Find Your Way to Palau
- suedetravels
- Jan 11, 2017
- 4 min read
From the day of Jan. 7 2017.
The Island of Palau.
Way to the Northeast of the island of Singapore floats a small land mass known as Palau Ubin. Only accessible through an interesting ferry ride, this island contrasts the urbanized metropolitan that is Singapore. Strewn with few buildings and even fewer cars, Palau made for the perfect taste of rural Southeast Asia.
Getting there was a task in itself but I'm hoping that this post will help.
Directions to get to Palau:
Get to Changi Village.
Ferry Over for $3 per person.
Rent a bike (or not).
Visit the Butterfly Garden and Abandoned Quarries.
Go all the way east for a beautiful sea boardwalk.
Go all the way west for a secluded beach.
Ferry back also $3 per person.
Go during low heat/low sun hours.
Bring Bugspray.
Our Story:
On this specific adventure, I was joined by my friends Caleb, Tai, and Changhan. We met up and then hopped on the Circle Line at the train station nearest to the National University of Singapore. It was not until after we switched trains to get on the purple line and took it all the way to Punggol station that we realized: yes it is the closest station to Palau, however it is not where the ferries leave from. As we left the train station unknowing of this fact we were hit with heat like I've never felt on this island. It didn't help that we were traversing during the sunniest hours of the day.
Anyway it turns out the ferry point is at Changi Village: directly north of the airport. We did the one thing we could do with our data connected phones and booked a taxi over.
Changi Village is a quaint little center dotted with convenience stores, fruit stands, and numerous (albeit very similar) food shops. I had my first ever freshly made sugarcane drink there. Little did I know I needed every one of these calories for the trip. The best part about the Village and a precursor to the island was the roaming strays near the port. Cute little cats napping away from the sunlight paying no mind to passerbys.
It was $3 to get across the Sangoon bay to the island. If you don't have water, buy a drink from the vending machine. It is much cheaper in the ferry station than on the island. We had to wait until 12 people lined up so they could fill the boat. The boat looked old and it was surrounded by worn out tires. But hey it floated and could move forward so we paid no mind.
The sea breeze countered the heat of the day. I, of course, was hanging off the starboard side trying to snipe the best of pics, but you know most people just sat and enjoyed the view.
We landed on slippery stone stairs. The waves battered the rocks that emerged from the sand across the beach line. Right on the docks was a big "Welcome to Palau" sign.
There is pretty much hundreds if not a couple thousand bikes just waiting to be rented once you step on the island. Haggle the bike renters. It all depends on ride you want or how much money you have (I was eyeing a nice tandem bike but that was $25.) that being said we went from $12 to $6 per bike and if you can handle a crappy bike then by all means get the $6 one. However if you need a soft ride and comfort definitely spend a little extra for that.
After we got our bikes, we were off! We picked a street and just zoomed wherever the road would take us. Not two minutes had passed before we saw a beautiful pond with a small boat parked on the shore right next to a palm tree. It was almost too picturesque. (See it in my Gallery!)
There was an orchestra of animal noises around us. Caws and coos followed by shrill screeches. Our friends witnessed monkeys and giant anteaters first hand. We had the pleasure of meeting herons, giant birds of prey, and a range of butterflies. Stray dogs jogged along side our bikes. Stray cats hid from view. This place was so unlike Singapore. This island was barely touched by human hands. It was so open and green, even some of the roads were just rocks.
As the bike ride was coming to an end, the excruciating heat guided us to a secluded beach. It was just us and a school of friendly little fish. The sand was so fine and compact but we had to be careful of the sharp rocks lining the coast. The water was wonderfully cool and helped the rays of the burning sun. It was honestly hard to leave but we couldn't stay there forever.
On our way back we visited an abandoned quarry filled with water. The lake stood statue still and reflected the carved rocks like a mirror. Once the fatigue started creeping in, we made the decision to fly downhill all the way back to the port and set sail back to the mainland.
All in all it was a gorgeous island. It was like a small getaway from the already vacation of being abroad. I do, however, suggest going during cooler times!
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