Port Barton

The little village that stole my heart. I wish I could bring you to Port Barton right now. I wish you could see what life looks like in this little village. It's mixed with locals who walk miles to school and work each day, and expats who started tiny businesses like crepe shops and yoga studios, and backpackers who are so happy to witness the world. It is simple, remote and beautiful. It's also inexpensive. But with all that, you might lose a few luxuries you're accustomed to, like electricity. There are generators that provide you a few hours of electricity each day in your cottage, just enough time to charge your flashlights and cameras. And the restaurants and bars use the generators all evening as guests hang out in the establishments. No electricity might seem scary at first, but you get used to it.

To really show you the charming ways of Port Barton, I have to start with getting there. We took another nail biting ride from Sabang to Port Barton. The majority of the way, the road was well maintained. That was- until the final 30 minutes. The final leg of the road is under construction, but it was like nothing I've ever seen. You haven't seen under construction, until you've seen filipino construction. We were lucky that on the way in, the road was pretty dry. On the way out of town, we almost didn't make it out because the road had turned to mud. We actually were asked to jump to the far back of the van with all the other travelers to increase our chance of making it out of the mud. I was far, far away from Amanpulo. 

The road to Port Barton was under construction

You travel through thick trees up and down and up up up and down down down. When you reach the bottom of the down, you will find yourself in the coolest village. It appears out of no where. We were dropped off and we began to hunt around for a place to stay. I always travel with Lonely Planet or Rough Guides (In this case, both) and we picked out a spot and headed right there to see if they could take us.

Greenviews Resort is the most northern part of the bay. Cars can't travel to it because you need to walk the last leg on the beach. Little cottages fill up the yard and a central restaurant offers reliable breakfast and nightly tunes. Oh- and you are probably paying about $20 a night for this whole cottage to yourself. You even get an adorable porch with chairs to watch the day float by. 

Our little cottage at Greenview Resort 

How to spend your time in Port Barton

Days go by slowly in Port Barton. Stroll the streets, grab a fresh fruit smoothie, and watch the water in the bay. When you walk the dirt road in town, you'll pass children playing, men and women heading to work, and even the occasional pig being walked to it's new home. At night, enjoy rice and meat dishes and play cards and chess by candlelight while drinking an endlesss supply of San Miguel Beer for less than $1USD per bottle. Life is good. Here are a few things I enjoyed when I was there. 

Explore by dirt bike- It is a little surreal when you see the roads here, mostly dirt with no signs. It's equivalenet to dirt bike paths in the States. You don't need to go anywhere, but if you want to explore beyond the small village, a dirtbike is the way to go. We took it for a ride to White Beach. This private beach has one hotel on the property and only a small number of visitors. A small fee of a few cents was requested as we entered. 

White Beach 

Mabuti- An eccentric man owns this adorable establishment. I enjoyed fresh lemonade and a tasy crepe. I went back on Trip Advisor to make sure it's still in business, and it looks like they expanded. Now offering more seating than just the picnic tables in the front, and also offering more than just breakfast. 

Typical menu at beach front restaurants

Yoga- By the time you read this, I'm sure the yoga classes will be offered in different places. But I can guarantee, you can find a class to take. We went to Deep Moon resort and took a sunset class in a tree house. Our instructor was from The Netherlands and was telling us about her journey to Port Barton. One of my favorite yoga experiences to date.  

Play games at Elsa's- With limited electricity, evenings are spent playing checkers, chess and other games. We met solo backpackers who met up to play cards each night and joined in with them. I also learned how to play chess and then proceeded to lose every single match. The waitress comes by and keeps your hand full with a cold, local beer, and by the end of the night, you haven't even spent $10USD. It felt so good to have no cell phone, no tv, no distractions. I highly recommend you try it. 

Hike to Pamuayon Waterfall- Walk past Greenview and get on the trail to the waterfall. The road is not well marked, but you'll pass locals walking to work along the way. You'll walk along a stream for the final leg until you reach the waterfall. Locals come to cool off and can't help but stare when travelers enter the water. My blonde hair was always a sight to see for the locals. 

This hike is fun no matter what, but we had a particularly unique experience. We were caught in a rain storm. The water was coming down like nothing I've ever seen before. We ran up the path until we saw a small structure that resembled a house, and we ran up to the porch. And to our surprise when we opened the door, we came across a grandmother with her daughter and grandson. They welcomed us in. There was no common language between us except for a few words. The grandmother's name was Lucita. She was 74. We sat with them watching the rain and smiling for a long time. The grandmother, Lucita, ran in and got a bottle of rum and brought it back out for us all to take a shot. I'm not kidding! She chugged hers down like a pro. While we sat with them, two Finish guys pulled up in dirt bikes and ran inside to get out of the rain. And there we sat. Waiting. When the rain began to slow down, we headed out but decided to abort the waterfall mission and instead head straight home. The small stream we crossed on the way in was now a roaring river. When I started to cross the water, it quickly went past my knees, thighs, waist, until it was above my belly button. The current was so strong, pulling me towards a small shelf drop off to the next level of the river. As the current pulled me closer to the shelf, I reached for roots and other branches. I thought for sure I was going to go with the current all the way down to the next town. That's when Tom jumped in and grabbed my arms and we slowly dragged our way back to shore. And then I sloshed my way back to the cabin to find dry clothes. 

Here I am waiting for the rain to stop. 

Sharing the rainy afternoon with my new friends. Keep in mind, I'm only 5'2, and I tower over the grandmother

Our filipino granmda taking shots