 |
| Welcome to The City in a Forest! |
Several
weeks ago, we received a rather strong warning from the Shore Excursions
department of the ship that we did not know what to expect on March 7 when we
would arrive in Puerto Princesa on Palawan Island in the Philippines. Like our last port in Makassar, Indonesia,
this port was not accustomed to cruise ships, the infrastructure was
questionable, and there was no assurance about vehicles other than there would
be a seat! We had scheduled a long nine
hour excursion to a UNESCO World Heritage site which would include a two hour
ride followed by two boats to an underground river that we would sail. At home, this sounded like the perfect
excursion and something totally different.
But the warning by the ship that it couldn’t make any promises encouraged
first Barb and then me to decide it wasn’t worth the risk, no matter how
beautiful this underground river might be.
So we canceled and booked a shorter, four hour excursion, called Puerto Princesa Highlights.
There were
no high expectations when we arrived in Puerto Princesa so we were quite amazed
to open our drapes at 6:30 to a glorious golden sunrise over the cathedral of
this city of between 200,000 to 300,000 inhabitants. Then when I stepped out on
the verandah I was even more pleasantly surprised to see hundreds of people on
the dock to welcome us. A large television screen was set up to broadcast
promotional activities for people to do as they left the ship. There were several bands, dancers in bright
colors and some in native dress, all sharing the “stage”, i.e. the pier, to
entertain as we sailed in and docked. It
was quite a welcome; in fact we agreed that it was probably the most impressive
welcome from any port on any cruise we have done, exceeding those we have done
in some Scottish ports and the Tahitian and the Adelaide welcomes we had
received on this voyage. It gave us an immediate favorable impression. In fact as the day progressed we were fully
aware that the local tourism board had done its work to make our day run
exceptionally smoothly.
As we
watched from our verandah, we were directly in line with the road running from
the pier into town and saw a fleet of modern vans pulling up with large numbers
designating the tour number and the van number.
Those doing the long excursion to the underground river were going to
have air conditioned, comfortable vans.
I had the feeling that I probably could have done that one after all,
but Barb still felt the right decision for her, given the continuing problem
with her foot, was to do the shorter tour that we had elected.
We had
suggested to our friends Bob and Nancy that we try to get on the same vehicle as
there would be small numbers of people in the vans. When we got to the Queen’s Lounge where we
always sign in for shore excursions, I asked if we were all to be sent out
together to find a van when we went or if we would be assigned a van before
going ashore. The latter being the case
made it easier. Other friends, Brenda
and Paul, were in the Queen’s Lounge already and we asked them if they wished
to join our little group giving us the full complement of six people for the
van.
As we left
the ship, we were quickly escorted to van #3 and met by our guide, Angel, and
the driver. As we drove out of the busy
city, known as “The City in the Forest”, Angel gave us an overview of the
island of Palawan. Palawan is one of about 1,700 islands in the Philippines and
is a long north/south island west of the main islands. With a population of 200,000 to 300,000
people, Puerto Princesa is the largest city and capital of the province of
about 900,000 people. She gave us an interesting
admonition as we began our tour, an admonition no guide has ever made. She informed us that the fines for littering
are severe: a fairly large fine for a
first offense, a larger on for a second, and much larger one for a third plus a
two month prison sentence. The
effort toward a much cleaner
city and province is refreshing and hopefully some other Asian cities will
follow that lead. As a result of the
strong Spanish influence before the Americans took the Philippines in the
Spanish-American War, the predominant religion is Roman Catholic. Because of their proximity to Indonesia and
China, over the centuries, Filipinos became a mixture of Indonesian and Chinese
people. During the Spanish period, a
penal colony was established in Palawan.
The economy
relies largely on seafood and agriculture, but the island has been cultivating
its tourism in recent years, particularly after the prominence given to the
UNESCO World Heritage site of Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park,
designated as one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature. Despite this, few cruise ships include
Palawan Island; there is a discrepancy in figures as one source indicated that
this is the first cruise ship since last March to visit, another said it was
the second this month already, and still another said there had been four or
five that had or were scheduled to dock.
