By Charlene Joy Ramos

Visiting the island of Palawan has always been on my bucket list, yet it took me years and a sponsored trip to be finally able to tick this destination off.

It was around 6 o’clock in the morning and the weather was kind of gloomy when our plane landed at the airport. While we were waiting for disembarkation, raindrops started to fall from the sky, which made me feel kind of anxious considering that we were going to the beach, and we need the sun to maximize our trip. However, I knew that none of us can control the weather. That’s why I’ve decided not to dwell on that matter at hand too much.

Finally, the cabin crew announced that we can already walk our way out of the plane. I immediately grabbed my bags, carefully stepped out of the plane, and wended my way toward the arrivals area. To my astonishment, Puerto Princesa Airport appears evidently better than the other provincial airports in our country as it is more spacious, and there are commercial spaces outside wherein you can have a sip of coffee while waiting for your service.

We sat down for around 30 minutes outside one of the coffee shops as we waited for our driver to pick us up. When our service finally arrived, I asked the driver how long it would take us to get to Port Barton, and he said it would take 3 hours. I murmured to myself, “There must be something peculiar about this village that tourists would endure such a long ride.

As we strolled our way to the far-flung village of Port Barton in San Vicente, Palawan, I was caught between “I need to get some sleep” and “I must keep myself awake.” My body was telling me that it should shut down for a while as I barely had any sleep before our early morning flight, but as a first-time traveler to this province, I can’t entertain the thought of being unable to catch a glimpse of the scenery. I’ve settled on the latter. I was kind of expecting a rough, bumpy ride, but the road was surprisingly so well-built that you can have a deep sleep on your seat as you listen to the mellow music being played on the radio. My companion had been to this province several times already. Maybe that’s why she chose to get some shut eye instead.

At last, the 3-hour ride was over. Though it didn’t feel like it took us that long as the surroundings were alluring enough that I didn’t even notice how fast the time had passed. There were plenty of coconut trees standing tall and grass filling the mountains along both sides of the highway, whilst at the same time, you can see the vastness of the ocean on the right. For someone who’s used to seeing that kind of view given the fact that I’m not from another country, I still couldn’t resist taking photos and videos as we strolled. It felt quite refreshing to be on the countryside again, away from the urban life.

I thought the driver was going to drop us off right in front of the place where we were going to stay for the next 2 nights, but he didn’t. He stopped the engine and dropped us off at a tricycle terminal right at the driveway to the town. We were kind of thinking of walking our way to the inn, but I’m glad we chose to ride the tricycle instead owing to the fact that even though the sun was still hiding, it was very humid, and there was a mini flood on the road that looked like a pipe problem. Our tricycle ride was brief, although it was filled with rough turns.

Right after getting off the tricycle, we immediately saw the beach, and I went running toward it. I sensed peace. There’s no other perfect word to describe how I felt. All I could hear were the waves crashing against the shore, and all I could smell was the fresh, salty sea air as it pressed lightly upon my skin. The sky was sunless, yet it didn’t spoil the seascape. Slowly, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was then that I realized that I have been working a lot lately and I’ve been exhausted, so I must distance myself from everything even just for a few days. There might be other places I could go visit that may present themselves better, but Port Barton has the right amount of solitude, which I needed. I gently sighed and whispered, “Port Barton, you may have seemed a little ordinary, but you’re definitely worth the ride.”