Coron and El Nido Rides

It was some five or six year ago since I last saw Coron and El Nido. I was still working then for an Environmental Non-Government Organization as an educator of laws that protects the interest of indigenous people of Palawan. I came back to these amazing places a day after my birthday for a 3-week journey to the province with a friend. Good thing was I was able to bring my Haro Sonix to test the tracks of Coron and El Nido with side trip to Culion.

First destination, Coron, May 26. I was able to get a 2-way ticket from Cebu Pacific for just Php3,000 plus. Definitely a good deal. From Coron Airport I could tell it wasgoing to be a great biking experience. I used to call this area as "New Zealand" for hundreds or maybe thousands of cows dotted the grass fields bounded by low brushes and trees. The surrounding area is something like you see at the backdrop of Lord of the Rings Trilogy. After a 30-minute ride we reached SeaDive Resort which is oddly shaped like the bridge of a ship. It is "anchored" on the coast giving guests a great view of the Coron Island with its majestic karsts across the town. My room only cost Php800. It has AC, private bath and of course the view. Food was quite expensive ranging from Php220 to P385 but the serving was big and tasted wonderful.

Since I am showing my friend the beautiful Palawan I can only ride my bike during free time. Since were able to billet ourselves only after 5 PM, we decided to check out some of the nearby attractions. Maquinit Hotsprings is some 5km from the town and is a good 15-minute ride by tricycle. Instead of riding the 3-wheeled vehicle I opted to take my 2-wheeled full-suspension. It was only 5 km from the hotel but it was uphill and the road was loose gravel. The following morning, while my friend was still snoring, I decided to follow my feet's itchiness. I went up north and checked out the Mabintangen Dam. I got lost a bit and passed by Tapyas Hotel.After some friendly directions by the locals I was able to get back to the right track. It was a beautiful offroad, typical of unspoiled countryside. But lo and behold! The road is lined up with Mangium trees on both sides while the tip of Mt. Tapyas was showing up from behind the thick bushes and trees from time to time. The dam was just some 5 km away but since the view was different from my usual Metro-Manila outskirts destination, plus being unfamiliar with the terrain, the short distance made the whole trip seemed so long. Along the way, I saw some single track trails, obviously made by years of treading by different feet. I came across a small ranch with some horses for hire. Some horse back riding. I took some pictures then continued my journey. I finally reached the dam which seemed like the main source of water for the entire town. Not a good place for any visitors to see as it looked poorly maintained. After a sip of water from my bottle I retraced my route and decided to check out the feeder roads I saw earlier. Two-tired ruts were still fresh of marks. There were also puddles telling me it had rained last night or early morning. After a couple of hundred meters the road ended in a makeshift wooden gate. I dare not trespass for fear of being shot by anyone inside or being chased by the dogs.I'd say respect to any private property.

Second day, we went to the beautiful and quaint island of Culion, a former Leper Colony in the early 1900 until the latter part of the 80s. This was one of my fave destinations in Calamianes Group of Islands. Every time I sit and look at the horizon on top of the fort guarding the town, I can only imagine the Philippines in 1800s. The town has a colorful history. It was founded by Spanish Conquistadores (Agustinian Recollects) in 1622 but of course our own Filipino ancestors (Tagbanua) were already having their own system of life there. In 1740 the Fort was constructed to ward off what the Spanish called the "Moro Raiders", our beloved Muslim brothers from the South. I guess there were too much branding from the invaders themselves back then. After the Spanish-American war of 1898, which we all know in history that Philippines was ceded for only $20M, the Americans tried to cleanse Manila of its filth. They found the city too dirty and many residents were plauged with leprosy. They looked around for a place to put (segregation) these unfortunate Filipinos and found this beautiful island (leper colony). Today, no more than a handful of patients reside in the now Culion Sanitarium and General Hospital which used to be dreaded by most people specially the uninformed. According to the information found at Culion Museum, leprosy has already been cured and eradicated. People in this town are either 3rd or 4th generation of former patients and some are migrants themselves from other parts of the country.

