Underground River

My second full day in Puerto, I woke up early to go with Ann and MC from Manila to the Underground River.

We got to the bus terminal super around 5:45 though the jeepney didn't leave until 7.

This made me a tad bit nervous, as our tour of the river was scheduled at 9:30.

It took 2 hours to get there. The roads were bumpy and the seats too close together. I ended up with bruised knees and a bum even achier than the day before.

Once there, we waited a really long time. There was a line for paying the environmental fee, a line for hiring a boat, and even a line for the restroom which cost 5 pesos.

At the Sabang port

And we were way late. We ended up sharing a boat and a tour with an Italian guy and his Japanese girlfriend.The boat ride was quite pleasant, but the underground river was a bit underwhelming. The tour guide tried way too hard to be funny, and you couldn't see all that much since it was dark.

Heading out

On the boat

Gorgeous cliffs

The river

Oh I'm so excited

Another tour group

Stalactites

This was supposed to look like something...
What do you think?

The exit

Vines

I sat next to a nice Filipino grandmother whose children and grandchildren were visiting from the US and sharing a boat with us.

After the tour, we waited for a really long time for our boat to take us back to Sabang. 

Waiting for our boat. We had to take number 23

Natural wonder of the world marker

At the beach

Once there, the last bus was about to leave. My companions all wanted to go back to Puerto, but I wanted to see the waterfall, so after much debate, I decided to go.

After the tour

Trail to the beach

Can you find the monkey? Sorry the zoom was broken

The hike to the waterfall wasn't all that strenuous, just very precarious, going over very rocky shoreline. At the waterfall, I tried to climb it, thinking that I had read somewhere that there was more than one. There wasn't, but I got a nice view from the top of the falls as well as a bunch of scratches and dirt in my clothes.

Yay for waterfalls

Looking down from the top

Dang that's a lot of ocean

When I got back to Sabang, I tried to find a way to get back to Puerto. So, I did a really me thing to do and just started walking the 77 km back to Puerto Princesa, hoping someone would stop for me. I walked for a good long while, getting more frustrated with every mosquito bite I got and every curve I rounded. Just as I was about to give up hope, an old guy asked me if I needed a ride. He had a red dinged- up helmet, a backpack front-strapped on his body, a jacket worn backwards (presumably to protect him from bugs), and a chicken for cock fighting strapped on to the front of his motorcycle. 

I was desperate at that time, so I asked him if he was going to Puerto, and got on with his affirmative. After a while, we stopped at his friends' house for refreshments and a smoke. Seeing the country from the back of a motorcycle was amazingly exhilarating. I had a smile plastered on my face the whole time. We took another pit spot at another one of his friend's establishments where I was served a green coconut (buko) and Energen, a sort of sports/cereal/milk drink served hot. We hung out there for a while and Samso smoked at least three cigarettes. 

When we headed out, it was getting dark, and the stars were coming out. I hadn't seen stars since moving to Korea due to all the smog and light pollution! He had to stop at one point and put a light on the front of his bike. Everything was fine and dandy until we got a flat (presumably because of my added weight on the back of the bike). Samso left me on the side of the road to get his tire vulcanized, during which another Filipino came back twice to ask if I needed a ride, which I refuse. When he came back, we kept going, and he dropped me off at the Banwa, I tried to give him at least a little bit of money to help with gas but he refused. So yeah... Good times in the Philippines.