Palawan's Underground River

One of the must-see places in the Philippines is the Underground River in Puerto Princesa, Palawan which is among the top finalists of the  New Seven Wonders of Nature for 2011. The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is 50 kilometers away from the city, and it took us about two hours to reach  the place. I'm sure, information on how to get there is readily available in any hotel as even in the lodging house where we stayed, we got flyers for package tours from its coffee shop. For the more adventurous, jeepneys or vans for a more comfy ride are available and are stationed near the city but visitors must be there very early morning because at the Sabang fish port, they have to get a number and pay for the permit from its tourism booking office. It is not advisable to go there late morning especially during the summer months of March to May because of the influx of visitors. The boats, motorized or paddled, are limited so the time of waiting might turned off one's excitement. 

From the fish port, we took a motorized banca because it was easier to reach the entrance of the cave rather than take a mountain trek. The sight was already breathtaking along the shore going to the cave with white sand and mountain formation which reminded me of Jurassic Park. We were advised not to bring food while passing the jungle trail going to the cave as monkeys in the area  have a bad habit of snatching anything worth their fancy. I haven't seen one though except a monitor lizard.  Greeting us after the short monkey trail was a green lagoon where paddle boats good up to six persons were waiting.

Entering the "bat cave", was eerie as it was so dark except for the car-battery-operated spotlight used by the boatman cum tourist guide who was joking and sharing anecdotes all throughout the 45-minute ride pointing at stalagmite and stalactite formations resembling fruits, vegetables, people and saints. Being fond of horror movies, I imagined a big creature under the river would suddenly appear and eat  us alive.