Palawan Photo & Travel Diary

Palawan, I Love You!

Happy Friday! To celebrate the week ending and some impending travels for me, I thought I would finally get to writing the round up for my Palawan posts. Sadly, the content is almost over from my summer vacation to Palawan last April. I might have one sneaky post left and a couple more videos for my Youtube channel but other than that this might be the last travel related one rounding up my trip in photos and a diary letting you know what I did on each day I was there. I had an amazing trip and I was able to document it through pictures and videos to keep and look back on like this. I finally got around to editing my first travel vlog of the trip and to celebrate that coming out I wanted to get the travel and photo diary out the same time. I linked the vlog down below if you wanted to watch it. So as I said these are a few pictures I wanted to share and had leftover from my previous travel post where I did an Ultimate Travel Guide. I took many pictures and wrote down notes from each day. I wanted to treat this post like a diary entry for me to have the memories written down and I can look back to whenever I want. I hope you enjoy this picture heavy post of my 10 days in Palawan!

It was my first time in an airplane in over 6 years and my first domestic flight. I’ve flown international quite a lot and was always on the plane for more than 18 hours so this flight was only an hour long. One hour! By the time I could get comfortable we would be landing which was so weird to me. We got to the airport extra early as I am paranoid with missing flights or not having enough time. We got there about 4 hours before we were supposed to so we checked in out baggage and weighed our carry-ons. My carry on ended up being over since I had all the camera equipment and electronics. I didn’t want it in my checked luggage so I ended up transferring my curling iron and a few other bits to my luggage which I initially thought would be over but it had 8 kilos left over so I could have packed another pair of shoes. After we were done with check in we actually left the airport to grab lunch 20 minutes away which I was skeptical about with Manila traffic but we still made it 2 hours before our flight. I said bye to my uncle and dad who dropped the three of us off and we made it to our gates. We waited about an hour and we finally were able to board but they held us and we had to wait another hour. It was a 15 minute walk before we actually got to the plane as it was on the other side of the airport even though our gate was correct. That’s Manila airports for you. Once on the plane we were ready to take off but we encountered a problem. I explain it in full on the vlog but instead of leaving Manila at 1:30 we left around 4:30. As I said the flight was the quickest I ever experience and as soon as we were in the air the flight attendants served a snack. We were so hungry as we had breakfast around 9am and we were in the air almost 5pm. We flew Philippine Airlines so the snack came with our ticket. I’ve only flown that airline and so far all I’ve had was good experiences. I’ve been flying with them since I was 2 and I’m now 24 so I’m pretty loyal. The thing that happened wasn’t the airlines fault so I can’t blame them. We landed and since we were by the door we got to get out of the plane right away. I always got out of an airplane with a tunnel and never stairs so it was so cool to be right by the plane. I felt so cool. We got our baggage and my uncle picked us up with his van. It was about 6pm when we landed so we went straight to the hotel and dropped our stuff off and then went to dinner. I was in Palawan and I couldn’t believe it.

Day 2 wasn’t eventful but day 3 was. It was so eventful I have a ton of pictures. It took me so long to go through and select the ones for both the travel guide and this. This was such a fun day as we got to go on the city tour. I talked about it in the guide so I’ll try to keep it short and add more personal details instead. We headed to the Crocodile Farm first. I was a bit skeptical as I was worried it would be one of those bad places but it turns out it was a wildlife rescue center for crocodiles as well as other animals like birds and snakes too. At the end when we were going out there was a bird who could talk. I love talking birds and I seriously had a full on conversation with it and thought it was the coolest end to the Crocodile Farm before we left for our next destination.

We headed straight to Mitra’s Ranch and in the vlog I seem a bit clueless why we are there and the history behind it. I’m not a very good tour guide and realized that while editing. It would have been nice to have an actual tour guide to share the info with me so I wouldn’t look so not knowledgeable about it but in the van my uncle told me a bit about it. Mitra was his last name and he was a pretty famous senator. He unfortunately isn’t around anymore but his children keep their ranch as a tourist spot and museum to honor him and his work. It’s pretty cool and the views are stunning. It is a bit weird having new shoes on walking around but it is supposed to be that way. There wasn’t anything else to do but look around and have a nice spot to take pictures so we kept it short and just went straight to Baker’s Hill. I much enjoyed it more and there was so much to do and see. By the name of the place you could probably guess what is there. If you didn’t then it is a bakery shop on a hill but it isn’t just a bakery but a fun little place that has so many places to take pictures, grab some food and take in the animals and sites. It is such a fun place and I loved it. It would have been a great place to take your family for the day if you go. I said in the vlog it reminded me of a fairytale land and it does. If you see it in person it is like you walked into a fairytale and into a whole other world. We had a late lunch and then explored around. I got the peacock to open and I was so happy about that in the vlog. Then we just walked around and took a lot more pictures as the views were again amazing and also there was so many cute decorations around to look at. Before we left we bought a few baked goods and was well on our way back to the hotel.

