Palawan (Puerto Princesa) Adventure

I was so psyched about this trip, having made arrangements as early as June 2008, we took a 4-day, 3-night Palawan Adventure package via Bridges travel agency and booked our flights separately (Air Phils and PAL respectively). The schedule was perfect, we would arrive at 10:30 on Dec 27, check-in, have lunch then enjoy a city tour in the afternoon.

Imagine my chagrin when a week before our departure, we found out that the flight was rescheduled to 1:20 in the afternoon. OK, so fine...we can still catch a short tour, so we arrived in NAIA 3 at around 11:30, had lunch and then waited at the gate...only to find out we would be delayed even more! Oh well, we finally arrived in Puerto Princesa a few minutes shy of 4PM.

We were already resigned to the fact that we would miss our city tour, thankfully, Tita Whilms' relative, Jeff (along with his son) came to pick us up. And he drove past the sights to see like Baker's Hill and the city hall, and then took us to the Crocodile farm. Actually, it's the Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center.

Now, I don't really find crocodiles exciting, as they just stay still, some with their mouths open. What I did learn from this trip is that apparently, old crocodiles don't have any commercial value. Crocodile leather used in bags are from 4-5 year old crocs. Then, they open their mouths because they need to cool down, and lastly, when a crocodile is hungry, it will eat whatever is in its path, friend or foe, be it human or otherwise. :P

The highlight of the trip was holding an actual crocodile! Being the bravest (basta wag lang butiki), I gamely took the croc from the manong. And when they asked me what it felt like... all I could think of was...'para siyang bag'. Apologies to all those who think leather goods are bad, I don't really patronize it much either, but it's really all I could think of to describe the smooth, soft leather, er, skin of the crocodile.

Then, he took us to Iwahig Prison and Penal farm, the biggest open penal colony in the world. It's an enormous piece of land which is maintained by prisoners. They are free to wander about on their free time, peddling their wares to visitors. We are told that some have tried to escape, but come back after 3 days or so. The only security from what I saw was a gate at the front where we registered our names., Inside, prisoners would approach you and try to sell their merchandise Not much to see here, and perhaps the highlight of which is the building/session hall below, dating back to 1924.

Afterwards, we just drove around, pausing to take pictures of ducks and mayas and doves . Puerto Princesa is a clean and very simple place, but even a city girl like me can really appreciate the fresh, clean air and the abundance of nature around (trees, birds, butterflies).

Anyway, we drove back to the city and stopped by a small grocery to buy water and some beer and chips, before checking in at Asturias hotel. The hotel is very nice, clean and cozy. Although it's off the main road, there is no shortage of tricycles so everything is still accessible. It has a pool and the food here is delicious. :)

After dinner, we played cards and had beer and chips... hahaha, just relaxing with our aunts. Thanks to Jeff for taking us around the city.

The next day we woke up early to go into the Underground river tour, which I was nervous about because I'm slightly claustrophobic and scared to death of lizards. And the place we're going to is known for having monitor lizards grazing about! But still, I was excited about seeing the underground river. It's a 2 hour drive from the city, to Sabang. There we waited another 3 1/2 hours to get a boat that would take us to the entrance of the river. I would advise that you go during the off peak season, as the wait can really be tedious. Thankfully, there is a long stretch of beach and also a restaurant where we had our lunch, complete with fresh buko juice.

Eventually, we got into a boat and it took about 20 minutes to reach the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park which is a World Heritage Site and also a nominee for the New 7 Wonders of Nature (please vote!). There is also a small restaurant here, and I saw a monitor lizard and it was staring at us! Sticking out its tongue menacingly...okay, I exaggerate, but I swear it was looking at us. But I was already fortunate that I only got to see 1 bayawak...I think there's more in the monkey trail but I'd be crazy to pass through there because of my phobia.

Moving on, we head over to the entrance of the cave, and it's another hour long wait to get into the boat that will take us to the underground river. We're assured that the wait isn't normally this long, since the park only gets an average of 200 visitors a day, during the time we visited, we reached around 700. I guess it's because of the holiday. But anyway, we finally got the chance to ride the small 8-seat banca and started our journey with only a small light into the unknown.

