Waking up at our usual time again, the plan was to take a bus or jeepney to Sabang. As we left for breakfast before our departure I realized that my dear sandals had been lost to youth villains or thieving adults, either way I was really getting sick and tired of this god forsaken place.

When realizing that we needed to change jeepney (and hope we could catch another) a bunch of steps we had our hotel call a banca and Mirsada bartered down the price to at least 60€ with her mad haggling skillz. We had to use the other end of the beach though, officially due to the waves were better there but seeing no difference and remembering yesterday I could see that they simple wanted to avoid more trouble which was fine by us.

After a quick candy-run to gather food for the trip we left, I have to say that it may be unfair to judge Port Barton and San Vicente based on individuals but the feeling of always getting ripped off, cheated or lied to just made us realize we can enjoy nice beaches elsewhere. After about three hours we arrived in Sabang.

A speedy check-in and lunch, and we were off to see the underground river. It is a Unesco protected site and in general things are more organized; no ridiculous prices, the local banca operators can all ship tourists but have to wait in line etc.. We saw some rather big monitor lizards and monkeys scurrying around the visitor centre before we got to the actual underground river. Well there we were set on a boat with a guide and a lamp and glided in.
The tour seemed rather short but was probably little less than an hour. It was rather amazing to see the naturally created passage. There were special tours going deeper in but we figured it would be more or less the same thing getting more and more cramped. We decided to walk a little trek called the monkey trail on the way back. It was however unclear where we would end up and our boatman who’d accompanied us wanted us to turn back towards the boat so after half an hour we turned and walked back.

When we got to the boat we realized why the the boatman had urged us, there were now quite big waves and a nice tide to combat while entering the banca from the shore. As we got back we started the familiar information gathering and chatted to some other foreigners. Apparently there were cartels here and in El Nido as well for bancas, although not violent and not with that ridiculously prices. After dinner it was movie time, one want to maximize the utilization of electricity (said to be present only between 18 and 22).

We’ve also realized that we are running short on cash, not as in money but as in cash. And for being a popular tourist destination Palawan has a serious shortage of ATMs. We decided that we would aim for El Nido anyways but using cheaper transportation to get there and well there stay at places accepting credit cards. Hopefully we would be able to go directly to Manilla by proper ferry or plane otherwise it’s a long bus ride back to Puerto Princessa where ATMs exist and we know for sure we can get off the island. So once again we set the clock for standard vacation time, 0600. Mmmm.

We were not used to not setting an early alarm and thus slept until 09 or so, rather late since we would try to get to either Sabang or do some island hopping. After scouting some prices it seems like the banca operators or a group of them had joined forces and founded a nice cartel with ridiculously high prices. It would e.g. cost twice as much as our flight from Cebu to Puerto Princessa to get to Sabang (approximately 2 hours by banca).

This information gathering also took some time so when we decided we would go island hopping time was already approaching noon. Bah. At least our hotel could call a slightly cheaper banca operator which would charge only 15€ for browsing the nearby islands. After renting some snorkeling equipment we waited. And waited. Philippine time seems to move slightly slower but finally we were told our boatman had arrived.

As we walked along the shore with a boy from the hotel we realized that the other banca operators were little enthusiastic about him leading us past them. First it was questions, than name calling and as we got to the boat full scale shouting in his face. Followed by a not light bitch slap. The 16 year or so old boy seemed to had enough and hit back with a fist. It would not be a fair fight which our boatman also realized and grabbed a beer bottle and threatened the aggressive banca operator with. This is when Mirsada said we might back off since there were more banca operators walking and jogging our way.

Things could probably have turned out pretty bad but everybody seemed to calm down although it was clear that one does not allow tourists to use non-cartel bancas. I felt a strange mixture of adrenaline, contempt and hope. Our boatman explained that these guys were way too greedy for their own good and pointed out that starting fights in front of foreigners and ripping them off this bad was plain stupid. At least one man dared to stand up against the cartel, which is noteworthy even if it’s only for profit.

The first stop on our little tour of the day was snorkeling at Double Island, very nice. We saw many colorful fishes, some beautiful as well as some impressively ugly. Thereafter we headed off to a place called Exotic island which was a very scenic small beach. Despite the somewhat cloudy weather and earlier encounter with the local mafia it felt like a nice vacation again. We concluded the island hopping by having dinner at a place called Blue Cove, very nice.
We got back shortly after nightfall and pondered what to do for the following day. We had chatted some with other guests and decided we would leave for Sabang, hopefully sharing a banca. It was time to leave this place, it just felt wrong putting money in some of these guys pockets.

We rose and shone just before 06, as usual. When we got the local bus/jeepney central/chaos we were told that there was no transport was leaving for Port Barton, since the road was gone. Yeah right. We should instead go to San Vincente and from there take a banca (plywood boat that would meet few european safety standards). We didn’t have much of an option as for the destination, we could choose vehicle though so we got on the slightly more expensive (5€) but less crowded van.

Things were going pretty well, it was the best weather so far and our seats were comfy. One could almost guess what would happen then, this time it was not the engine that broke down but just a flat tire so after not much more than 30 minutes we were on track again. We were finally dumped in San Vicente at the pier were we could get a Banca.

There were a bunch of locals waiting for the regular banca, so we declined the offer of renting one for ourselves. After some time it became clear that the banca operators would not let any locals go until we rented one for ourselves for 25€ rather than the 2.5€ fee. We started talking to the locals but when the operators approached they explained that they couldn’t talk here. Nice cosy feeling.
An old lady found this ridiculous however and told us to follow her as she arranged a banca for 2.5€ for us and her friend. People like her make me regain some hope for humanity. As we got to Port Barton 45 minutes later we arrived exactly at the same time the other locals – what a strange coincidence that the boat had started to run just when we left.

At Port Barton we got the Honeymoon suite at a place called Ysabelle since we deserved such a treat. The weather was still very nice and the sand was so fine it squeaked when one walked on it. We asked for banca prices but they were ridiculously high here, I guess we would have to find an old nice lady here as well. We agreed not to grumble about this but enjoyed the fine weather and a nice dinner.