Yesterday was quite a traveling day…considering the flight was only an hour long.
I was packed and ready to go (the room was locked, and my backpack was sitting outside my room, on the outdoor table/chairs.
I had turned in my key and was ready for action. The only problem…was that the van wouldn’t come for at least four hours, and the plane, even later.
One fault of being in “western mode” is that you tend to overshoot like this. I had done it a lot. I had become SO efficient in my packing/preparation process, that I could do it almost automatically, and this is what I did.
I had not a clue what to do, so I wrote a blog post. We went to breakfast after that, and met another nice Aussie guy named “Chris”. He was a diver. He told us one of the most truest observations about the realities of traveling in small planes in the Philippines (or any third-world country for that matter) I have heard so far.
What he observed was just what an ordeal it was (and how it can swallow up your day) traveling for just an hour flight. He noted that once you have packed, gotten ready, the transportation is ready, the plane arrives, the plane is ready, the plane takes off, the actual “travel time”, the arriving and getting your bags (not applicable for me as everything is carry-on, but Scott and Joao have checked baggage everywhere), the taking of transportation to the accommodation, and the unloading of bags, all can take an entire day out of your trip!
Obviously this observation is true about any air (or train) travel. The more extreme stretching of time becomes apparent however in the smaller “one hour” flights.
I thought this was a very insightful observation. We bid goodbye to Chris, and, after sitting for another ten minutes deliberating just what to do…our friend Stephen stopped by for breakfast.
We talked, as we always do, for about an hour. He is a good one to bounce things off of, and very receptive to technical advice.
By the time we were done, it was time for me to take my last walk around the town (in search of more food…I’m always hungry). I had a half-hour before it was a “good idea” to get back, and an hour before I would “be left behind”.
I walked around, trying desperately to spy some unturned barbecue sand that just happened to be in-operation for breakfast, but there were none to be found.
I even checked out a local farmers market in the same basketball court I had watched the game in the day before. There was fish…and fruits…and fish. I don’t like fish.
Giving up, I dejectedly bought two sorry looking apples, and headed back. Scott and Joao were frantically packing, while I had been carrying all of my possessions on my back for hours.
In desperation, I tried the rester aunt. The had not been very quick with the delivery of the food before, and I had doubts about their capabilities now.
I told them I needed to leave by 11:30am, did they think they could have it ready in time…? I was doubtful, but they seemed confident that they could.
I sat and bit my nails, I walked over to the “reading material” area of the kitchen. These were books and magazines from travelers past, basically an upchuck of German, Hebrew, and English books and magazines.
I found an entertaining looking German magazine with lots of pictures (these are great for learning your German as you can assign the words with the pictures almost automatically) and swiped it for the plane ride.
The lunch was ready at 11:28am. They packed it in a to-go container and off we went.
The “airport” was just the same as when we had arrived. We were given free iced tea, but no pastries, as we were flying “Seair”, not our earlier “ITI”. Finally, thirty minutes after the “scheduled arrival time” the engine of the plane could be heard above the waves.
Another half-hour later, we boarded.
As we took off from the small airport in “El Nido”, I felt no sorrow or feeling of incompleteness. I had done everything I would ever want to do there, and had read a new and well-illustrated page in the book of life.
The flight was similar to the one taken before. I recognized a few of the passengers and even talked to a few of them (like the English lady next to me who had come out for her sons wedding and decided to extend her trip of two weeks, to nine months to continue traveling the Philippines).
I felt a bit sick when we landed. Might I recommend NOT trying to translate ANYTHING while traveling in the air, stick to native-language materials only.
Puerto Princessa is very clean (well…theoretically. Pollutants still rule the oxygen supply, but at least there aren’t lots of cigarette butts on the streets). We were destined for a full day of work the next day, and needed to get as much done today as possible.
We were starving, and went to eat. Shakey’s Pizza seemed to be the best option at the time, and it probably was.
We needed to shop. We needed notebooks, a new cell-phone for me (the Nokia e61…I am settling for the e61 rather than the e61i as I am a terrible photographer and do not desire any camera on my communication device), and a temporary used cellphone for Joao to use while she is here.
We found them all, but I had not yet made a decision on the phone, so this would need to wait until the following days.
We were tired, and ready for a little mainstream television (it is amazing how even a person who hates television like myself can take comfort in it after being on a secluded island) and sleep.
And, save for some time on my part spent doing laundry, thats what we got.
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