Day 4 was exciting. It was something I had planned even before I knew I was going to Palawan. If you didn’t know the most famous tourist spot is the Underground River and if you go there and don’t go it’s like you never went to Palawan at all. My uncle and aunt handled all the planning and fees to go along with it the day before so when we got to the pier it would be taken care of. We had breakfast delivered to our room at 6am but I was so tired from exploring all day the day before. I did manage to eat and get ready and we were out the door 7am to drive about 2 hours from the hotel to Sabang where the Underground River was at. My uncle brought me Pandesal (a Filipino fresh baked bread) and I had quite a few on our journey. It turns out I shouldn’t have done that. I’m going to get real with you real quick and be a bit TMI but I’ve never felt so nauseous and car sick my whole life. I never experience car sickness and I’m pretty good with long rides but this road got me. It was 2 hours of up and down and twist and turn and my stomach going every which way. I don’t know if it was my breakfast and the bread or if I was not feeling well but it was horrible. I managed to not throw up and made it safely to the pier and once I was out of the van I felt fine. Then I saw the boat and thought if it wasn’t car sickness that would hit me I would get boat sickness. I’ve been on a boat a few times. The last time was a 6th grade field trip on a yacht so that was a quite a while ago but I remember me being fine. I applied my sunscreen before we got on the boat so I wouldn’t burn and prepared myself. It turns out I was fine and not one bit was I nauseous. I actually felt better in the boat than I did in the van. It’s about a 20 minute ride to the actually island where the Underground River is located and the surroundings were so beautiful. I never seen something so pretty and water so clear and blue before. You don’t appreciate it until you see it in person. I saw a monkey on our hike to the cave and got our pictures done. It was an incredible experience and I can’t believe I can say I’ve been to one of the 7 wonders now. If you get a chance see it yourself. There are no words to explain my experience but I can say it was worth it. We rode back on our boat back to the pier and I made it again. We decided to get some lunch as it was the perfect time. So since we left at 7am we got there about 9:30 or so and got our boat almost at 10am. The Underground River is about an hour long journey in the cave as I recorded the whole thing on my GoPro. So we were officially done around 12pm  meaning it was just the perfect time for lunch. There is a lot of places but we went to the buffet. I suggest eating after the trip instead of before just in case. There was some yummy food and we could eat anything and everything there. I quite enjoyed the veggies and fruit but there are so many options and it’s okay if you don’t eat Filipino food as there are other choices. I couldn’t really eat and get full as we still had the ride back. We stayed until the afternoon and let the food settle. I sunbathed and got me a pretty good tan and took a lot of pictures before we headed back to the hotel. I concluded it was the road that got me dizzy and nauseous as I had the same feeling on the way home which was not fun. I didn’t throw up both ways but I still felt horrible in the van on the road. If I ever go back I am not eating and bringing medicine or something to stop that feeling from happening. I felt bad about it but my uncle says a lot of his guest he takes there are the same way as it is the road. So that made me feel a bit better knowing I’m not the only one. I never get car sick but that was just the worse feeling. 

Day 5 was my birthday. I got the morning off and got to sleep in. Then I was wondering what was going on in the afternoon because my cousin and aunt kept leaving and coming into the hotel room. In the afternoon I got dressed up in my birthday outfit and went to go take pictures. I knew we would be going out to dinner afterwards but they planned a bigger event than I was expecting. They rented a rooftop restaurant for only us and they surprised me with balloons and a cake. I wasn’t expecting that I just said we would go out for dinner but they planned a little surprise party for me. I don’t have many pictures or much footage from that day but it was nice I have it in my memories and enjoyed hanging with my family for the night.

