27 February 2014

And So Our Great Palawan Adventure Just Got Better! PART 2

It's funny because our 3rd day of activities in Palawan only started after lunch time but still, our itinerary for that day was so jam packed so I've decided to make it as one separate post.


Babs and I spent our morning at the resort with him snorkeling and me just popping cashew nuts in my mouth while I admire our view from our tree house. I mean, even if I wanted to snorkel at that time, the sight of jellyfishes all over the water scared me even if staffs from the resort said that those invertebrates were harmless.


Anyway, back to our day 3 adventure, after eating lunch, our van fetched us and together with our groupmates that day, our first destination was the most famous Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral in Puerto Princesa. Too bad we weren't able to take a good picture of that place. Old people say that if you visit a church for the first time, you can make a wish and that it will come true. But remembering that moment in Palawan now, I don't think I made a wish. Oh well, whatever I pray for anyway, God still gives it to me.


Moving forward, after the church, we went to Plaza Cuartel, a historic place where American soldiers during WWII were tortured and burned alive by the Japanese troops. Now, the place looks like a garden with trees and flowering plants everywhere although if one will really think about what happened in that location, one would not help but shudder.





After Plaza Cuartel, our group headed to the famous Binuatan Creations that sells handmade woven products made by the locals using indigenous raw materials. Visitors like us are given the chance to have a feel of how it is to weave mats and based on my experience, anyone who wants to weave should have lots of patience in his/her system plus a strong back (because it's a back breaking task in case you're wondering why a strong back. haha!).


Aside from seeing and experiencing the production floor, we also raided the pasalubong (souvenir) area of Binuatan Creations. Luckily, we found a really nice straw hat from the shop which I used on our island hopping activity the day after.



We proceeded with our day tour by visiting Mitra's Ranch in Santa Monica Heights which is owned by the late Senator Ramon Mitra's family. It has a nice viewdeck where people can see the entire Puerto Princesa from the hillside.


Of course, a visit in Santa Monica Heights will not be completed if we will not buy some yummy breads and pastries from Baker's Hill. And if only we have the luxury of time at that moment, I would have love to stay there for at least an hour to sample their other dishes at Baker's Kitchen. Maybe next time.


After filling our pasalubong hoard with breads and pastries from Baker's Hill, we continued our trip and found ourselves surrounded with crocs and other wild animals (mosquitoes included) at Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center.


Our tour at the center kickstarted with a trivia about the biggest croc Palawan has ever captured and killed (or later died, I couldn't quite remember) with its skin pinned on the wall and its bones preserved in a humongous glass box. But I guess that historic croc will already be replaced by Lolong, also found in the Philippines, the largest croc ever captured in the entire world until last 2013 when the animal died and that's a different story actually.


So yeah, aside from seeing lots of reptiles in all sizes and shapes (we saw some crocs that have abnormalities in their physical appearances), we also enjoyed seeing some birds like ostriches (my first time) and an eagle.


Just a tip for future travelers, you should apply some mosquito repellant lotion to your exposed body parts before heading to this place because there's an awful lot of mosquitoes in there.

We capped off our tour by visiting Palawan's famous prison called Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm. Now, what makes it famous and special you may ask. It's the fact that prisoners are free to roam around this huge piece of land that even if they try to escape from this place, there's just no way they can do that. And of course, prisoners who are allowed to enjoy and bask in the sun earned their spots. And the special thing about this place is that prisoners who have talents are given the chance to use their gifts to become productive people and raise money. And for those who aren't as talented as their prisonmates, they can still help out by creating products that they can sell in their souvenir shop. Tourists can even mingle with some of the prisoners who are manning the souvenir shop.



It was already night time when we finished our city tour so we just ordered at Jollibee and ate our grub at the hotel.

Hope you enjoyed our 3rd day!

Find out what we did on our 4th and 5th day in Palawan! If you like sun and water, then you'll definitely enjoy my next post!

And if you haven't read the part 1 and part 3 of our Great Palawan Adventure, you can find them below.

And So Our Great Palawan Adventure Begins! PART 1

Save the Best for Last! Our Great Palawan Adventure PART 3

Laters!

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