My trip there didn't only bring back memories of my old visits, of people I knew, not only of the book I got in 2003 from the local school, Loyola College, entitled "Letters from the Lepers' Isle" by Fr. John Chambers S.J. but also of the chance to scout some good places to bike in the future if chances will allow me again. We were told not to miss Pulang Lupa, some 8 km on top of the hill overlooking the town. We paid the fee to the Tourism Office and took their van to get there. Suddenly, a big rain poured that made the road muddy and sticky. The van was stuck to the mud so we were forced to walk. The place offered a great view of the town proper across the bay from a hill of about 500m elevation. It was designed to look like some sort of theme park with statues of different animals everywhere. Funny thing was statues of Disney characters were also scattered around the place. I found it annoying for such a pristine place decorated with concrete replicas of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. I would say a tour to this island will be a great challenge to any mountain biker. Off road, loose gravel, sticky and muddy fire roads, single tracks (foot trails), lots of uphills, and the best thing of all, locals told me that no bikers had ever set foot (tires) on this island. I was thinking of doing a proposal to local government to sponsor a number of riders in exchange to some exposure to blogs, threads, and fora online as part of their tourism promotion.

Third Day. I took my bike around Mt. Tapyas. This mountain is very prominent landmark of Coron as a gigantic cross on its peak is visible from miles away. It offers some 700+ steps to reach the cross plus a rewarding view of the sunset. Since I have conquered the steps a couple of times few years ago, I decided to bike around the mountain itself instead of climbing the stairs again on foot. I took the road going to Maquinit HotSprings, passed by Cubi Beach, the village of Balisongan, pedaled my way in between Tapyas and Mt. Tundalara, a sleeping volcano, and ended up in the receiving area for tourists at the foot of Mt. Tapyas. My cyclocomp recorded only some 16 km to get the route done but it's quite a challenge. Again, different terrain, loose gravel on uphills, not properly maintained fire roads and some side trips to coves and beaches. As every bikers would want it, every ride is a unique ride. After the ride, I can't get my feet to settle down. Went around the central town and found a car wash. While giving my bike the well deserved bath, I had a conversation with the shop's owner, Boyet Aborot. I learned that there were no organized bike clubs in the area though some own mountain bikes. Boyet belongs to a motorbike club that go inside trails as well. He was e so eager to show me a crudely-drawn map of trails around Coron and Busuanga. He wanted to show me a trail at the back of Mt. Tapyas that they regularly take by motorbikes. The trail serves as backdoor to the top of Taypas. I said to myself, this was great I'd better check it out. He rode his motorcycle, I took my freshly cleaned bike and off we go. He led me to the place. The trail looked difficult. I guess it was already some 40 degrees of inclination at the trail head all the way to the top. We would need some experts to do it. I told him not this time, besides it's already dusk, sometime around 6 PM. He gave me the map of the different trails he was showing me earlier and we said our thank yous and goodbyes.

We flew back to Manila the following day since there were no planes to El Nido from there. We had to get to Manila first, book tickets to Puerto Princesa City and travel by land to get to El NIdo. We were informed there was a ferry servicing from Coron to El Nido but travel time would take eight hours. We didn't want to take the risk of spending 8 hours on a a boat. Plane would only take an hour to get to most destinations in the Philippines, a bit more expensive to do but safer for us. At Terminal 3 back in Manila, while waiting for my bike and luggage at the carousel, I saw two mountain bikes being unloaded on the next carousel, no bike box, not in a package. I reckon that it would be more easy to bring the bike without the box on my next flight.

Upon reaching Puerto Princesa we started contacting vans to get us to El Nido. In no time, I found myself and my white Sonix inside the 4WD Mitsubishi Delica. Heavy rains, bad roads for almost half of the trip, and some long stops for food took us 9 hours to get there. Our driver told us that some drivers could make it to El Nido in only 6 hours in a good weather with no stops. The first half of the trip was fantastic as Palawan offers one of the best highways in the entire country. Perfect concrete road for the first 120 km or so. W reached the beautiful El Nido around 7 PM. Can't see much at night but the sillhouette of the karst was still visible to my eyes. We had dinner at Squidos, my favorite restaurant before. They still have nice food and of course their specialty, squid. They still satisfy my taste. Their food's average price is Php180.

