Durch Palawan mit dem Motorrad von der Sulu-See zum Südchinesischen Meer
Hello my name is Jessica. Welcome to the Philippine island of Palawan. As you can see, I’m traveling on a motorcycle. Today I want to ride around the entire southern part of the island. I started in Puerto Princesa.
This is the capital of the island. Then I drive as far south as I can and back on the other side. Palawan lies between the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea. Over 1,770 subsidiary islands, countless bays, fjords and archipelagos belong to this island world, which
Is called the “Last Frontier of the Philippines” as the westernmost and one of the most undeveloped provinces. That’s why I’m calling my trip, on which I ‘ll be traveling with you in the coming weeks, the “Last Frontier Palawan trip”.
After a two-day ferry ride from Manila, I arrived in Puerto Princesa on the island of Palawan last week The city on the east side in the middle of the island lies on the Sulu Sea. Puerto Princesa, the capital of the Palawan province in the Philippines, impresses not only with its
Breathtaking nature, but also with interesting facts and figures. Around 255,000 people live here. The city’s economy is based primarily on tourism, fishing, agriculture and trade. The tourism sector has experienced a significant boom in recent years, with Puerto Princesa International Airport serving as a major transportation hub. The city is a leader in
Environmental protection and has received multiple awards for its efforts in waste reduction and sustainability. This commitment is reflected in the cleanliness and environmental friendliness of Puerto Princesa. It’s obvious that things are very relaxed here and the traffic is moderate. A few kilometers outside is the Iwahig Prison Farm. The prison site
Covers a significant area where agricultural projects are carried out. My first stop – you can see it in the background – is the Palawan prison farm. Here, prisoners work in relatively open prisons on food plantations, vegetable and fruit plantations.
I’m not going in there because it would take a while. But I wanted to show you that something like this exists here. It’s basically a tourist attraction. But I have to continue “on the road” The inmates have the opportunity to work in agriculture,
Which not only contributes to the prison’s self-sufficiency, but also has rehabilitative aspects. From here on there is nothing urban to be seen in the landscape. To the right lie bright green rice fields for a few kilometers inland, behind which the
Dark green mountains rise. In the southwest of Palawan, the majestic Mount Mantalingajan towers as the highest peak on the island, which at around 2085 meters represents a demanding challenge for mountain hikers. Dense bush limits the view on both sides of the narrow asphalt road.
Then I ride through a kilometer-long avenue of tall trees whose crowns touch over the road. Their trunks are also overgrown with creeping plants, so I ride through a cool, dark green tunnel. The route runs straight and after the first 100 kilometers
I take a drink break in the shade of a small bamboo hut. There’s nothing to see here. But I just have to take a break every 100 km. I promised myself to always have a little something to drink. Because I’ve learned this now: When you ride a motorcycle in
The tropics, you get dehydrated while riding. Then you suddenly get a strange feeling, like you have a hangover. I can rule that out. I kept it dry yesterday. But you get a headache and you get really tired. Of course you sweat all the time while driving. But
You don’t notice it because of the wind. But this is really hot here. Whenever I have to stop for a short time or just ride more slowly, it’s always hot. So take a drink break every 100 km and stretch my legs a bit. My highlight of the last 100 km
Was definitely this enchanted magical forest. It really was like a green tunnel. I’m excited to see what’s next. I can’t stay here for long because… I still have a few hundred kilometers to go. So we’ll hear from each other a few more times. I often see motorcycles with sidecars, as they
Are the predominant and proven means of transport here in the rural part of the Philippines. Entire families travel with them and many carry inflated rubber tubes from cars or trucks. I can’t make sense of why so many people carry these tires. Maybe it’s simply seating
That is supposed to absorb the shock on the bumpy road? But the asphalt is mostly perfect and I can’t figure it out. Until I finally come to a bridge that leads over a natural river. There are large natural swimming pools in the stony riverbed
And there is a lot of bathing activity here, like in a swimming pool in midsummer. Young and old relax and drift around in the rubber tires. I was wondering where people go with all these rubber tires. There were a lot of motorcycles and cars on the road where people
Had inflatable truck or car tires on the back. I couldn’t even imagine why. They go swimming here. Soon afterwards I reach the point on my motorbike where I have to turn west into the interior of the island. It’s a bit of a shame that I
Can no longer ride further south in a meaningful way. An hour further south is the lighthouse at Brooke’s Point. But then I would have to ride back the same route and most of the tour is still ahead of me.
