Port Barton, Palawan

This is the view from my $13 a night beach front cottage in Port Barton, Palawan. Port Barton is a sleepy little village in Palawan that lies on a small crescent shaped cove. You can run from one end to the other in about seven minutes. It is a place where you don't need any shoes, where locals invite you to eat at their homes and swim with their children in waterfalls. I spent five days here snorkeling, island hopping, taking care of a puppy dog with Irene and Rudina (my local friends) and reading Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami. The water in Port Barton is turquoise, blue and light green--like the color of mint ice-cream. Like everyone who visits, I fell in love with Port Barton and its people. To see more pictures from Port Barton, click here.

Although Port Barton feels idyllic there is another reality to Port Barton which the casual tourist can easily miss. Beyond the beach and past the two blocks that house the general store and the gas station are the muddy paths through thick grass that lead to the neighborhoods. There is no post office or bank or ATM. Here people literally hide their cash in between their mattresses. With only six hours of electricity a day, even those families who have small refrigerators have a hard time keeping food fresh. The wealthy can afford gas stoves, but most still cook outside on wood fires. Few houses have running water. There are no dentists, no garbage collection, and no pharmacy. There is no hospital--most children smile with rotten teeth. There is a school, but families must pay for their children to attend which means most of them get no education at all. The stores and restaurants and guesthouses that serve a small tourist industry are mostly family run businesses which means there is little in the way of jobs to be had. The locals grow their own food and fish to subsist. Two water supplies flow through the village and dump into the ocean carrying the unprocessed sewage and garbage into the ocean. More than 90% of Palawan's coral reefs have been destroyed by dynamite and cyanide fishing. Port Barton is beautiful, but it is also really poor. (below: my beach front cottage for $13/ night)