Philippines: Day 2

We had a wake up call due at 6am. I, however, was awake at 4am since I wasn’t adjusted to the time difference yet. I spent the morning on the internet blogging about the previous day, which I am hoping you all have read.

The complimentary breakfast was impressive. It was buffet style with omelettes, pancakes, Filipino sausage, and fried fish. Yes. Fried fish. Traditional for these parts. We all loaded up on the food, excited for our plans for the day: The Underground River. Breakfast was leisurely, listening to The Eagles’ greatest hits for the umpteenth time. For some reason, that disc is playing every time we go to the restaurant.

If you’ve seen the episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern where he went to the Philippines, you’ll be familiar with The Underground River. Our ride there was bumpy, with the driver going as fast as he could over windy roads with steep drops. Holding onto breakfast was definitely a challenge. The scenery was incredible, with the van taking multiple stops to take pictures. I’d almost forgotten what the color green was since it is near impossible to find in Vegas. But here it was in abundance, crowding into your view from all sides.

After an hour and a half in the perilous van, we got to the wharf. We had our first encounter with a “native” bathroom, that is, one that doesn’t have toilet paper. Confusing to say the least. After a bit of a wait, we boarded our little boat that would ferry us to the Underground River.

The water was crystal blue and clear enough to see the coral underneath. After about 20 minutes, we rounded a bend and there was this pristine beach. The boat pushes up on the shore, we disembark into warm water, and we wait for the tour.

So the Underground River is kind of crazy. It’s about 8 kilometers long with about 4.3 of it actually navigable. But that would take about 4 hours each way. We took a truncated route that covered about 1.5 km. And let me tell you, that was enough. The cave is pitch dark. The only light is by this one searchlight at the head of the boat that one of the passengers uses. The boat is piloted by one tour guide is somehow navigates through the cave from the back of the boat while also pointing out all of the formations. Pretty crazy stuff.

In addition to the encroaching darkness that threatened to swallow you whole, there was also the constant threat of bats flying around you. Not that we really had anything to worry about as they were insect eating bats and most of them were asleep. But still, the sound of their cries and the flapping of their wings sent the creepy crawlies down my back every time. Plus, there was always the off chance that they would poop on you. And really, who wants that?

Was the Underground River Adventure worth it? Absolutely. It is an amazing feat of nature. I am glad that I have the memories of traveling down its dark maze with Courtney and CJ. Do I ever have to do it again? Not really. Once in a lifetime is enough, methinks.

After the river, we got back on the boats and got ferried to a small beach where we were having lunch. Again, trés cool. Looked like a beach straight out of Lost, except without the threat of those pesky Others to ruin the fun. Lunch consisted of grilled pork and chicken adobo, a vegetable stir fry, and coconut milk drunk from a baby coconut. For reals. Sitting on the beach with a coconut with a straw in it. How island is that?

After lunch, it was back to the hotel. Amazingly, the weather held out though the entire adventure and lunch and it started raining on our way back. Of course, this meant that the already perilous drive was made 10x scarier. But we all made it back to the hotel in one piece, though with one of us having to stop the van to lose our lunch. And it wasn’t me!

Once we got back, the rain had let up a bit and we decided to hop in the pool. Again, The Eagles filled the air. We just enjoyed the water and the serenity of our surroundings. As Courtney put it, “Yeah, this certainly does not suck.” Amen to that.

We decided to try a restaurant in town for dinner. Kinabuchs Grills and Bar came highly recommended by both our tour guides so it seemed in easy bet. CJ had the tuna sashimi and the sizzling shrimp platter. Courtney had the lumpia shanghai and the chicken fingers. I had the lechon kawali and the sizzling beef platter. All in all the meal was tasty. Courtney was surprised as her chicken was not of the fingers variety but rather had bones in them. She did, however, like the lumpia.

Unfortunately, my head had started feeling congested, as it had in the previous weeks before. It had felt like I’d been fighting a cold on my last two weeks of work before vacation and I think the combination of the days events and the jet lag finally took its toll. That, and the greasy fattiness of the lechon kawali did not agree with me and the fine meal made its way out of me. Yes, I threw up this time.

Well, that ended Day 2 of the Palawan leg of our vacation. Day 3 involves an adventure island hopping in Honda Bay!