The Underground River of Sabang


2/21/95

We went to Island Divers dive shop in hopes of diving today. There was no way to reserve a boat on that short of notice so we made reservations for the next day. We went by Island Divers to do this the night before, but the owners of the shop were not there. We then set off to do tomorrow's plan today.

Our tricycle driver, Ike, hired a Jeepney for the five hour drive. First stop was the local market in Puerto Princessa to purchase supplies for lunch. Kurt bought boiled quail eggs and Lani Purchased a jar of peanut butter and jelly already mixed together. We took the tricycle driver, Ike, along for $6 US.

The roads were paved part of the way and the Jeepney moved rather quickly--up to 60 KPH at some points. At these speeds, the tricycles, pedestrians and other slow moving vehicles made me a little nervous, especially since there seemed to be very little concern about traffic laws. The roads quickly turned to gravel and our speed decreased to 30-40 KPH.

The local architecture was called Nipa huts or Bahay Kubo in Tagalog. These huts were made of bamboo and woven palm walls with thatched roves. The floors were raised off the ground and made of bamboo for ventilation.

The local vegetation consisted of many recognizable plants including coconuts, bamboo, banana trees and hemp. The hemp plants used for making rope look almost identical to banana plants except they are not as large in diameter.

The drive to Sabang took just over two hours. We stopped at Roberts Beach Cottages for lunch. The open air atmosphere and ocean view was incredible! This sleepy little village resort is right off a picture postcard. If there ever was a small remote island getaway complete with grass hut for rent, this is it. The light green ocean waters greeted the blue expanse of the sky at the horizon. The waves were calm; the breeze, cool. We ate lunch with no less than three dogs of various sizes in the restaurant.

I bought a Pepsi in a bottle for P12. All of the Philippines are still using bottles. I had trouble with currency on this trip. Yesterday we went to the local money exchange to convert American dollars to Filipino Pesos. I had no idea that the denominations I acquired at the exchange (P500 and P1000) were much too large to use out in the jungle. Even a P100 bill was much too large in Sabang. I didn't have any change and had to borrow money from one of the other members of the group.

From Sabang we took an outrigger boat ride to the underground river. Bangka boats as they are called in Tagalog are also referred to as pump boats. This was an interesting ride. As we entered the boat by means of a small ladder, a native boy was busy bailing buckets of water out of the boat. Be prepared to take your shoes off or get them wet when getting in. The driver paddled the craft out past the break-water before firing up the boat's pull-start one-cylinder engine. The engine was surprisingly noisy and Kurt, being an audiologist, was concerned and passed out ear plugs for everyone. The ride took about 30 minutes.

We arrived at a beach even more picturesque than that of one we had just recently departed. Just off the beach under a canopy of palm trees was a picnic area. Here, monkeys ran wild all over the place looking for scraps tossed out by visitors. We were warned that these creatures get mischievous at times and snatch hats or loose objects from visitors and take them up into the trees. We saw no such behavior while we were there. There was also a pair of large Lizards knows as Bayawak. These lizard were a good 3-4 feet in length and seemingly oblivious to the presence of humans. Tad pointed out that up North where he is from, these Bayawak are considered to be quite a delicacy.

It was a short walk from the beach to the river cave. Once there, we waited for a guide boat to take us into the cavern. We were entertained by more monkeys running around on the ground and in the trees. One seemed rather territorial and charged, showing it's teeth several times.

The guide boats are traditional dug-out outrigger canoes with the addition of a large car battery which powered a spotlight. Kurt sat in front of the boat and took charge of the spotlight. The guide powered the boat with only a single paddle. Once we entered the darkness of the cave the spotlight was our only source of illumination. The guide maneuvered the craft seemingly independent of the light as if he knew the course blindfolded. Every once in a while he switched on a portable flashlight to take a bearing on something and then it was off again. Twice Kurt switched off his spotlight and the engulfing darkness of the cave was all-consuming, giving us a very eerie feeling. There were a number of bats in the cave and their shrill ultrasonic radar chirps lent greatly to the eerieness of the moment. There was also some type of bird in the cavern we assumed to be some form of swallow. It was attracted to our light and dived down on the boat incessantly. It's chirp was a much more audible pitch than that of the bats, but it was similar enough that it must have served the same navigational purpose.

