Snapshots And A Cup of T

October 25, 2010 (Monday) - Good Day! It's Day 2 in Puer-tow Prin-sey-sa! :D The whole day is reserved to non other than the official nominee of the Philippines to the new 7 wonders of nature, the Puerto Princesa Underground River located at Sabang, Puerto Princesa. For the day's itinerary, check the table below:

• At exactly 8 in the morning, our tour guide, kuya Joey, was knocking on our door to tell us that the van to the Underground River is already outside the inn. 
• Kuya Joey is a bona fide "Palawenyo" explaining his great knowledge about the place. Ask him about any place in Palawan and he'll have an answer for it.  
• The tour guide was really entertaining.Not only he can give lots of facts about Palawan and the Underground River, he can also crack good jokes that will leave you laughing out loud. 
• If I were to give a score on his service, I'll give him a perfect score. He's very helpful in everything. He'll assist you with your baggage, if not it's you that he'll assist especially when getting in and out of the van or boat.
• During the tour, we were composed of 4 groups (= 12 persons), one of the groups was an English Speaking couple (Chinay + German) so kuya Joey had to speak in English. To be honest, grammar wise, his English was terrible. He even admitted that. But despite that, we were still able to understand him including his jokes, so it was really fine for all of us. 
• We really enjoyed his tour guiding. 

• The travel time form Puerto Princesa City to Sabang is around 1 1/2 hour - 2 hours
• Thank God, almost all the roads going to the Underground River were already in cement. There was, however, a five minutes drive on rough road. Kuya Joey joked that it was designed that way so that the tourists can get a 5 minute massage during the tour. =>
• If you're a nature lover, try not to sleep during the trip because the scenes are great! Lush forests, mountains covered with forest , mountains made of limestone etc.

• There is around 15 minutes stop at Half-way Point (literally, half-way towards Sabang). You can use the time to pee since there are comfort rooms there. The half-way point also has stores selling things that you'd probably need in Sabang such as insect repellent, sun block, slippers, plastic sandals (good for the Ugong Rock Spelunking), food such as Halo-halo, ice cream, chips, and drinks. 
• There is also a monkey drinking beer in the place. I don't know how to react on this. What do you think?

• If you're up to some adventure, try this side activity. However, not all tours have this side activity. I've read some blogs where they went Mangrove River Forest tour instead of the Ugong Rock activity. The Mangrove River forest tour costs only P100 and I think it is walking distance from the Sabang Wharf unlike the Ugong Rock. The Mangrove Paddle boat tour also offers Tamilok that is freshly plucked from old mangrove strands. 
• The Ugong Rock is one of the many limestone formations in Tagabinet Village. It's called "Ugong" or humming because when you tap the formation, reverberating sounds will be produced around the caves.   
• "Its main treat is an easy, rope assisted climb thru the inner anctrum of ancient stalactites" (Puerto Princesa Pamphlet, ABS-CBN Foundation, Inc. Bantay Kalikasan - Bayanijuan). It's an easy climb because aside from the wooden stairs and ropes that will help you climb up, the Tagabinet tour guides will assist you as much as they can. One of our tour guides even went to an extent where he used his body parts such as his knees for tourist to step in to, to make the climbing down easier.

Tagbinet Tour Guide

Tourist Density

 

 

• Reaching the top of the formation was very fulfilling, the scene there was amazing, a panoramic view of the Tagabinet Village. 

View at the top of the Ugong Rock

• If you're up to a challenge, an adventure, some spelunking, and climbing, then don't miss this activity!

• Bring water and a towel! This activity will definitely make you sweat. 
• You can wear slippers, but better wear climbing sandals or rubber shoes, or any footwear that have hard soles like crocs. (But bring slippers if you're going to the underground river, you'll need it!)
• Wear comfortable clothes. Avoid long pants especially Maong pants, it will give you a hard time climbing.
• Bring your Camera! There is traffic in the tour especially when the climb gets a little tougher and there are lots of tourists, use this time for a pictorial.
• Bring extra clothes so that you can change your sweaty clothes after the activity.
• It would also be nice to have your own flashlight even if the tour guides have one.
• According to the tour guides, it would be possible that by next year (2011), the zip line will be ready. That means instead of climbing down, tourists can take the zip line going down the cave.
• The tour takes around an hour, depending on the persons ability to do physical activities.  

• The Lunch which is part of the tour was alright, not really something to look forward too but it was enough to satisfy a hungry stomach especially when you're fresh from climbing Ugong rock.
• The lunch is a buffet consisting of the following dishes:
• Chicken Adobo
• Pork BBQ
• Adobong Kangkong
• Grilled Tanigue
• Lato or Seaweed Salad
• Clam Soup
• Banana
• Pepsi

• After the Lunch, you'd have to wait for your group's turn to head to the Underground River. If it's peak season, expect to wait longer. But no worries because in front of the Restaurant is the beautiful Sabang Beach. 
• In our case, we were not able to bring any swimming attire, even extra clothes. :( But it was a good time to relax

 

Carabao Carriage [Poor Carabao :(]

A couple relaxing at the Sabang Beach

• Don't forget to bring your swimsuit! There are comfort rooms at the back of the restaurant where you can change clothes and take a shower. 
• Bring sarong or picnic mats to be able to lie at the beach, under the trees, and have a relaxing treat along with the sound of the waves. 

• From the Sabang wharf, you guys will be taking a boat to the Underground River Park. There are monitor lizars or "bayawak" and many many many monkeys in the park. Don't show the monkeys any food, they are really aggressive! During our stay there, 2 tourists were scratched by them. But if your food free, you don't have to worry, they won't mind you. 

 

Bayawak or Monitor Lizard

Monkey in the Underground River Park

• At the park, if there are lots of visitors, you'd have to wait again. Use this time for pictorials. 
• If it's already your turn for the tour, you'll be riding a paddle boat for the entire tour inside the cave.

Paddle Boat with Kuya Boat Man

• The Underground River? One word: Amazing! It will make you drop your jaws but try to avoid doing this if you don't want to taste bat poo. 
• Without the boatman's flashlight, there is 0 visibility in the cave. But don't worry, the flash light is turned on at all times inside the cave.
• The boatman is also the tour guide inside the cave. Our boatman was the best, he's really really really funny. But it's really hard to laugh without opening your mouth so every now and then I had to remind myself to shut my mouth, Bat Poo alert.

Boatman!

• No words can describe the experience, so what I can suggest is just try it for yourself! My favorite part of the cave: The Cathedral! Look forward on that, okay?
• The tour inside the cave will take around 45 minutes. 

Inside the Cave

The Candle at the Cathedral

On our way out of the cave

• As much as you can keep your mouth shut inside the cave
• Try to sit in front of the boat so that you'll get to hold the boat flashlight.
• Wear shorts if you don't want to walk around with wet pants.
• Wear slippers if you don't want your shoes to be soaked in salt water.
• Don't bring food, plastics, or cellophane if you don't want to be attacked by monkeys.
• Set your cameras in Flash mode! It's really dark in the caves.
• Bring extra clothes in case you get bat poo.