There is no direct route as the island has a impassable mountain range that separates the main area of Mindiro Occidental and the top end of the island.
There is an aircon bus that goes up to Abra de Ilog and then you need to catch a ferry to Batangas and then a second Ferry to Puerto Galera. That what normal people would do, but we are not normal!
We take a local bus to Abra and then hire a fishing boat to the White Beach if Puerto Galera!
On the first part of the journey we probably saw more poverty than we had seen for the whole trip to the Philippines. At one stage a couple of 'natives' complete in loincloths got on the bus. They were about 5ft tall and had HUGE feet.
The four hour journey was very uncomfortable. Good Tarmac roads were interspersed with some very bumpy and rutted terrain. About 20km from Abra we changed vehicles to an aircon people carrier to the port. That sounds like luxury! Not with 14 people crammed into it.
30 minutes later we arrived at Abra and despite the ferry being at the pier negotiated a ride on a small fishing boat. Only a little cheaper than the Ferry to Batangas and on to Puerto Galera but much quicker at 90 minutes.
The journey on the boat was a little challenging for the first 30 minutes with large swells and a quite choppy sea. As we rounded the headland the sea got much calmer. There was a beautiful rainbow in the distance which suggested rain. There were other people also on our boat and we landed on a small beach to drop them off, together with what looked like their weekly shop.
90 minutes after leaving Abra we were dropped off at White Beach. There is something a bit unreal about arriving at a destination and being deposited on a white beach complete with Backpacks.
White Beach, Puerto Galera is a load of bars, restaurants and hotel/hostels on the beach front. It is not as commercialised as Boracay but was still great fun. After landing on the beach we were surrounded by people wanting to offer trinkets, rooms and massage.
We had a spot of lunch before taking it in turns to seek out some rooms. Sabi and I went first and settled on the first one. The starting price was 1000 pesos but we finally agreed on 400 per room per night. Again budget but clean (ish)
Lunch was the first hot food we had eaten in four days. Chicken Curry, delicious. It was Saturday and the beach was busy. It appears that Puerto Galera is a popular weekend destination for Filopino's but there were also quite a few Koreans and also westerners. Most of the westerners were either backpackers or had a young (often, very young) filopino girl in tow.
After a shower we headed down the beach to the bars. It was a great night. A lady boy show, fire jugglers and a spectacular storm in across the ocean on Luzon.
Of course we all had far too much to drink and didn't get to bed till at least three am. No drama, just got up at midday!
The rest of my first full day in Puerto Galera was spent feeling rather jaded. It was a typical Sunday after a big Saturday. For the first time in a long while I didn't have a drink of alcohol. An early night too...
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Location:Puerto Galera,Philippines
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