The largest room in the cave was called the cathedral. It had several stalactite formations which resembled the Virgin Mary and some of the apostles. The boat turned around in another room where the cave ceiling was 65 meters high. The total distance we traveled into the cave was less than one kilometer. With special permission, boats can go as far as 4 kilometers into the cave. A special boat is also required for this journey because the outrigger canoes are too wide to navigate the narrow passages encountered further inside.

After leaving the cave we returned to the picnic area and then went on another trail known as the "monkey trail". A very rough rickety series of ladders and walkways allowed us access to a colony of Macaca monkeys. This species is indigenous to all of South East Asia. There were many monkeys living and eating in the trees and the elevated trail allowed us to view them at close range. They were accustomed to the presence of humans and took little note of us.

After leaving the monkey trail we followed a 4 kilometer trail which led back to Sabang. The climb was rather steep and painfully hot, but the scenery was outstanding. This cave and trail was located in a national forest and the forest service had taken a great deal of effort to label all of the vegetation along the trail. We stopped often to rest and take photos so the hike took longer than expected. All in all, it took just about 2.5 hours.

When we reached Sabang again, our guide and jeepney driver were happily waiting for us. Some guide, I noticed; he was smart enough to take the boat back to Sabang. The road back to Puerto Princessa was even more interesting than it was on the first pass. Many of the local people were out and about now. It was a rather common site to see water buffalo or Karabaw as they were called pulling crudely made sleds. These sleds were made of two narrow logs or large pieces of bamboo shaped into an inverted V. The load to be pulled was strapped to the logs and the pointed end of the V was harnessed to the Karabaw. The two wide ends of the V drug of the ground leaving a very distinctive set of tracks in the dirt road.

White sacks were a common sight along the roadside or on porches of the native huts. These bags contained charcoal which the natives were manufacturing for export to the city. The process involved the burning of wood in pits and covering it up with dirt before it was totally burned. After several days of cooling it is uncovered, broken into usable pieces and bagged. The local people also make woven walls for huts which are also exported to the cities.

The local people travel the great distance over this road via jeepney. These local buses run on a rough schedule several times a day and cost P65. Tourists are as welcome to take this affordable mode of transportation, but it seems to be primarily for local traffic only. These jeepneys are generally packed with people and cargo. It is not unusual to ride on top of the vehicle. In fact, there is a P5 discount for riding on top.

The entire trip took the whole day. The ride covered a distance of 80 kilometers total. The transportation to the cave cost P2500, the banka (boat) ride to the cave P300 and the admission to the cave cost P150 for foreigners and P100 for Filipinos. Total cost for the day was $28.60 less food.

A final note of irony about this trip. After traveling 160 kilometers over rough dirt roads we had a flat only one half kilometer from our hotel on a paved road in the town of Puerto Princessa!

That night we ate at the Kamayan Restaurant in Puerto Princessa. On the way back from the restaurant we decided to walk. It was after 11pm but some of the local street food vendors were still open. They were still selling mostly grilled foods for the local people. Two Americans out at night with a Filipino girl rated some negative comments about prostitution. The comments were whispered behind our backs and in Tagalog so Kurt and I didn't know what was being said until Lani told us later.

One of the interesting sights on this walk was, of all things, a funeral home. I was surprised to see it crowded with people. All of the friends and family of a deceased person were keeping vigil. Traditionally, this will last twenty-four hours a day until the body is laid to rest. Sometimes, this takes up to seven days. It was not a party or celebration like a wake would be, just quiet company.

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