Trips - Palawan
Venturing to St. Paul Underground River
by Geri Zarate
Palawan the so-called "Last Frontier" is labeled rightly
so. The airfare then (December '91) was approx. $125 R/T. My cousin got
us the tickets while we were in Manila -- so he might have gotten us a
discount through his company's private travel agent. I think I've heard
higher prices.
Anyway, we landed in Puerto Princesa and took a 5 hour
jeepney ride to Port Barton (northeast of Puerto Princesa). My friend Tom
rode on the jeep's roof for 3 hours because it was so crowded inside. He
got a chance to get to know some locals and got a real nice sunburn too!
When we got to Port Barton -- it was beautiful -- we stayed at Elsa's resort.
Sort of like a resort but nothing grand like you would see in Boracay or
El Nido. It was actually very charming like Gilligan's Island. The electricity
was provided by generators. They had a nice outdoor restaurant that overlooked
the beach. They had cute little huts that accommodated three persons in
each. There were six of us so we stayed at two. It wasn't very crowded
maybe because it was the week before New Year's Eve.
We then hired a banka (outrigger canoe) the next
day for $60 to take us to the St. Paul Underground River which was down
the coast a bit. The River started from a little bay that connected to
the sea. There were picinic tables and an outhouse at the entrance of the
river along with monkees and big lizards that I think they were sort of
brought there for part of the attraction.
We toured the Underground River with a different banka.
The bankas that toured the Underground River were equipped with a kerosene
lamp placed in front of the boat to light the way while the guide sat at
the back to steer and paddle. The maximum capacity of the boat was six.
The length of the river was one to 1-1/2 miles long and the tour lasted
for about an hour. The end of the river was the coolest. It was sort of
like taking that Pirates of the Carribean ride in Disneyland but no pirates
or parrots. The cavern ceilings were really high (2-3 stories high) like
being in a church but no doves flying around just a huge population of
bats "hanging out". If you enjoy swatting mosquitoes, try ducking from
the bats. The "batcave" had a new meaning for me.
The waters in Palawan are incredible! They're turquoise
because of the white sand beaches. We saw a lot of flying fish while we
were riding the outrigger in the ocean.
After the Underground River, which was quite a low-key
tourist attraction (maybe we got lucky), we told our banka-guy to take
us to Sabang where we would lodge for the evening. When we got there, they
wouldn't let us anchor at the beach so they made us unload at 4ft of water.
Maybe because they wanted to get home soon. Well when we got to Sabang
all the cute little huts were occupied. A local man offered to put us up
in one of his huts that was still under construction. It had a roof and
we were desperate so we took him up on it. We didn't have any sleeping
gear except for our pajamas. The kind man provided us with banigs
(mats) and mosquito nets -- he was very generous and we compensated him
for his generosity the next day with cash. I forget how much. I was just
glad we had a place to stay.
That night we walked along the beach towards a restaurant
at the other end of the beach. Another Gilligan's Island hut. The food
was great -- fish and vegetables. But that walk to the restaurant was the
best. It was like your ideal image of paradise! The stars, the palm trees
swaying in the wind and the water lapping on the beach. I only wish we
stayed there another night -- but I will be back.
The next day we hired another boat to take us to a town
called Baheli. We were making our way back down towards Puerto Princesa.
Baheli was not very interesting. It's a little more inland and very dusty.
We waited 3 hours for a jeepney to take us back to Puerto Princesa. I wish
we waited in Sabang instead. There was a jeepney going to Puerto Princesa
from Sabang that morning -- if we only knew...
We spent our last day in Puerto Princesa and stayed at
a real nice pension (I forget the name). We ate pizza at one of the local
restaurants and goofed around in the swimming pool at one of the ritzy
hotels. The tricycles (motorcycle-cabs) in Puerto Princesa were a lot bigger
than the ones in Manila. They could fit 6 people, including the driver!
You could say they are the "minivans" of the Philippines.
We then flew back to Manila the night of New Year's Eve
around 10pm -- so traffic was bad and the atmosphere was chaotic with all
the fireworks. It's funny despite all the celebration, I still slept through
New Year's Eve due to total exhaustion.
Take me back to Bundok's Trips Page |
Slide Show
click on any image
Geri Zarate is a graphic artist
living in the San Francisco Bay Area. You can see more of her photography
at her Web site: http://www.gerizarate.com
Other Links:
|
