Nothing happening, Puerto Princesa

 Blog 06-26-23 Monday


Nothing has happened. There is nothing to tell, no stories that might engage an audience. (What audience? I have been averaging three views of each of my posts.) Since returning from Port Barton I’ve:

Read a couple books;

Eaten a few peanut butter sandwiches;

Cleaned the beach a couple times despite overwhelming fatigue when I do so; 

Traveled to the county fair to drink some lemonade and eat a few french fries;

Gazed at the daily rainstorm that seems to wrap me in its protective shroud;

Followed the NBA draft obsessively for a few hours;

Followed the unreal developments in Russia that seem to have no logic except to distract those in distant lands; 

Scratched the brown cat who snuggles up to my legs each night until the dawn light tempts her back to wherever she hangs out when she isn’t here;

Stared at my fat belly always hoping that it will magically disappear the next time I look; 

Persuaded Roy to take me on a tour of the village main street wherein are located a dozen or so booths with cast iron pots filled with hot food; {the contents turned out to be offputting, lots of cheap meats (pig tongue, for instance) that my vegetarian stomach could never abide; I did manage to procure a few delicious fried fish; Palawan is NOT a place for those who want to avoid meat}.



In five days I transition to Taiwan. To get there I must endure a ten hour, overnight, layover at Manila Airport. There is one unchallengeable conclusion I can make on this trip — MNL is the worst airport in the world. I can’t conceive of any other so bleak, lacking in amenities, so stacked full of inconveniences. There are three terminals, each a six-minute bus ride from the other. The area around the terminals is favela-like, not a place you’d venture into without a clear purpose. But even if you wanted to wander the traffic of buses, tricycles, SUV’s, jeepnee’s, and the occasional bicycle forms an impenetrable moat. My time there isn’t long enough to allow a sidetrip to a comfortable hotel so I’m preparing myself for a bedtime of torture. 

I’ve secured a reservation at a hostel in Taipei for my first six days there.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Last day in Taiwan

  Hengchun I spent one day in this coastal city. Late that day I got an email from Melody. Her mother was deathly ill, and in the hospital. My presence was needed immediately at home (well, actually in Los Angeles). I bought a plane ticket for the next day. Thanks to Taiwan’s great transportation system I got back to Taipei in five hours. I spent a few hours trying to purchase some gifts, then headed to the airport for my flight. The plane left just after midnight. Twelve hours later I was in LA.  The health scare faded, I’m happy to relate. Medy is now healed and at home. I lost a few days of my journey but that’s no great problem. 
Read more

Sloth

06-18-23 Sunday What can be said about a life with so little substance? I wake up; I take a tour on the hammock that occupies half of my porch, maybe an hour each morning?; then I read for a couple hours on the rattan couch in my living room; followed by a couple hours looking at YouTube videos on my laptop; then more reading and hammockery. Somehow the hours pass and the day is gone. All the while I persecute myself with accusations of sloth (the charges are clearly valid). How do I justify doing nothing for two weeks? Generally on my travels I don’t tarry anywhere very long, always seeking out museums, bicycle tours, parks, restaurants, riversides. But Princesa has none of these. There is a small port that I visited one of the first days. I’ve spent some hours investigating the city with its myriad shops and markets, but there isn’t much to see. I took a ride to the nearest tourist attraction, the ‘Underground River’, but that was a vapid exercise further ruined by an argument I h...
Read more

Impressions of the capital city

Impressions of Taipei You are unlikely to be greatly disturbed in Taipei. Crime seems nonexistent. Places to eat are so abundant they seem overbearing at times. There is just enough English to allow a Westerner to survive with minimal bumps in the road. There is a Starbucks on every corner…..seemingly. There are neighborhoods where teens and young adults carouse in clubs, bars, and comfortable places to linger over a meal.  Yet this isn't a place where strangers will come away with great memories. Concerts and plays are scarce if thatś your hope. Beaches are distant (but accessible by public transit). And there is the overbearing presence of the heat. For reasons I can't fathom there is no liberating fog in Taiwan though Taipei is only a few kilometers from the ocean. And the wind…..it is almost entirely absent unless you hie yourself to  the surrounding mountains. Thus Google routinely reports ¨36 degrees, feels like 46¨ (thatś 115 degrees to the English world).  My bigg...
Read more