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Underground River in Palawan
St. Paul Subterranean National Park. Unesco protected "World Heritage Site". The longest underground river in the worldMy trip to the Philippines was the most exciting, thrilling and memorable trip I’ve ever been so far. We’ve been caged & chased by tigers, swam in one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, snorkelled with the most fascinating fish and corals in the sea, rode a donkey up to the Volcano’s crater, went on a wild river ride against the rapids in Pagsanjan falls and a boat ride to the longest underground river in the world…..and most of all - a trip back to my childhood memory lane.
On our first day in the Philippines, a friend of mine picked us up from my aunt’s place around 6am and drove us to
Villa Escudero - a famous resort/coconut plantation in the Philippines. We didn’t get there ‘til about 10-ish. We rode
Kalesa, a carriage drawn by a water-buffalo, called Mahinhin (meaning girly/perky) to the resort’s very own museum. The museum is filled with religious figures, stuffed animals/insects, native and Spanish artefacts. The most bizarre exhibits of all would have been the burial jars, coffins, human skulls and skeletons dated back thousands of years ago.
After the museum tour, we headed to the buffet lunch at the Labasin falls.
The dining area is right on the stream of spring water. Our bare feet are soaked on the running cold water while having lunch. We waded around our chair and table with extreme care ‘coz it was very slippery. Liam slipped twice, cut his knee and bumped his head. Lucky he didn't concuss or suffer any major injuries. While having lunch, the resort's staff dressed in tribal Ifugao costumes came by - banging their musical instruments. It was amusing. We even got an obligatory picture taken with them….(haha).
We then went rafting afterwards. Our raft is made out of bamboo - looked just like the one we used rafting in the lake when I was a child. Liam got tired of paddling, so I had to paddle on the way back all by myself. It was very tiring. It was kind of good in a way ‘coz I had a good workout ;>
We also watched the cultural show. We saw different native dance groups perform. The most popular one is "Tinikling" or bamboo dance. The dancers tippy-toe around the bamboo sticks making sure their feet don’t get caught as the bamboo sticks opens and closes at an increasing
speed. Unfortunately, one of the performers foot got caught. He would have definitely got a sprained foot….but still the show went on....We can tell that he was trying to block the pain. Having said that, the embarrassment he suffered cannot be masked. Sweats dripped down his blood-drained face drenching his dark green shirt.....People clapped and cheered after the show as a sign of admiration to the young man's composure.
We hit the road right after the show around 3pm. We didn't get back to Manila 'til around 7pm.
Next Blog on Taal Volcano..... coming soon !
Cheers !
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Darryl
non-member comment
Philippine Trip
What an enviable adventure you've had. I've been to Tagaytay before but I have completely forgotten the beauty of the place but I remember it was cold :-) Mind you that was during my pre-adventurous life when you hardly appreciate the beauty of nature as back then my eyes focussed only to boys and food hehehe... (you know college life!) I guess I need to revisit - cheers!