Part 25: The underground river.....
On our way back to the accommodation after the Mangrove river tour, we decided to walk around the village just as the sun was beginning to set. We could not have timed it any better. The reflection of the rocks and clouds on the still, and clear mirror like sea was really quite serene.
I was doing my best to capture the moments on my iPhone camera, but in truth my friend was doing a far better job than me. Everywhere I looked was postcard material scenery and she captured some great pictures.
There were these peculiar cloud formations peering behind the mountain landscapes, old boat ruins washed up on the shore, and a tropical coastline that stretched for miles.
If ever there was a place up to now that I could have happily stayed, then this was it, encapsulating more than anything I ever dreamt of seeing when I was back home.
We had barely scratched the surface of Palawan Island, as it offered more than 600 Km of idyllic and rugged coastlines, stretching from El Nido in the north to the southern tip just North of Borneo.
Today I'd felt exhilarated, educated, ultimately relaxed and satisfied that we chose to explore ourselves with out the aid of any tour companies.
The rest of the evening was spent taking in every last ounce of the views, savouring the gentle breezy sea air, star gazing, and walking down the coast, this was another of those moments I did not want to end.
But if that was already not seriously overloading all my senses, we found a ridiculously cheap 'all you could eat' barbecue feast right on the sand.
There were delectable prawns, tuna steaks, and milk fish, with chicken adobo, pork and beef dishes, pasta's, pizza's, rice, grilled vegetables, salads, and lavish tropical fruit in unlimited supply, all set amongst palm trees, whilst the moon shone on the calm sea, talk about living the dream - I'm not embarrassed to admit we unashamedly got full value for our money.
Mind you if we ate a hand full of prawns and salad, it would have been value for money based on what I pay back home
The smiling chefs were getting as much satisfaction out of serving these dishes as we did eating, because for them, as they explained, it is was all about us sampling and savoring the food they had so wonderfully prepared.
The feast was finished off with exquisite flambé pancakes and fresh fruit, talk about heavenly.
There were no cash point machines in Sabang, the closest was 3 hours away and I was down to my last few pesos, and with still over a day to go it was going to prove a challenge stretching what I had left, hence the reason why I ate like a horse!
Its a great feeling when going into resourceful, survival back packer mode, continuing to step out of my comfort zones, unlike before.
The fear of the unknown held me back my entire life, but right now I seem to be thriving off it. You can choose to be thrilled by it or let it petrify you to a stand still.
Wise words I learned from a very dear friend, who had it not been for him, I very much doubt I'd be here in Asia right now.
We had less than £8 between us and that pretty much had to last us until we got back to Puerto Princesa airport.
It was definitely time to retire for the evening now, suddenly remembering there would only be electricity till midnight we rushed back to the accommodation, if only to charge our phones. I crashed out for the night soon as my head hit the pillow.
When I woke early the following morning, the air con had switched it self off hours earlier when the electricity ran out, turning my tiny room into a mini sauna.
I opened the balcony doors to let some air in whilst admiring the sea view and breathing in the fresh air. I could certainly get used to this for real.
After taking a cold shower to cool off, the young girl downstairs, who helped us obtain the permit for the underground caves, knocked on my door and offered to cook us breakfast free of charge, result!
Without hesitation, just incase she changed her mind, I followed her downstairs and sat in the kitchen, even though I was not in the least bit hungry after our banquet the previous night.
The girl quickly cooked us eggs, fresh bread and sausages with local preserve mango jam and coffee.
I literally had to force it down, not because it didn't taste good, trust me it did, but you don't turn down free food when all you have is £4 to last you a day!!
Turns out she was after some good online reviews, but the way I see it she more than earned that.
Anyway, after breakfast and thanking the girl we made our way to the small harbour front where we waited for our fishing boat to take us to the underground caves.
There was a large group next to us who where being led to a boat by a bossy tour guide, I would have been a tad disappointed if we were going with them.
Thankfully it turns out we weren't, ours was the super cool fishing boat to the left, and apart from a couple of nice Australian conservation workers, who coincidently had the same idea, and sense of adventure as we did, there were no other passengers, just us four and the 2 boatmen.
We all laughed at the crowded and over priced tour boat, instantly bonding with our fellow adventurers in the process, we were in good company it seemed.
As happened, they were exploring the island and would be heading to Manila the next day, then on to explore the still active volcano, Mount Mayan, it sounded really exciting. We were exchanging travel tips and all of us immediately clicked, whilst we were preparing to leave.
I managed to sit right on the bow of the boat for the entire journey, the boatmen didn't seem to mind one bit. Mine certainly was the best seat in the house, even though the sea was spraying me and safety seemingly not that high on their agenda, I could not stop smiling.
Their attitude was a little more laid back, compared to all the tour group we noticed earlier who had obligatory life jackets on as they boarded their boat, still I thought it wise to put one on simply because the trip was getting a little bumpy.