Regardless of what is correct, there had been some negative reports that
led Holland America to extend the warnings to its passengers this year. But if there were problems in the recent
past, there was absolutely no evidence of this on our voyage this year. Everything, to our knowledge, ran like
clockwork. Near perfection!
The many
vans divided into groups of four vans of six tourists each and followed
different schedules to the varied locations on our Puerto Princesa Highlights excursion. This meant small groups of 24 at each
location. After driving into the
countryside, our first stop was at the Iwahig Penal Colony about 15 miles out
of Puerto Princesa city center. It was
absolutely fascinating as it is a prison without walls! Instead of the typical cells with bars, it
operates as a village and inmates wear shirts of different colors which
designate the level of security they require.
Those who are likely to spend the rest of their lives there wear
orange. With orange shirts for sale, I
couldn’t resist purchasing one but probably won’t want to wear it when we walk
the streets of Manila on Saturday! When
we got out of the vans, we were escorted to a large tented area with plenty of
chairs in order to watch the inmate band performance followed by a ritual dance
with inmates painted literally head to toe, including hair, with one side in
green and the other side in red. See the
example in the Picasa pictures.
From there
we went to the Crocodile Farming Institute where we had a brief but fascinating
tour of the environmental farm to save both the salt and fresh water crocs. We
saw a variety of crocs of different ages and then in outdoor habitats, some of
the large ones. They certainly would
have been more attractive if their parents had opted for braces for their sharp
and potentially destructive teeth! Barb
enjoys nearly every opportunity to hold cuddly animals and this proved no
exception. With a small crocodile draped
around her neck, she had her picture taken.
A short
drive took us to a photo op at a private residence with a magnificent view of
the city and the bay. Back in town, we
visited the Palawan Museum near the seat of provincial government where we
first watched a very informative movie on the culture and life on Palawan
Island. We then wandered through tasteful
displays in several rooms and could browse nice handicrafts at very reasonable prices
in the ever present gift shop. The
difference here was that it was not overly commercialized and prices were so
inexpensive. The problem was that we didn’t
have nearly the time we needed nor did we have enough US dollars to pay cash
for many of the nice items for sale.
The next stop
was at the Palawan Special Battalion World War II Memorial Museum. The Philippines played a major role in
tipping the balance of power between Japan and the Allies during that war and
this small museum was dedicated to honor the memories of those lost in the war.
Individual rooms were set aside for the Filipinos, Americans, and other players
during World War II. It reminded us of
the great museums we visited during our World War II trip to Normandy and other
venues in 2010.
With no
opportunity to get bored, we quickly moved to our next venue, the Immaculate
Conception Cathedral which is the predominant building on the city skyline from
the sea. Though the Spanish had
established a congregation in Palawan, the cathedral itself was not constructed
until 1961. Just a few yards away across
the street was the Plaza Cuartel, a beautiful memorial to Filipinos and
Americans who were massacred in a tunnel by the Japanese during the worst days
of World War II. From there, we had a
quick opportunity for some shopping before our return to the ship. In a wonderful, nearly whirlwind tour we came
away with a great appreciation for both this part of the Philippines as well as
its friendly, warm and welcoming people.
After a
quick lunch back on the ship, we went out to the several booths on the ship
which offered a variety of local crafts.
The day wasn’t over though! We
had received the best welcome of any port on any cruise in the morning but
before we sailed, more entertainment was provided on the pier. Young children, probably upper elementary
age, all with violins, serenaded those on the pier and on the outer decks. Young women from a Catholic college sang as
well, and finally some agile local acrobats put on a stunning display of
prowess.
Some people
on the pier seemed reluctant to board as time drew near to pull up the
gangway. As the ship prepared to sail, ropes
were withdrawn and we edged away from the pier. The ship blew frequent loud
blasts from its horn as its way of saying “thank you” to this port and people
who prepared such as lavish day for the guests on the Amsterdam. Those on the pier and on the ship waved to
each other as we sailed away to our next destination, Manila. Most Filipino crew as well as most guests had
never been to Palawan before, and as Cruise Director Bruce reported the next
morning, the Filipinos were beaming with pride at the smashing hit their
country had made with guests. Clearly at
Puerto Princesa, the early concerns expressed about the port were totally
shattered by the wonderful day in the Philippines.
CT
No comments:
Post a Comment