Day 6 and 7 was not spent in Puerto Princessa but a few hours away in Sandoval. I spent the morning packing an overnight bag as in the afternoon we were off to go see my mom’s relatives who live down there. My uncle and his son picked us up at the mall around 3pm and we took a road trip down there enjoying the beautiful scenery. It went from a pretty modern tourist city to a very beautiful countryside. It was about a 3 hour drive and we spent it listening to the radio, chatting about different locations and playing those car games. There was so many coconut trees and I have tons of pictures of them in many different ways like artsy ones, simple ones and unique looking ones. First stop was where I met one of my other cousin’s new baby. They got married last year and had a little girl a week before we arrived in Palawan and got to meet her. We spent the evening there and had dinner and drinks on their property. It was a fun evening and I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately I didn’t vlog any of it as I wanted to keep it myself and just enjoy it. We left there about midnight to go to my aunt’s house in Sandoval finally. So I have a lot of aunt’s and uncle’s there. My uncle who was driving us and the aunt I took with me had a brother who recently passed away. He lived in the country with his wife and on their property they just built a house and we were the first guests to stay. We got to stay there but there was also a main house. It took us about an hour to get there after we got left my cousin’s at midnight. That hour drive is so special to me though. It was all open land with no lights but the van’s headlights. There was no one around and no one on the road. It was just us and all of a sudden I look out the window. They were open all the way as my two cousin’s who were drinking didn’t want the air-con on as they were very nauseous and pretty much drunk in the back. I stick my head out the window a bit to get a closer look and I see stars. Not just one I usually see in the night sky but there were thousands lightning up the sky. I usually see it in pictures and movies but for the first time I was seeing stars for their true potential. There was no lights disturbing my view. It was the most beautiful thing I had seen. I get why people go to the country and say the city is so bright you can’t see anything. I wish I could have got a picture or video but it wouldn’t show up on a moving vehicle so I enjoyed it. I kept my head out and just stared at the stars. That is another memory I will not forget and I hope one day I will be able to see something like it again. We finally get to the house and my aunt greets us and leads us to where we are staying. I was half expecting no electricity as we hiked our way to the property with a small flashlight and the flashlight on my iPhone. There was electricity thank goodness and we got settled in. It was late when we got to bed but at least we made the journey.

The next day we got around 8am to some breakfast made by my aunt. After we got to explore the property and I fully felt like I was in the jungle. We then took the van to the market which was 2 hours away. We were that deep in the country that the market was a long drive. It was very scenic and at least I could see it now as it was day time. The best thing I saw was there was a path heading to a river and people were washing their clothes on one end, kids swimming on one side and on the far side there were trucks parked in the middle washing them in the river. It was proper country life and found it so cool. My aunt’s bought food for lunch and dinner that night and they bought stuff for the picnic we were going to later. They even bought a couple of watermelons because it’s the ultimate summer fruit. We got back cooked lunch and then we were off around 3pm to a famous place all my relatives who gone to visit my aunt go to and take the famous picture in front of it. It’s Estrella Falls and by the name you can tell it’s a water fall. I didn’t include it in my travel guide as it is hours away and really deep in the forest before we there. We didn’t end up staying there to swim but we got pictures and it was really cold and rocky so we skipped out. There was a pool resort pulling in to the waterfalls so we went there instead. The water in the pool came from the waterfall so it was just as cold. I got used to it and just enjoyed swimming with my cousin’s. We stayed there until night time and went back for dinner. Since we were in the countryside there was no internet so I had a pretty good detox. That meant we went to bed early not only because we were bored but the tiredness was catching up with us. I slept in again until 11am which I needed. We had lunch and then shortly after we headed back to Puerto Princess for the rest of our stay. We kept our hotel room and left our stuff as well so we didn’t have to lug our luggage around. So it was like it was a mini vacation in our vacation. The last picture is one I took on our way back and as I said such pretty scenery and we could appreciate it as it was light out still. Nature is such a beautiful thing.

Day 8 was the most exciting I think. They were all exciting but this day was super fun. It is something I never would of thought I would have done in my life. I wanted to do something beach related and going to a place where the beaches are gorgeous and so many things to do there the why not? Also I did it because I’m always watching vloggers do something like this and I was inspired and wanted to as well. We booked an island hopping adventure and got a boat for the whole day which travels to 3 islands or more it is your choice what package you go for. I was so scared getting on and off the boat the first time. It literally took me 15 minutes before I got off the boat as I was so scared. It was something I never done and the boat was pretty big. I could have just dived into the ocean too but my problem was I was scared to go down the ramp let alone jumping into the sea. I thought I could do it and I was going to do it for the vlog but I was still too scared. I did manage to get off the boat thanks to our captain and his assistant. There was two people for the boats at all times. Our boat assistant guy was so helpful and helped me along the journey. I got off the boat finally. My cousin laughed and should have filmed it as he said it was so funny and vlog worthy but he didn’t know how to work the camera which I was grateful for. I took my first outfit picture and then went snorkeling. I haven’t edited the vlog yet but I have so much GoPro footage of me snorkeling and seeing the fishes. I couldn’t believe I was in the middle of an ocean snorkeling for the first. I was enjoying myself. It was really salty and I wasn’t used to it as I’m so used to pool water but there is something about being there. The sun shinning, the salt water and the sand between your toes. That moment made me wish I lived closer to a beach like this. Once we were done we got on the boat and it was a bit easy to get on it but I still had to have the two boat men help me up. By the second island it was easier to get down as there was a dock. The second island is where all my famous swimsuit pictures are from. It was very beautiful and again with the sandcastles. We didn’t go swimming in this island as I needed to keep it dry for the pictures. The third island was my favorite and that is where we got lunch and after that we went swimming in the sea. It was so relaxing and I enjoyed it so much. By the end I was able to get on and off the boat. The last stop to get off the boat men laughed and said last time to get off. I didn’t have to get on and off again. They found it so funny the last stop which was actually the easiest to get off. I enjoyed this day so much and it is definitely a highlight. I would so do it again even if it means having to get on and off the boat so many times.

