Puerto Princesa | Philippines

After splashing around on Siquijor Island, I decided to make my to El Nido, Palawan which required a stop in Puerto Princesa.

peetting there was an adventure. I planned to take a boat from Siquijor to Cebu but the boat wasn’t running due to wind, so I had to go back to Dumaguete, where I could hopefully catch a boat to Cebu. I met two lovely souls on the boat, Chai and Arnel, who were also trying to get to Cebu, and for the next few hours, we had an adventure together! When we arrived at the port in Dumaguete, we were told there was a boat at midnight arriving at 6 am (it was 3 in the afternoon at the time).

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We thought there would be a better option on a bus so we shared transport to the station but there was only a bus arriving at 3 am. We decided the ferry was better, and got on a rickshaw BACK to the port, only to arrive and find it was CANCELED. We were about to go back to the bus station when our bike driver told us there was a fast boat from another town 30 min away leaving soon.

Chai negotiated with him, and he said we didn’t have to pay if he was wrong. “I’m just trying to do a nice thing so you can help your friend.” Turns out our driver angel was right! We got a fast boat and arrived just after dark. Chai and Arnel helped me find my hotel, which as it turns out, wasn’t near the airport like I thought, it was near the old airport!! Then, when I arrived, they had my booking mixed up and I had to pay twice. Face palm. Oh well!!

The next morning I FINALLY made it to the airport where I was able to catch my flight to Puerto Princesa. I stayed at the lovely Blue Lagoon where I some down time to just swim, walk around, and do some editing.

Here are my favorite photographs from walking around in Puerto Princesa.

Erica Camille is a LGBT destination wedding photographer and travel blogger based in New York City, Koh Samui, and Phuket Thailand. Named by GO Magazine as one of “100 Women We Love,” Erica’s work has also been featured on dozens of wedding blogs and online travel sites, including multiple lists of “top 10 travel blogs.”
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