Puerto Princesa To El Nido (longest van ride ever!)

Our flight time via Cebu Pacific was at 8:15AM at NAIA3, after approximately 1 Hr we arrived in Puerto Princesa.

touchdown Puerto Princesa!

We were to be fetched by a van of DAYTRIPPERS which was contacted by our friend, CM. Their vans are far newer and bigger than the usual Lexus Vans that plies the PP-El Nido route. Regular vans costs P500/head while Daytrippers charge P800/head. This is inclusive of light snacks/water during the roadtrip. Their vans are roomy and well maintained.

CM called our contact to tell them that we were waiting at the airport passenger terminal but were informed that our co-passengers for the trip (a couple) had a delayed flight. We were then asked if we're amenable to a later trip to El Nido in exchange for a free 1 spot tour in the city. Since 3 of us haven't been to Bakers Hill yet, we agreed. Already hungry at the time (only had a light breakfast at Jollibee in NAIA 3), we told them to just go to BALAI INATO at 11AM as we'll have an early lunch there. We rode a trike to the resto for P50/chartered trike (3pax max) which was just 15 mins away.

at balai inato, waiting for our food

Balai Inato is a guesthouse their resto is called HAIM CHICKEN INATO. The food is affordable and cooked well. Cooking time is quite long though, we waited for almost half hour before our food was served. Their specialty is their chicken inasal (P90+). Place is clean and you could enjoy a moment of privacy as their tables are separated by walkway. 

At 11AM, the van from daytripper arrived and we gladly went in. From Balai Inato, it was 20-25mnins before we reached Bakers Hill. There were some improvements going on. As it was still quite early, very few tourists were onsite so we had a nice feel of the place. There was a playground at the back of the site where children freely roam around. A small Japanese-esque garden, a tower of sorts with a view of the surroundings. You could spend an hour at the place and just chill with your friends. Bakers Hill also has a resto and a souvenir shop. I would've wanted to buy pasalubongs but we'll only leave for Manila 5 days later. Baka masira lang yun food, sayang naman.

From Bakers Hill (12:30PM), we went back to the airport to wait for our co-passengers. The thing is, they were again delayed by 1 hour! By this time, we were already tired and impatient. We had nothing to do but to listen to music as other city tour spots are quite far. So on we wait.

By 1:30pm, our co-passengers arrived and we commenced our trip to El Nido. Arrived at our El Nido hotel (Four Seasons Resort in Corong Corong) at 7:30PM. What was supposed to be a 5hr van ride became longer due to the delays that we encountered. Sayang yung oras! Nakapag ikot pa sana kami sa town proper.

We were all so tired by this time that we decided to eat dinner at the hotel instead of at the town. After dinner, we freshened up and rested early for our early sched the next day (Combi Tour B+D c/o Northern Hope Tours).