So now I’m riding to the mountains of Palawan. Small hamlets with well-kept wooden houses lie in the middle of grassy pastures and rice fields where snow-white, delicate herons stalk about. The water buffaloes bathe in muddy ponds. Then cone-shaped karst mountains come into
View and finally the blue horizon of the South China Sea. It’s lunchtime and I thought about taking a break here. But the city of Quezon turns out to be a community of several small villages spread across the entire central west coast
There is no trace of cafés on the side of the road where I could stop. In a street village I at least ask for petrol. The only street in the village that they point me to is
The main street, but it is made of rubble and sand. There is a small gas station with a pump, but it is closed. A little further I find a village shop and ask for petrol. These small shops in rural Southeast Asia often sell petrol by the bottle, and that’s the case here too.
Now I’m almost out of gas. But luckily there are two bottles of petrol for me in this village shop. It’s already been 100 km and more since I made the last stop. The whole time I thought I would come to a real city. But there’s
No real town at all on this side of the island. I have now arrived on the west side of Palawan. On the South China Sea side. Puerto Princesa, where I started, is on the east side of the Sulu Sea. Then I rode south and over the mountains
To the west side. Here I was hoping that maybe I could have a cup of coffee and, above all, recharge my batteries. Because my tank is almost empty now. However, today is a holiday and the gas station is here. But unfortunately it’s closed and that’s why I had to
Buy up all the fuel here in this village shop. However, that was not much. Only two liters. Hopefully this will take me somewhere where I have an internet connection again and can get to the next gas station and then find my way back to Puerto Princesa at some point.
However, that could take a while. There were gas stations everywhere on the east side of Palawan, so I didn’t really think about whether or when I would be able to fill up next time. But I haven’t met a single one on the west side since then and my
Motorcycle’s tank was almost empty. Before I go on tour, I always look at my route on a map so that I know roughly where I have to go. The mobile internet around Puerto Princesa was flawless and Google Maps also reliably showed me
My route. On the other side of the island, however, there was no mobile network for my provider at all. With my 2 liters of petrol I can go quite a bit. I still have enough water with me, so there is no shortage here and I can somehow find my way home. Because
I’m in the middle of a jungle island, but there are only two directions: further or back. So I ride on. It is obvious that the western side of the island is not nearly as developed as the eastern side. The street is narrow and sometimes just gone. Then
You drive between water-filled holes on an at least dry dirt road until you eventually come across a piece of asphalt again. The entire trip I wished that my motorcycle had more power than the 125 cubic centimeter displacement that I was traveling with. Now I want
That even more, because I’m now riding on a nice curved road with little traffic. With more power I would be able to move much faster and riding would also be more fun. So I accelerate and stick to the fastest motorcycle on the track as a pacemaker.
I’ve been traveling for 8 hours now and I’d like to get home soon. Thanks to the little race with the person in front, I’m making good progress. Soon the road becomes four lanes and then I reach the city limits of Puerto Princesa. I ride past my accommodation
Down to Puerto Princesa Bay to complete the tour. Numerous small trading ships are anchored in the protected, idyllic natural harbor. Yes, and here I am back in lovely Puerto Princesa. Nice that you were on the journey with me. We rode 300 km through the south of Palawan.
From the Sulu Sea to the South China Sea and back again. I hope you had some fun with it. If that’s the case, please leave me a subscription. I would be very happy about that. After 300 km my butt hurts a lot more than yours
Probably does from watching. That’s worth something too. So take care! See you in the next video.
Mit dem Motorrad durchquere ich den Süden der philippinischen Insel Palawan und fahre von der Sulu-See über die Berge an die Westküste und an das Südchinesische Meer. Zuerst treffe ich auf die Gefängnis-Farm von Iwahig und dann droht mir das Benzin auszugehen.
Den Verlauf dieser Reise und aller vorhergehenden (zumindest der letzten zwei Jahre) könnt ihr euch auf dieser Karte anschauen:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1hKyqeMj1lP9KZ5mVwDpboY5nfnHqyWY&usp=sharing
🎵Musik: Island Coconuts/Aaron Kenny/YouTube
📸Episodengrafik: mit KI erstellt/Microsoft Image Creator
#Palawan #puertoprincesa #iwahig #Motorrad #Philippinen #Motorradreise