To say I was feeling anxious is an understatement. Picture this, we were heading into pitch blackness with only 1 light to guide us along. Every so often, you hear a high pitch cry and the sound of flapping wings. We assumed they were bats, but our cave guide was quick to correct us that they were birds, the type of birds that leave birds' nests for harvesting. He mentioned that the bats were sleeping at this time and that they wouldn't emit those noises if they were flapping about. And we did see hundreds of those small bats sleeping at the tops of the cave. And we even passed by the entrance of a 'bat cave' which probably houses even more of these nocturnal creatures.

Inside the cave were various stalactite (from the ceiling) and stalagmite (from the ground) formations that resembled things like vegetables, like corn on the cob, pechay, an onion, garlic, and in the middle there is a cathedral section, with a giant melting candle, the Holy Family and even the 3 wise men. There are also instances that the slactite and stalagmite formations meet and this, we are told, is called a column.

There are other formations that absolutely took my breath away, like the half face of Jesus Christ on the way back. A huge boa that seemed poised to attack us. A man at the very top watching over the objects below, and even a lone dog guarding a specific area. I'm sorry I can't post much pictures, and the pictures here don't really do justice to what we saw... but it was really, really dark and the flash could only do so much.

I was truly amazed by this experience. I can't imagine how these structures were formed to such uncanny resemblances over years and years of evolving. Truly a wonder of nature.

And to get an idea of how dark it was inside, look at the pictures below, the light from an oncoming boat is the only source of light you'll see... and the contrast of the daylight when coming back out. You really have to experience this in Palawan. Never mind the wait and frustration, just go to the Underground river tour.

On our last day, we went on the Honda Bay Tour, which is the island hopping experience. We went to three different islands, Pandan, Snake and Starfish. My favorite was Pandan island. Here, Maitz and I snorkeled away with our guide to a large, smooth coral you can stand on. And here, the term swimming with the fishes took a literal meaning. It was so beautiful! We spent a few minutes swimming with the different species before deciding to head back. And on our way, when I kicked to propel myself forward, I got stung by a sea urchin! Ouch! And my toe swelled (more than usual) and had this black puncture wound...the pain was bearable so I just did my best to ignore it. But even now, a week later, it's still a bit itchy and when I move it sometimes I feel the pain. It will take a while for my body to absorb the sting (apparently its calcium), but the sting was a small price to pay for the beautiful sight we experienced near that coral in Pandan island.

The next island was Snake island, which thankfully did not have any snakes. The name was derived from the way the island is shaped. Here, you really have to move to the deeper end to see the fishes and some of them were huge! But I still enjoyed Pandan island better. The last island we went to was Starfish island. Not much snorkeling to be done here, but there were a lot of rocks and starfishes. :) And because it was extremely hot, our tour group opted to leave early and just stop by the Vietnamese Village in Puerto Princessa, Viet Ville for short.

Unfortunately, the village is no longer the thriving village it once was. Since now, only around 7 families remained. The only sight to see here is the Vietville restaurant where we had some halo-halo, sandwiches and the other people in our tour even tried the Pho. Afterwards, we went back to our hotel, freshened up then made the trip to the market to buy pasalubong (danggit and kasoy). Then back to the hotel for dinner and Maitz and I had coffee and cake for dessert.

The next day, we didn't have any more time to explore the city since we had an early flight. But the grannies were still able to make a trip to the market to buy fresh seafood and crabs. There's even a packing section in the market so you don't have to worry about a thing. The crabs were still alive when we reached Manila and the lapu lapu they bought became a part of our New Year feast in Magallanes, even after another 1 1/2 hour delay on our arrival! And here I thought PAL no longer stood for plane always late.

I think Palawan is really a beautiful place, but there are still a lot of improvements that can be done to make it more tourist friendly. The logistics of the underground river tour should really be fixed. And the islands can be developed more so that it would have running water and an actual toilet. :P i guess I'm just really not the 'roughing it' type of gal, but even so, I was enthralled by the picturesque views of nature and just completely blown away by the limestone structures in the Underground river tour. Make Palawan the next destination in your itineraries, I'm sure you will also fall in love with it.