Our family had a 3-day vacation in Palawan last weekend (March 06-08). It was set-up mainly for my godmother who recently got back from Philadelphia, and my uncle who just celebrated his 60th birthday.

As usual, I’m the youngest in the group and the rest were the Oldies.
How old are the oldies? Let’s just say that the next youngest in the group was my dad. He’s 56.

 

 

We flew to Palawan at 8.30 in the morning and arrived an hour later. We checked in at the Banwa Pension House and Art Cafe which is about 5 minutes away from the airport. Banwa is a very homey place. The house is native, artsy and survivor-ish.

 

 

The common room was filled with very interesting and beautiful crafts for sale. The make your own necklace was my favorite. There was a lovely kitty too which looked exactly like our cat at home(!), only smaller. The place was so cozy that I fell asleep on the hammock while we waited for the other tourists to check out.

The accommodation prices were very cheap. For a room with a king sized bed and private bath, and a dorm room with 4 double deck beds and private bath, we only had to pay less than Php1,500 a day (approx. 30USD). You can check out Banwa.com for the updated price list.

The oldies would prefer to have stayed in a hotel maybe because they were too concerned about the restrooms and the heat (no aircons). I, on the other hand, enjoyed Banwa, and loved the place as much as the other people (which are mostly foreigners) in the place did.

 

 

After finally being able to check-in, we went out for lunch at the Balinsasayaw Restaurant (in Rizal ave.) which the Banwa people said the tourists recommended. The food was okay but I was not too much impressed with the poor and slow service. I had seafood sisig and calamares. They were ordinary. I also ordered sashimi which was served frozen. Errr. I sent it back to the kitchen and had it canceled.

My uncle who recently turned 60, was very happy to use his senior citizen discount and privilege card for the first time. Hahaha.

After lunch, we went back to Banwa where we were picked up by our guide to the city tour. The city tour covered the following: Binuatan Creations Weaving Station, Irawan Crocodile Farm, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, Mitra’s Ranch, and Baker’s Hill.

 

 

Binuatan Creations is a handicraft shop where export-quality table runners, place mats, and window blinds are weaved. I was able to watch Manong Jun do the weaving. He said that it usually takes him at least 3 days to a week to finish weaving a 29-meter mat, depending on the detail of the mat’s design. The thinner the fiber, the longer it takes to finish.

 

 

The Crocodile Farm is almost just like any zoo, but with a lot of crocs. Skeletal and skin remains of the biggest crocodile caught in Palawan were exhibited at the museum. The croc nursery contains most of the living crocs in the farm. There were about 20 tanks in the nursery, each housing about 15 to 20 baby crocs. We then climbed to a path where we could view the adult crocodiles under us. Before going back to the bus, there was croc photo op where the tourist pays 30 for a chance to have his picture taken with a baby crocodile. Most of the balikbayans and foreigners lined up for that, while I went to check out the souvenir shop which was a few meters away from our tour bus. I got myself a star necklace and a couple of mini rain sticks for my friends.

 

 

The Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm is the “prison without barriers”. Our tour bus entered a gate before we got in. But upon entering we realized that the gate was just a front! There were no barriers surrounding the gate to keep the prisoners in. Palawan’s location discourages escape from the prison. The other side of the mountains surrounding the prison is the South China Sea. Transportation off the island is pretty impossible for a prisoner to arrange by himself. And if ever he decides to run off to the mountains, he is sure to die of malaria. Prisoners are allowed to live with their families in Iwahig. They don’t feel like they are prisoners at all. This makes the prisoners want to stay in Iwahig.

Trivia: For a prisoner to qualify to stay in Iwahig, he must at least have a sentence of 3 years and 1 day.

Iwahig is approx. 23,000 hectares of farming land (which used to be more than 40,000 before). Prisoners were classified as either maximum, medium, or minimum security prisoners. Murderers fall under maximum security. They are kept and guarded in houses. Medium security prisoners are the ones who are grouped by 10s to take care of and harvest 6 hectares of land. Minimum security prisoners are the ones who are going to be released soon. These prisoners are taught to cook, bake and make crafts. The products of their labor are sold at a souvenir shop inside the colony. The most popular product of the prisoners are the animal keychains they create out of recycled plastic from Jollibee cups. Iwahig souvenirs are the cheapest. A bracelet I found was sold for Php35 which normally sells Php40-50 outside the prison. They also sell wooden weapons. I was pretty interested in the Arnis sticks made of Kamagong. They cost around Php180 a pair.

 

 

Mitra’s Ranch is about half an hour away from Iwahig. It is owned by (obviously) the late politician Ramon Mitra, Jr. The ranch overlooks the Honda Bay. The view was not at all spectacular but surprisingly, a lot of people visit the ranch everyday. The house wasn’t even open for tourist viewing.

After taking a few photos, we headed to the Baker’s Hill, a lovely park with a bakeshop and mini zoo. The locals rumored to be built by the owners or Red Ribbon. Unfortuantely, I wasnt able to take any photos of the place but I have to say that the food was yummy! People go to the Baker’s Hill Bakeshoppe for their Hopia, but I loved their Cheese Bread and Egg Monay even more.

The tour ended and we were dropped off at some tiangge near the NCCC (the “SM” of Palawan, the tour guide says it was SM: Small Mall hahahaha). My uncles and aunts, bought some souvenirs, some roasted cashew and pearls.

 

 

 

We had our dinner at Ka Lui. We were told that it’s the most popular restaurant in Puerto Princesa. Because a lot of tourists are dining at this restaurant, reservations have to be made before you can get to eat there. Walk-in customers are only accepted past 8.30 in the evening. Ka Lui is a seafood restaurant along Rizal Avenue. Before entering the restaurant, guests are asked to remove their footwear. I didn’t know why this is so, until I entered the hut and felt the cool bamboo floor under my feet. (Ahhhhhhh.) The restaurant has a very lovely native ambience. It reminded me a little of the Banwa common room. They have some artsy stuff hanging on the walls, and an art space at the back where they sell paintings and wooden carvings. The food was very yummy. I had some lato (edible grape-like seaweed), prawn sauteed in butter and garlic, seafood sisig (which is way way way better than what I had at Balinsasayaw), tuna steak, tuna sashimi, and some crab. With that, I had some avocado shake. I’d love to eat with beer but the oldies wouldn’t let me have one. Boo.

After that delightful meal at Ka Lui, we went back to Banwa to get some sleep. We were to leave early the next day for a trip to the Underground / Subterranean River.

Continue to Days 2 & 3.

 

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