07 April 2009. El Nido is 238 kilometers from Puerto Princesa, a 6-hour ride that is generally winding and dusty on dry season. The good part of the road abruptly stops in Taytay, and the rest of the way is good old-fashioned rough road. Imagine travelling on a rainy day or riding in a bus (there are no airconditioned buses going to El Nido).
We left PPC at 7:30AM and arrived at El Nido at around 1:30PM, just in time for lunch. We stayed at Og’s Beach Pension which has a breathtaking view of the islands of El Nido from its balcony. Really awesome view... From the alley going to Og’s entrance, one can glimpse the pristine beach and the rocky mountains rising from some of the nearby islands, while within the poblacion of Barangay Buena Suerte, jagged limestone cliffs surround houses blocking the sun from view. The town is surrounded by ranges of limestone cliffs, hiding the greater part of the picturesque El Nido scenery. And seeing that scenery for the first time made me think that I was in paradise… I think I found Shangri-La.
