Day 353- Van Race from El Nido to Puerto Princesa - Trying a new hotel - or Not
Tuesday, June 25th, 2019
Today the trike came to pick us up closer to 11:00 to take us to the bus station. We were supposed to leave at 11:00 but the driver was waiting to fill up the van. There is space for 12 people so they won’t go anywhere until they fill every seat. At one point we left with two empty seats but the driver stopped along the way and got two more passengers. One of them sat in our row of three so we were a little bit cramped and the fourth passenger had to share Sunshine’s backrest. Gregory made the driver stop the van and move the passenger to the back seat when he saw us.
The ride was not pleasant because the road was super curvy and the driver was driving fast. Sunshine, who switched with Gregory and sat on the front seat after the only break, said her head was moving from one side to the other like a dead chicken. No wonder her neck hurt afterward. We thought the ride was going to be 6 hours but it took less than five! The driver offered to take us to our hotel.
When we got to Deep Forest hotel, and the driver wanted to charge 200 pesos extra because it was farther than the other hotels. We gave him a tip instead. At the hotel, we saw that the rooms didn’t include breakfast and that the hotel was actually pretty tacky and dark. It looked so much nicer in the pictures (of course) so we decided to cancel the reservation and go back to Ponce de Leon, where our suitcases were waiting anyway. We had to wait for a half an hour for our driver to come and pick us up. I was hangry by then so we stopped at a chain restaurant called Mang Inasal. The chicken was actually good. I removed the bones for my baby Daniel who can’t stand to see the chicken with bones. I know, so spoiled but there you have it, I will do it while I can! #enabler
It rained very hard during dinner time. Our driver had to put our backpacks inside the trike to protect it from the rain! Afterward, he drove us back to Ponce de Leon. I was a little nervous because Gregory could not book online since Booking.com only showed one room available but as always, he told me not to worry. They did have rooms available and we got exactly the same one that we had before, even if I wanted a room with a TV that worked. Whatever -- at that point, I was tired and thankful they could accommodate us. We still don’t know why all the hotels are full if kids are supposed to be in school.
Our room was arranged nicely and it felt like five-star hotel after the room in El Nido! Our bathroom was big and had a shower curtain, that’s luxury! We settled and watched a movie on Gregory’s computer.
Today the trike came to pick us up closer to 11:00 to take us to the bus station. We were supposed to leave at 11:00 but the driver was waiting to fill up the van. There is space for 12 people so they won’t go anywhere until they fill every seat. At one point we left with two empty seats but the driver stopped along the way and got two more passengers. One of them sat in our row of three so we were a little bit cramped and the fourth passenger had to share Sunshine’s backrest. Gregory made the driver stop the van and move the passenger to the back seat when he saw us.
The ride was not pleasant because the road was super curvy and the driver was driving fast. Sunshine, who switched with Gregory and sat on the front seat after the only break, said her head was moving from one side to the other like a dead chicken. No wonder her neck hurt afterward. We thought the ride was going to be 6 hours but it took less than five! The driver offered to take us to our hotel.
When we got to Deep Forest hotel, and the driver wanted to charge 200 pesos extra because it was farther than the other hotels. We gave him a tip instead. At the hotel, we saw that the rooms didn’t include breakfast and that the hotel was actually pretty tacky and dark. It looked so much nicer in the pictures (of course) so we decided to cancel the reservation and go back to Ponce de Leon, where our suitcases were waiting anyway. We had to wait for a half an hour for our driver to come and pick us up. I was hangry by then so we stopped at a chain restaurant called Mang Inasal. The chicken was actually good. I removed the bones for my baby Daniel who can’t stand to see the chicken with bones. I know, so spoiled but there you have it, I will do it while I can! #enabler
It rained very hard during dinner time. Our driver had to put our backpacks inside the trike to protect it from the rain! Afterward, he drove us back to Ponce de Leon. I was a little nervous because Gregory could not book online since Booking.com only showed one room available but as always, he told me not to worry. They did have rooms available and we got exactly the same one that we had before, even if I wanted a room with a TV that worked. Whatever -- at that point, I was tired and thankful they could accommodate us. We still don’t know why all the hotels are full if kids are supposed to be in school.
Our room was arranged nicely and it felt like five-star hotel after the room in El Nido! Our bathroom was big and had a shower curtain, that’s luxury! We settled and watched a movie on Gregory’s computer.
For pictures of the Deep Forest Hotel, which we didn't stay at,
please click here.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CCX9c11z232C3gZUA
please click here.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CCX9c11z232C3gZUA
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