Flat tyres going to El Nido
After a few days in Puerto Princesa it is time to move on. There are 3 buses a day from here to El Nido. There is the early bus, the very early bus and the stupidly early bus. Leaving at 5 am, 7 am and 9 am. I will be aiming for the one leaving at 7. After my last bus travel I am convinced that the bus will not really be leaving at 7 - sure it left on time the last time - but that only means that I got on the one bus leaving on time in the
So I don't get to the bus terminal before 6.57 convinced I will be one of the first people to board the bus. And yep I am the first one entering the bus - it is actually completely empty - but right next to this empty bus is a bus which is really really full.
At seven sharp the bus leaves - this can not be happening - buses leaving at time twice in a row in the 
After a few hours some of the passengers leave the bus and there is an open seat on the backbench. I get it. It is actually more comfortable for me because there is lots more legroom back here than on the other seats in the bus. Of course there is some problems with the backseat - you cant really look out of the windows without looking through the top part of the windows which are all coloured class to protect against the sun - and every time the bus drivers over a bump you will jump in the seat - and there are a lot of bumps on this road. And when you hit the major bumps in the road you will jump from the seat and hit the roof - all part of the daily entertainment when travelling overland.
The trip is pretty uneventful - except the mandatory puncture - it is not that hard to understand why the buses constantly puncture on these roads.
On the last bit of the trip the landscape changes - out through the left windows of the bus you can see many small islands. They are all part of the Bacuit Archipelago the main reason people travel to El Nido. Everybody will go island hopping between these islands.
When I get to town I walk down the street to find somewhere to stay - and I get a small beach cottages right at the beach with a small porch and everything. This looks promising and it is empty so I got the place all to myself no one to disturb the peace. After getting settled I have just enough time to go and have a look at the limestone cliffs surrounding the entire tiny town and then heads of to the sunset over the see with the islands in the background.
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I stayed at a small place called Dara Fernandez. It has got 4 cottages all with a small porch in front. The two are sharing the same and is therefore 100 pesos cheaper. I could not find any other differences between the cottages - hence I went for the one with a shared porch.
There is a nice view of the bay from the plot and there is a couple of palm tree just outside the fence which makes a perfect mark when you are walking home along the beach. As an extra bonus you can hang out on one of the hammocks in the front facing the see.
A great thing about this place is there is no bar which means it is quite at night and for some reason there is not any rooster hanging around just outside you cottages which give you the possibility to actually sleep after 3 in the morning. The rooms all come with a fan which will turn it self of when the towns generators is shot down at 6 in the morning. This got an unfortunate side effect because it will most likely wake you up at 6.15 sweating.
You can put your valuables in a safe at the owners house - but be aware that you may face difficulties getting them back because the owner will leave from 8 in the morning and not return until 6 at night. And on a Sunday the owner will be at mass before 8 only giving you a limited opportunity to get your stuff if you are leaving on a Sunday.
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