Melon and Michelle say hello to Hong Kong, Philippines and Singapore

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Puerto Princessa- we have arrived!

We arrived in Palawan excited and looking forward to our trip to the underground river, one of the new 7 natural wonders of the world. We made our way to our hotel (which was very pretty, we even had own our hammocks) only to discover that we needed a permit to visit the underground river and they were all sold out until May 😞 We decided not to give up so we went to the permit office in the hope to charm our way to a pass. We encountered a miserable cow who eventually told us that if we were to wait in line outside the office from 5am the next day then we may be able to secure a pass for that day. We left feeling deflated but still hopeful that our trip to Palawan wasnt a waste. If you plan to visit the underground river please contact your hotel at least a month in advance and ask them to secure a tour to the river for you, this will include the permit. We decided we would spend the rest of the day at 'Pristine Beach'. Worst beach ive ever seen in my life, it was a giant crabs nest- NASTY! we went back and chilled in the hammocks instead, until I got motion sickness from them anyway.

So the next day we got up at the crack of dawn and made our way to the permit office. We quickly realised the whole thing is a bit of a scam and agents hover about in the queue encouraging you to join their tour group and they will then organise the permit for you. They have people sitting in the line from 1am to buy the permits, it was all very strange. We found ourselves a group, organised by our tricycle driver from the previous day. Unfortunately once our representative sat down to buy our permits he decided he didnt want to buy permits for me and Michelle-the jerk! This was the point I went mental at 8am in the morning and caused enough of a scene that they not only gave me and Michelle our permits but also two permits for the couple next to us- not what I needed after getting up at 5am, standing in line for 3 hours and not eating anything.

We eventually made it to the river- which was stunning. We took a bus and a boat to get there and it took forever. It was definitely worth all the grief though. The journey there was through clear blue waters and access was via a sandy beach. The entrance of the cave was narrow and they only allow 10 people into the paddle boat at a time. It takes 45 mins to travel through part of the cave which is covered in bats. Got bat shit on my arm and my bag, luckily not in my mouth. The cave has crazy natural formations, some of them looked like faces, vegetables and Jesus Christ. I have added some pics but I dont think they do the cave justice. It was truly one of the most spectacular things we got to see and it is worth everyone making the trip for the short 45 min underground river cruise.

After the river cruise I once again had to fight with the tour guide. Eventually she agreed to take us zip lining. It was four different zip lines, overlooking Honda bay. It was really good fun but all the pics are of my butt so I haven't put those up! In the evening we went to a bar with the couple I got the permits for. We listened to live music, some was really good and included a sax player, the others not so good.

Overall Palawan was one of our favourites as it was really beautiful and our hotel was gorgeous. It was both stressful and brilliant and I would def recommend all to visit- just make sure you get a permit first!

Mel x

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