Day 9 we got the last places in and revisited the ones we loved. I got my last outfit pictures in. We went back to Baker’s Hill and bought souvenirs. We spent the whole day buying souvenirs pretty much. We finished off the city tour and ended up at the Baywalk again. There was a huge event that day so we watched the sunset and stayed there until the evening. We had our last dinner there at our favorite restaurant we went to on day 2. It was a fun night to end our vacation.

The final day which was day 10 was spent packing up our belongings to head to the airport. We checked out at noon and my uncle packed us a lunch to have a picnic out. After that we headed out to the airport and said thanks and bye to my uncle for the whole stay. I thought the Palawan airport was small when we got here but it is much smaller when you depart. The line to check in reached outside and it was in the middle of the afternoon in the sun and very hot. We finally got in to check in our luggage and I was so grateful for the air condition but there was none. It was even hotter inside than outside and had so many people packed like sardines trying to check in and pay their terminal fees. It was a mes but we made it. We went to the boarding area and there was still people lined up. We found three seats finally and waited in a room with no air conditioning or windows. We find out there is no power and it is running on generators and the generators were only working for the important stuff so for the planes and the computers to check the tickets and stuff like that. The power kicked in about an hour in and everyone cheered when cold air came out but shortly there after it went out again. It was horrible especially after finding out our flight was delayed another hour again. We were supposed to leave 3pm but of course that wasn’t the case. The plane arrived at 4pm and  time we were able to board it was almost 5pm. We got to go out on to the runway again and I got my final pictures in. I got some good ones and even a selfie with a plane. I wish my face was a bit better as the sun was in my eyes and I packed my sunglasses in my suitcase. I still find it so cool I got a selfie with a plane. The sunset when we landed was so pretty I couldn’t hep but get a picture of it. Even if we were delayed we got there at a nice time and had the best lighting. It was back to Manila we went. I found out there was no power or electricity because the new international airport was overpowering the old airport as they were testing it out. If we had stayed 2 weeks more we would have flown out the new airport. However because of that airport the electricity kept going on and off during our stay. That was the only thing I hated about the whole trip was having no power. I understood when we stayed in the countryside but the city was the same. Overall the whole stay was so memorable and I’m glad I have these blog posts, pictures and videos to look back at my amazing trip I booked because of the money I saved from blogging.

So I made a roundup of all my Palawan blog posts for you and me. I’ll also be uploading the rest of the vlogs on my Youtube channel which I will leave the links below as well when they are complete. You can watch my first traval vlog below:

Outfits I Wore in Palawan

Airport Style

Twenty Four

Baker’s Hill

Rose Romper

Blogger Off Duty

Nautical Bae

Palawan Travel Blog Posts

How to pack a carry on suitcase?
Hotel Review/Where I stayed

Palawan Travel Guide

Body Positivity & Self Love

Palawan Travel Vlogs

Day 1 & 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5, 6 & 7

Day 8

Day 9 & 10

That was my photo and travel diary of Palawan. I hope you enjoyed reading all of them as I enjoyed writing and creating each one. This was by far the best vacation I had and I’m glad I was blogging the whole trip and planned content around it. I mean I could have just enjoyed and did nothing but I found it made the trip more enjoyable and I wouldn’t have done some of these things if I was just visiting. It would have been boring but since I knew I wanted to shoot outfits and do these travel guides I made sure to do something for it. I’m so grateful for that and made everything so fun. I hope to go back someday and experience it all over again. Maybe I’ll go somewhere different and do another one of these. I never thought I would love traveling so much and now I want to do it all the time. So I hope you found these helpful or entertaining and let me know if you read all of my posts from Palawan. I might be going somewhere again soon as I got my US passport in the mail today after renewing it last week. Maybe my blog will take me somewhere else. Who knows but if it does I’ll have it right here for you all to read. So I’m going to go now and start planning another dream vacation now. Have a fab weekend lovelies!

What vacation would you like to be on right now?