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I'm going to bring
the local map back and take another look. We rented motorcycles
in Sabang from Rowena, a nice lady who rents motorcycles a "block"
back from the waterfront in Sabang. We rode them down the peninsula
to the town of Puerto Galera - 6 kilometers - up and down slopes
that were paved, then unpaved, then paved again unpredictably.
We rode through the town of Puerto Galera and then on the road
that takes you to White, Aninuan, and finally Talipanan Beach.
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Here's a shot of the
first beach you get to, White Beach. This is of course not taken
from a motorcycle but from a sunset cruise that we took. You sign
up at The Point between Sabang and Small Lalaguna beaches. The cruise
cost us US$6 each and was an "all the beer you can drink"
cruise. It wasn't advertised that way, but that's what it actually
was. Quite a deal.
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In December of 1993,
my wife and I paid a boatman to take us on a little cruise, and
he took us here to White Beach. I remember that there was nothing
there - a few nipa huts and one makeshift restaurant that we ate
at. I was very surprised to come back and find shops lining the
beach
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Don't
get me wrong; it's still quite laid back and secluded. However, about
the only thing that will remind you of nipa huts now is the name of
this restaurant. This is where we had lunch this time and the food
was quite good. I recommend the mango milk shakes. If you want a beautiful
beach but a step back in time and price from the main beaches of what
is referred to as Puerto Galera, you can certainly find that here
at White Beach. And yes, as you can tell, the sand is pretty white. |
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The telephone towers
you see in the first picture and this fourth picture are the same.
Just over the headland to the west is Aninuan Beach. A visit to
Aninuan Beach will take you another step back in time.
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You may be excused for
thinking that Aninuan Beach is called Tamaraw Beach because of this
big sign you'll find there. As you can tell, this is a place to
"get away from it all" for those who seek peace and quiet.
We talked to the owners of this hotel setup and they told us that
the cabins you see go for USD$10 a night. While we were there, construction
was going on on the building at far right. They said that it was
going to be a restaurant.
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last beach that you can drive to is Talipanan Beach. The road does
not cross that headland, so if you want to go farther west, you need
to do it by boat. Talipanan Beach is actually quite long and the sand
is great, but there's been very little constructed on it. The guy
I was with said that a man once built a house down at the far end
that you see, but he built the house too close to the water and on
the sand. A good storm took it away. |
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I don't have any pictures
to show you, but there are a couple of restaurants down at the end
of this beach, and it is here that our sunset cruise docked for
dinner. There's an Italian fellow running a pizza restaurant down
there, and I can tell you that the pizza that he makes is quite
good.
This picture has no significance
- I just liked the scene.
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Here's a map I made that
shows a motorcycle trip I made one day. I enjoyed the trip along
the beaches to the west so much that I rented a bike another day
and headed south. I must admit that when I made my first Puerto
Galera page in 1998 I thought Puerto Galera was all there was and
the rest of the island was inhabited by stone age people with spears.
Not true, not true. As you can see, the road goes along the coast
for a while, affording some gorgeous views. Then the pavement ends,
giving you the impression that you are leaving civilization. The
pavement picks back up, however, and then from that point to Calapan
and down to Roxas the roads were fair to good. At some points I
was able to have the throttle wide open on the bike. But why would
I want to?
I had set a goal of going
down to Roxas, where the roll-on roll-off ferry to the island of
Boracay lands. That was too ambitious for one day, as I spent 10
hours on an off-road Honda 200 getting down there and back before
dark. I made it, but it would have made more sense to go only part
way down and spend more time taking pictures. Anyway, here's the
trip.
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When
you get a little way south of Puerto Galera you see a flimsy arch
by the roadside. It's visible here with my Honda parked under it.
There are rocks jutting out into the water, and they have put this
statue of the Virgin on it. It's things like this that remind you
that you are in a Christian country, even if you are in Asia. |
| Later
there is some road construction where they are paving another section
of the road. I stopped the bike and walked out for a view of the ocean.
This is looking north, and that land you see is the peninsula from
the town of Puerto Galera to Sinandiganan. See the map at the top
of this page again if you don't know what I'm talking about. |
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A
bit later you come on the famous Tamaraw Falls. They are right there
by the roadside. You can't really get far enough away from them to
get everything in a picture, at least not if you have a lens like
mine. |
| Calapan
is the largest city on Mindoro. By the time I reached it, I was getting
a little hungry and I stopped into a Jolibee restaurant. Jolibee is
the Filipino version of McDonald's for those of you who have never
experienced it. I basically like their menu, so that was lunch. I
took this picture as I walked back across the street to where I'd
parked the bike. As you can see, cars drive on the right in the Philippines. |
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Although
it's mountainous up in the northern part of Mindoro, the rest of the
trip down to Roxas is flat. I stopped to take this picture of the
homes of some rice farmers as the sun was getting low and golden.
Some kids had climbed a tree by the road and were commenting on the
strange guy on the motorcycle. This was the last picture I took, as
I rode hard after this to make it back to Sabang before dark. |
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| If
you didn't look at the map at the top of this page the last time I
told you to, do it now so you can see where Sinandiganan is. It is
an area you can walk to from Sabang, although I don't think many do.
As I said on the previous page, to get there you just need to take
the road that comes in right in front of the Tropicana and keep walking
until it turns into jungle. If you see this scene, you're on the right
road. |
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If
you stray off the road at all, you will find that it gets wild in
a hurry. |
| The first
time I started down the road I gave up and walked back to Sabang.
But the second time I persisted and walked up, over, and then down
to the waterfront again. Those who do persist will eventually find
their way to the Coral Cove resort, an unpretentious family business
well away from the bars, discos, and jeepneys of Sabang. It really
is a tranquil spot with a lovely view. As it was really hot out, I
had a bottle of water and spoke briefly with the owner. |
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After
that, I walked down to the jetty where a boat had just left with the
load of tourists it had brought there for lunch. Because of its location,
the Coral Cove is the type of place that walk-ins to Puerto Galera
would never find - you would either have to find it on the Internet
or hear about it from an agent. It would be an ideal place for those
seeking tranquility. It wouldn't work for those seeking nightlife. |
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The skinny: There's a big world out there with lots of places to
visit. When I finally get a chance to get out of Tokyo, I like to
pick a different destination each time and see what it has to offer.
Not too often do I repeat. That said, I've been to Puerto Galera
three times, and I'm sure there will be a fourth. I don't think
I've been able to capture it on these pages, but it just has atmosphere,
a quality that's hard to describe.
There's no way the Philippines
could compete with Thailand when it comes to tourism, and Thailand
certainly has its magic. Still, I think Puerto Galera is hard to
beat for a vacation, especially for divers and single men, and families
can enjoy it, too. I predict that it will be "discovered"
sooner or later. Visit before it is!
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Tokyo,
Japan
October 14, 2004
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