Blightfire's Nook: The Great Puerto Princesa Escapade

Sorry guys for posting such a late article. Better be late than never, I guess? :)

It's her birthday, so I gave her a surprise. A travel to the recently nominated most beautiful island in the world.. Palawan!

The majestic stalactite entrance of the Underground River, Puerto Princesa, Palawan

A (VERY) SHORT PROLOGUE

I booked both our tickets a year before date of flight.

FLIGHT TO PUERTO PRINCESA

I may need to tell this story for this is the worst waiting game for me since I started traveling by means of an aircraft.

It was a stormy day, probably around Signal No. 2 or 3. I called Cebu Pacific if there are any cancellation of flights going to Puerto Princesa, but to no avail, there were no advisories announcing the cancellation of flights to Puerto Princesa. We decided to proceed directly to NAIA 3 and waited for almost 10 hours.

We arrived at NAIA 3 around 3:00 PM, plane departed at 1:00 AM. Touchdown, Puerto Princesa at 2:00 AM. WOW! We were picked up by our service to the transient house after 15 minutes. Checked in and we're informed that our first tour to Underground River will start early. We will be picked by the tour guide around 6 in the morning. Meaning, we have to take a bath, pack our things solely for Underground River tour, and take our breakfast, the earliest as possible. Time check? 10 minutes past 3:00 AM. We need to wake up at least 4:30 AM or 5:00 AM, the latest. So sleepy. Zzz

THE JOURNEY TO THE FAMOUS UNDERGROUND RIVER

We promised to sleep a few hours before we wake up at exactly 4:30 AM. We took our breakfast at around 5:30 AM. Breakfast is included in our accommodation anyway. Will share our experience and our house later on.

Sabang Port - The Gateway to the Underground River

Our tour guide picked us up exactly 6:00 AM. I was shocked by their strict time compliance. I envy their discipline in time management. We get on board our van which is a Toyota Commuter then we're off to pick up some guests as well from different hotels/houses. Their tour accommodates at least 15-16 guests per location. Example, one tour guide is scheduled to depart to Underground River this Tuesday. At one hotel, they have 2 guests, another hotel has 5 guests, and so on and so forth only to accommodate the exact number of guests to fill the van. Such precise discipline and coordination is required to pull such an endeavor.

After two hours of travel time, we get to arrive at Sabang port. Sabang port is locally termed as the Gateway to the Underground River. Most wonder what lies beyond the sea (South China Sea) that splashes around the shores.

Our tour guide instructed us to wait for a few minutes as she takes care of the ticket fares and boat rides. As we wait, we entertained ourselves with quite a few finds around Sabang Port. A lovely sighting of the mountains and the breeze of the sea. Such marvel will justify how wonderful the world is.

As the tour guide exits along the door of the ticket booth, she managed to group us to board along the boat where there is passenger limit.

Me and KC were grouped along our tour guide and some foreigners. There's one from Netherlands, and a spaniard couple. They're quite friendly I should say. Soon as we set ashore from Sabang port going to Underground River, along the cruise was a nice and very jolly chit chat over some local topics while gazing upon the beauty of the shorelines of Palawan. Such a beautiful sight.

Upon arrival, our tour guide instructed us to take some snapshots and make the breath taking scenery of both sea and rocks as the background. Also, the place is a natural habitat for wild monkeys and monitor lizards (locally known as bayawak). We're also instructed not to bring any plastic bags that will turn the monkeys attention and they might mistakenly perceive those as food.

Selfie with the wild monkey (Rare moment!)

We're now obligated to walk down the path to the entrance of the Underground River. But there's a twist-- we will be passing by a sanctuary where there are tons of wild monkeys who can jump in front of us and steal something! Yes, you heard it right.. These monkeys are real thieves! (Let me save the remaining stories and let your guides tell you the rest LOL)

Soon as we reached the entrance, there are boats waiting for tourists who wanted to go inside Underground River cave. What lies beyond it? Experience it for yourselves!

Anyway, the mamang bangkeros or the boatmen are very friendly and got tons of funny stories to tell. Their names sounds catchy too. You might find yourself onboard with boatman Piolo Pascual. Who knows?

