Where in the World is Chuck?: Palawan

I flew from Manila to Palawan, a large island 400 miles south of Manila. The airport carousel was packed three deep with people waiting for their gear and it took two trips around until I could get close enough. I went outside to get a taxi and the skies opened up. It lessened in 10 minutes and I got a trike to take me to my preferred hotel. it was others preferred hotel too so I set out on foot to find another. I’m in a really nice one but it’s only available for tonite. I’ll look for another tomorrow.

I’ve booked a trip to Hondo Bay which tours three islands with sight seeing and snorkeling. It’s an all day trip so I will store my backpack here until I return. The town Puerto Princesa (PP) is a resort town and there are a lot of restaurants and bars at least on my 15 minute walk. I ate at a local hole-in-the-wall place. There was a cut up meat dish that looked like beef but the owner kept saying “lun”? I had some over rice (big surprise there), and a coke for 48 cents!! After chewing for a while, I think it was lung! I probably won’t order it again

Good news! My room was not booked so I’m still here. The trip to Honda Bay was fun with a great bunch of travelers. There were Koreans, Russians, Filipinos and two Americans. There was snorkeling, swimming and a great lunch. The coral is beat up some with the number of people swimming over it but it is still OK.