Sabang
Day 4 starts as expected... with a bit of a headache. I try to force myself for a little jog around the beach but I quickly give up and just head for breakfast. Baked beans, omelet, sausages, fresh pressed juice... they have it all. Daluyon (which is tagalog for 'wave' or 'surf') makes me forget that I'm on a backpacker's budget. The room is fancy, with air-con and even satellite TV which I don't even bother to switch on even for a minute as the weather outside is inviting for a swim.
We end up spending the morning at the beach, alternating between lying on the sun and chilling at a hammock strategically placed under the palm trees. The sun is way too strong and even my factor 30 sunblock does not help... I still feel the skin burning.
Other people begin to wake up and we agree to take a boat at 3pm to check the pride of Sabang, the underground river. We head to the tourist 'office' (they like to call offices to a table and a chair on the pavement :) and ask about getting the permit to get and are told that everything is full (what???) and they can't give us the permit to enter the park before 3pm... unless we walk there! Some things are a little confusing around here and although the Filipinos speak English rather well, I still struggle in communicating with them. I just accept and go back at 3 :)
We negotiate the rental of a boat and off we go to the river. There's a narrow path on boards that goes through the jungle all the way till the entrance of the cave. Some monkeys (macaques) are playing around and welcome us to the location - one of us has to hold a flashlight and I volunteer to sit at the front and point at whatever the guide wants me to point at.
He tells me: 'left, right, up, down' and starts paddling... the cave is pitch dark, inhabited by bats and other creatures and the guide starts the tour by letting me know where he wants me to point at. We see many different rocky formations, shaped as giant mushrooms, pumpkins, 'sexy lady', candles, you name it! They are very creative when it comes to figures and we even get a glance to a rock which resembles amazingly close to Jesus's face. For me, the highlight of the trip was the so called cathedral, at which point you have to go and start paddling back. This area is simply gigantic, you could build some 5-store buildings there where the cave's height reaches the amazing mark of 60 meters.
Back at Daluyon's beach, a wonderful meal awaits us. The staff set up some tables on the beach (very 'movie like') and spoiled us with fresh fish, salads and, of course, beer and rum! Everything is tasty and I'm just jealous at all the people eating lobster and prawns... for those who do not know, I'm seriously allergic to any red shellfish :( A few beers and squids later, we head back to the lobby to finish up the alcohol from the day before and then quietly head back to our room... it's not even midnight and I'm already dead tired.
The following day was filled mostly with a fishing trip, from 10 in the morning till 3 in the afternoon. We ride out far away from the coastline and are given some rods - if you may call it that way. They are merely nylon strings wrapped up around a block of wood but they get the job done. Some of us starting getting some fish... it's pretty impressive how easy it can be! Ly does extremely well and, for 2 times, manages to get 2 fish in 1 go (each string had 2 hooks)! I, on the other hand, am not so 'lucky' and managed to get only 1... but it's enough for the typical photo! The trip was fun but a bit too long for my own taste... could have easily settled for something shorter.
But it at least gave me some time to talk with the staff and understand about the different fish we can expect to find and catch and also a bit of his background... a few hours later we're back at the beach with a bucket full of fish!:) The rest of the day is pretty uneventful... chilling at the beach and then a quiet and tasty dinner at the Green Villa is pretty much all we did... the trip to El Nido the following day also suggests that we should get some good rest as the trip will be long and the path rough.
At Sabang I met a few foreigners who I will remain in touch with: an Estonian couple living in Perth and 2 German guys (Max and Markus) who take some of my things with them back to Europe that I will no longer need on this trip... somehow, I will retrieve them later!:)
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