A Trip across Palawan to Quezon, in which a few kids saved me from a boring day of waiting

What an adventure!  (Follow the links to more pictures in the "Quezon Kids" and "Oil Tanker" sections and be sure not to miss the video in the "Quezon Kids" section).

Captain Fareek invited my guides (and consequently me) to lunch on his stranded oil tanker.  I'll admit I didn't want to go.  A four-hour drive across the island didn't sound like a lot of fun, and I was trying to shake a cold, but the girls insisted that if I didn't go, they couldn't go, so I went.

It was a miserable ride.  The highway started and stopped abruptly.  It was raining.  People and dogs appeared on the highway at random intervals, and my sense of adventure was sorely challenged by the smokers in the vehicle, who also happened to be our hosts (so how could I complain?).

Finally after four hours of bouncing around in the van we arrived in the little fishing village of Quezon. 

The captain jumped out at the edge of town to buy diesel for his ship, and the moment we arrived at the pier, his second in command, Ahmad Amin, also disappeared (I suspect he snuck off for a bout of  horizontal refreshment, but what do I know).  So here we were, my guides and I, in a small isolated fishing village, waiting.  We waited a half hour or so before we even realized that we had been left to our own devices. 

I was so intent on photography that I lost my guides too for a bit, but then I found them in the coast guard office.  They had made the acquaintance of the duty officer who warned them about our hosts (although Maricor didn't tell me this until later that night). 

Rainy weather the night befor our trip to Quezon	Shot of the wet courtyard at Puerto Pension	Captain Fareek and I just before the trip to Quezon	Before loading up for the trip to Quezon (Maricor's camera)	Geraldine
Van heading for Quezon	Highway that starts and stops arbitrarily.	People walking on the highway.	The pier in Quezon	Fishing boats in Quezon
House along the shoreline in Quezon.	View from pier in Quezon.	Fishermen who insisted I take their photo.	Coast Guard station.	Dried fish in Coast Guard shack.
Maricor with the local Coast Guard personnel.	View of pier through trees.

Send mail to robin@ethicalarts.org with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2008 Ethical Arts
Last modified: 03/18/09