Then around 45 minutes later we were approaching the rocky drop off point towards the edge of the coast. As we got closer to the mountains, we veered sharply to the right between 2 giant cliffs almost hidden from view.
In my mind I was playing out my imagination to a mythological film scene, it certainly had that otherworldly feel to it.
When we pulled close to the shore we stepped off the boat into the sea and made our way to the sand on foot.
I looked around at the rock formations and lush green foliage, which were amazing and there directly in front was a carved wooden sign which read-
'Welcome to the underground caves'
We were finally here.
The boatmen led us to a bamboo path which meandered through the thick jungle, where monkeys and at least 6 or 7 really large monitor lizards just roamed.
One lizard in particular, must have been about 4ft long!
I approached this huge reptile, never really encountering one this big before in my life, just pausing momentarily looking at it by my feet, before snapping a few pics, then quickly continuing to following the bamboo path through the dense green trees, just in case it bit me.
Not to long after, there was a slight clearing and right there in front of us was the entrance to the underground river.
Oh my goodness me, this was genuinely the most incredible thing I had witnessed on my travels so far.
We were in awe at the perfectly turquoise lagoon amongst the palm trees and the mouth of the caves, leading into the subterranean river.
This was a gift to Palawan from the gods they told me, and what a gift it was.
One of the most recently voted additions to the 7 wonders of nature,
distinguished here as a significant natural global phenomenon, and in no way was I disappointed.
Limiting the number of visitors here each day, its carefully controlled by the locals as to not flood it with to many tourists, we were indeed lucky to have obtained all the necessary documentation and transport with no notice, I was truly grateful to be here.
It proudly held the accolade of being the longest underground navigable river in the world, around 8.2km in length that led directly into the sea.
The entrance to the caves at the base of Saint Paul's mountain range featured spectacular limestone karst landscapes, it was a genuine, pristine natural beauty, believe me.
We waited for one of the river guides who greeted us and told us some information about the caves.
He expressed in great detail, the complete importance of the 'mountain-to-the-sea' ecosystem that protects one of the most significant forests in Asia, and I was frantically taking notes for my blog, not wanting to forget anything he told me.
We would be going inside the caves on a small paddle boat along with our fellow Australian adventurers, I could not wait to get in there and take a closer look.
The small boat pulled up to take us on the 50 minute journey into the mouth of the the gods, deep into the caves.
Slowly entering, looking at the dramatic limestone cliffs, the colorful stalactite formations inside were both peculiar and equally amazing.
Leaving daylight behind, the comical guide began joking about some of the shapes, reminding us that nature alone had moulded the rocks, my imagination was doing over time.
By now, we were in complete darkness apart from the light on the front of the boat, we could not see anything.
The river was still and calm, and the guide reminded us that if the tide came in, we would pretty much be trapped, thats reassuring to know I thought to my self.
He shone the light upward, bringing into view hundreds and hundreds of sleeping bats just hanging there a few feet above our heads which momentarily sent a chill down my spine, before he continued with his comedic commentary.
We passed stalactites shaped like winged horses, dinosaurs, giants, and other mythical creatures, and they really did look like what he was describing.
One stalactite in particular struck a remarkable resemblance to Jesus with the crown of thorns, it was beautiful.
We then reached a section of the cavern which he described as 'The Cathedral' a chamber 60meters high and 100meters wide, my jaw hit the floor.
This section was just magnificent and dramatic, I was completely blown away at the hanging stalactites.
If critics did not understand why this was crowned one of the 7 wonders of nature before, then this would surely convince anyone, it was truly remarkable.
The guide pointed out more formations, including 'The Bat-cave' the 'super market' with giant fruit and vegetable shaped rocks, and one stalactite that uncannily resembled a giant penis, it had us in stitches, before we reached the turning point.
To continue further would have required yet another permit which is not easy to obtain, shame because I would have gladly kept going. There were more chambers leading deeper and deeper into the core, but sadly it was time to turn round.
I certainly didn't tire of seeing everything again on our way out of the river and caves.
This was one of those truly awe inspiring experiences that again would go on my list of things I would never forget in Asia.
We could see the day light shining through the entrance in the distance, getting brighter and brighter, giving us a very different experience to the one we had entering the caves.
When we reached the brilliant blue lagoon again, before stepping off the paddle boat onto the platform, I couldn't help thinking to myself I had witnessed something very special today. The boatmen were there waiting for us and led us back to the fishing boat for our journey back to Sabang bay.
I must have taken over a hundred pictures and hoped that just one would do this incredible place justice.
On writing this blog I am aware that I have used countless superlatives to describe in detail my adventures to date so far, every single one of them today were fully justified.
We viewed this magnificent rock formation on a wonderfully tranquil river cruise, unequalled by any other similar experience elsewhere in the world.
It was a marvel, and I could not pay a high enough compliment other than feeling truly blessed at witnessing a gift from the gods.