff A few hours later, I'm really unsure whether I made the wrong decision and should have stayed in Alimanguay. It's so crowded here in El Nido. Tourists tourists tourists. And so focussed on consumption. Every 3 minutes you are asked if you would like to book this or that tour or buy something. I can't find anything nice about the place. El Nido is especially known for the boat trips out to sea, which are supposed to be unbelievably great. These boat trips are on every "to do" list for the Philippines. Nido is known for its beautiful islands, snow-white beaches and blue lagoons. The black stone cliffs rise steeply from the sea into the sky. So I book one of these tours for the next day.





The next day I get on the boat. Yes, the nature, rocks and beaches are incredibly beautiful. But somehow everything seems wrong to me. It's such a mass processing of people. And instead of being able to simply enjoy the tour, my brain keeps interfering and wants to deal with more profound issues:


Locals have told me that the water on the beach in the town of El Nido used to be crystal clear and beautiful. Today there is nothing left of it, it is just cloudy, brown sea water. The reason for this is the sewage from all the hotels and the oil from the boats. Hundreds of boats leave El Nido every day to show visitors the beautiful sea outside. I am disgusted by all the pollution and all the visitors. I want to go back to small deserted villages without tourists. I've also heard from other travellers that they prefer to travel away from the tourist crowds. And then I ask myself, isn't it a bit conceited to always want EVERYTHING: great beaches, great sea and all that for myself alone? We behave as if this paradise belongs to us. Not just these marvellous beaches, but the whole planet. And just like this holiday destination, where we don't care how the environment is polluted because of us, we don't care how we pollute our planet. Karli and I have already seen many sad things on our trip: Palm oil plantations, at the expense of deforested rainforests; houses washed away by the sea due to  rising sea levels; many dead coral reefs;  mountains of plastic washed up by the sea on deserted beaches and almost extinct animal species. 


The WWF's Living Planet 2012 report states that humanity is already using the equivalent of one and a half planets, as if we had another planet at our disposal.  We are consuming more than the earth can provide. The first problem is that the world's population is growing rapidly. More people naturally require more resources. The second problem, however, is that we consume much more than our ancestors did. A person born today consumes about 10 times more than the same person 30 years earlier. 100 years ago, hardly anyone had a car or flew. The world population is growing and everyone needs a new mobile phone, a new TV, a new computer and a new car every three years;


I have spoken to many locals here in Southeast Asia and have seen a lot. Just owning a car makes you a rich person here. I asked many people if they had ever been on holiday and visited the neighbouring country. Even if the neighbouring country was only a 4-hour drive away, the answer was "no". In most countries, holidays are a luxury that is not possible for the average person. Here in the Philippines, we spoke to a local who said that many of his neighbours can't afford a day trip to the sea just an hour's drive away. Few people own a car and clothes are usually bought at second-hand shops;


But we fly halfway around the world to discover new countries and cultures, and then go to all the western-looking restaurants here and eat food that has been imported for us and wrapped in plastic

are  


The locals here consume a fraction of the resources we do. I wrote above about the WWF report where we, the entire human race, are already using the equivalent of 1.5 planets. If every! person on earth could live like an average Westerner, we would already need four planets!


Later, I also discuss the topic with Karli. We have to admit that we are not as sustainable as we would like to be. We also consume a lot of resources. We've flown halfway round the world to experience this. We try, but in the end we do cause some environmental problems. We produce waste and plastic rubbish here, which is simply burnt at the side of the road or maybe even thrown into the sea due to the lack of a waste disposal system. We produce waste water here that is inadequately treated and discharged into the river or sea. We travel many times more distances by bus than a local could. And we don't always manage to fulfil our goal of not flying. 


But I still believe in the small differences: Karli and I have bought plastic boxes, spoons and aluminium bottles to take to street stalls, for example, to avoid the single-use plastic there. We don't just use the aluminium bottles to fill up with water. We also take them to cafés and have iced coffee prepared in the bottles instead of in disposable plastic cups;


We try to avoid private transport such as taxis, just as we try to avoid flying. 


And I now try to mend everything. Each of my three pairs of trousers now has at least one hole. The trousers I took with me even have 6 holes. I've mended them all. And I will mend every other one. Just like the holes in karli's small rucksack, my small rucksack, our day bag and in my large rucksack and in various tops;


Dieter, Karli's dad, says something that sticks in my mind. "Every time we spend money, no matter what we spend it on, it has some kind of environmental impact. Roughly speaking, the more money you spend, the more you affect the environment." I pay for new petrol for the car with money. I buy the car itself with money. New possessions, whether new clothes, a new electrical appliance or a new car, are produced somewhere and therefore consume resources such as water, metals, oxygen and emit CO2 during production. Yes, somehow the idea makes sense. And if you look at it that way, Karli and I aren't doing too badly. Simply because we make sure we travel in a cost-saving way. Doing without shopping tours. We'd rather travel 24 hours by bus than fly once. I'd rather eat cheap (=local) food in local restaurants than eat imported food in European restaurants. And I am proud of what we are already doing. Every time before I make a purchase, I think twice about whether I really need the item or whether it will end up in a corner in 4 weeks' time and go to waste. If in doubt, I mend the holes in our clothes a third time. We don't constantly replace our possessions, but keep them for as long as possible: my TV at home is already 12 years old, but I'm not going to replace it. I often buy new clothes on eBay or in second-hand shops. Of course, I could do more. I often wish I could do more and realise my resolutions more consistently. But at the same time, I'm proud of what I'm already doing and that  I'm already taking these environmental aspects into account in my decisions.


The only way to be more environmentally friendly is to consume less. 


I don't think the impact on the individual is much, but if everyone does a little bit, you end up with a lot. 


These are just a few thoughts that I have had over the last few days and months. I hope I've described them in such a way that you can halfway understand my thoughts. The problems are incredibly complex and there are many ways to look at them. I would be delighted if you could share your thoughts and opinions in the comments;



📷 here there are more great pictures.

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