As we descend inside

Soon as we exit the Underground River, my initial reaction was..

ABA MATINDE!!

And we returned to Sabang Port, and we took our buffet lunch somewhere in Sabang Port as well.

Took another 2 hours of travel time back in our house.

We stayed at Josefina's Pension House. All I can say is, their staff is VERY, VERY FRIENDLY! They serve yummy and delicious breakfast as well! For those who wanted to travel to Puerto Prinsesa who requires affordable, cozy, and just a walk away from the town proper, I highly recommend this place. For details, the photo below is their contact information or you can visit their website here.

And yes, they're the one's who organized everything from accommodations and overall tour! (How cool is that??)

CELEBRATING HER DAY

To make up of our lost time during the 10 hour hiatus in the airport, I decided to grant her wish of having a simple dinner at one of the best restaurants in town. Thus, I brought her to Puerto Princesa's Badjao Seafood Restaurant. It's actually a walk away from Josefina's Pension, but for safety purposes (since it's evening), we opted to take a tricycle instead.

Quite a stupid night for me, since I forgot to bring my DSLR with me that time. We only brought my iPhone, but I guess it's more practical being safe without equipments to worry too. Like I said, it's way much better if you can see these places by yourselves.

I must say that the price is pretty fair for a 5 star seafood restaurant. Not as expensive than those seafood restaurants located in Manila. In Badjao Restaurant, you can enjoy the fresh breeze of the sea. You'll get fascinated by the awesome entrance as well as you pass by tons of bakawan's before you reach the restaurant proper. Probably the sunset views perfect there as well. Too bad we had our dinner so we never get to have a glimpse of the beauty outside the restaurant. Oh, don't forget the very skillful pianist who made our dinner more romantic! (We get to sing along as well ^^)

BEACH FUN AT HONDA BAY TOUR

It's the second day of our Puerto Princesa adventure. Again, we were instructed by our tour guide to wait for them to arrive at 7:00 AM. We took our breakfast at 6:30 AM and the guide did arrived exactly 7:00 AM. Fascinating.

We got the most witty guide on board for this trip. A prototypical pinoy whose got tons of humor up in his sleeves. But, we got the most boring company on board as well. Maybe because, most of them are tropa, that's why the others are not allowed to jive in their trip. That's fine though. My main goal is to make my lady happy at all cost :)

We got our introductions and a few do's and dont's inside the van. One of the highlights of the instruction is that we are required to pass by a snorkeling gear rental shop and rent some gears that are strictly implemented for use in Honda Bay.

Honda Bay Wharf

There are three (3) places to be visited; (1) Pambato reef (2) Luli Island and (3) Cowrie Island. These places contain tons of thrills and adventures that awaits most tourists.

PAMBATO REEF

Preparations are being explained.

Tourists strangle to find a good spot. Strictly for tourists who does not know how to swim. LOL

Pambato reef is the place to go snorkeling. We were instructed to wear our snorkeling gears and enjoy the view from below.

The second island is the Luli Island.

Why Luli Island? It'sa combination of two Tagalog words which means Lulubog (sinking), and Lilitaw (will appear). In short, you can basically say it's a hide and seek island. The white sand will appear once it is low tide, and at high tide, will disappear.

This island will probably the best spot to go fish feeding. There are tons of fishes swimming around you and is seeking for food. That's where your bread will play its role. The bread crumbs are their best snack.

Next stop is Cowrie Island. The island hopping tour ends here. This is where tourists lunch are served. You can go have your photos taken, sunbathing, taking some snacks and other water activities are available. Absolutely awesome.

Oh. We took here our best buffet lunch in Palawan ever.

Buffet Lunch at Cowrie Island

And as our stay at Cowrie concludes, we embarked again on our boat towards the wharf, board our van towards home. We arrived at 3:30 PM. Had a good slumber until 5 PM then ventured in to the city at around 6 PM trying to look for food.

LAST DAY: THE CITY TOUR

Probably a simple showcase of what the city of Puerto Princesa has to offer. I guess I've done a lot of talking for now, so here's a glimpse of what we did in the beautiful city of Puerto Princesa.