Next morning we decided to change hotels. We didn't like the first one. I'm not going to tell the name so as not to destroy their business. We went to El Nido Beach Hotel, owned and managed by some Koreans. I could say this could be the best or maybe on the Top 2 in the entire town. Nice bed, spacious room, has AC, cable tv, and hot and cold shower. Breakfast suck, though. The rooms have nice verandas leading to a great view of the sea and the island of the bay. For five days that we stayed in El Nido, we only went to one place for breakfast after our first day of disappointment from the hotel's food. We only ate at Balay Tubay owned by Bong Acosta. I liked the ambiance, the nice home-baked bread, the aromatic brewed coffee. Cecile, the waitress was more than of a friendly service.

Restless feet needed to be cured too. And the best medicine, what else, pedal all the way. I asked around for some trails but it was obvious there were no organized bikers there. There was one bike rental shop in town for Php300. The bikes were ordinary. I started my journey to this fabled beach town at around 730 AM just like what we normally do on a weekend in Manila. I hit the road from my hotel which was already uphill. Gee, no warm ups, uphill at the start. Concrete road was only good up to the first 5km just as you reach the tiny airport. Then it's offroad all the way. I reached a beach resort on kilometer 9 marker and decided to check it out. After some photos, merged again to the main road. I came acros a sign showing the town's Sanitary Landfill. I took the feeder road and ended up in a gate without a guard. Better make a u-turn than to get in trouble. A few kilometers more I reached a fork. I told my self this was it and time to go back. I am not familiar with the area but my feet wanted more. I decided to follow my brochure/map saying there is a waterfall some 4kms ahead (14km from the town proper). I came across a sign offering some tour guiding services to the falls. I stopped for some photo shoot. A man in shabby shirt and torn sleepers came out from the house accross the street and asked me if I needed a guide. After some chat, I decided to get his service for Php100. It was almost 11AM and all I had was half filled bottle of water. I took some bread, water and biscuits from a local store a kilometer away and went back to the spot to get Manong Alex "Boy" Albag, the guide. Oh yeah. I also got my self a pair of slippers as Mang Boy told me it would be slippery up the trail since it had been raining lately.

He also told me there was no one ever made it to the falls with a bike. Foreign tourist would just leave their bikes in his house and would just trek. He added that motorbikes would not make it too since the rocks were too diffucult for them. We would be crossing rivers seven times. So it was not seven rivers. Despite his repeated mantra of "Aruy! Mahihirapan ka. Hindi kaya ng bike paakyat dun." (You're not gonna make it. It is a very difficult trail, you can't do it on a bike), I was determined to do it. What's the point of pedalling that far under the heat of the sun, under the pressure of navigating an unfamiliar track alone if I will not try to conquer the falls. The idea of being the first to make it all the way there by bike was enough energizer for me to do it. Trailhead welcomed me with the first river crossing, just above ankle-deep. Mang Boy's daughter was doing the laundry there. He introduced me to her as if she wanted the young lady to marry me. Haha.. First terrain of the trail was riverine with bamboos all over. After a few hundred meters it changed to open grassfield with coconut plantation. The track suddenly angled towards the slope on a single track with bushes and small tress at both sides. Muddy and sticky. As the trail goes deeper in the jungle it became more slippery with 2-inch thick leaf cover. Big ree stumps and roots added to the challenge. I can already imagine the thrill on the way back. Downhill, baby! After more or less 2km in the trail, I could hear the strong thumping of water. That must be the falls. The last leg (assault) would need me to dismount, take off my clipless, and go under or over the fallen log. This was a bit tricky. I need to carry my bike piggy style, duck under the log and keep my upper body above water.

I made it! I made a record! The first one to make it to the falls in a bike! I don't want to brag about it but my guide would attest to it. Mang Boy has been a tourist guide to this trail since 1997. The store owner where I bought the snack also told me the same thing that no one yet has been to the falls with a bike. I took some pictures, had a small snack with my guide and back to the trail again. Boy, I told you it was downhill galore! Except for the river crossing. I had to dismount and carry my bike like child. After that adventurous ride, I thought my feet deserved a great massage. I walked inside Lucille's Massage and Spa in the town to have my feet pampered. Not all that. I found myself relaxing to the rythm of reggae and Filipino Music jam at Balay Tubay for a night of reggae.

Almost three weeks on the road was the best birthday treat for myself. Though I only managed to do 84 km of leg power to these awe inspiring destinations, making history as the first to climb Nagkalit Falls on a mountain bike made it all worthwhile. I hope my creative thinking would work to get some attention to bring some riders to this place. Who knows, after falling in love all over again with these places I might be the newest resident in no time.