bakershill
palawan
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ugongrockadventure
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Palawan Puerto Princesa
1:07 AMThis is one of the most memorable trip I have been with. They say that Puerto Princesa is the city in the forest, It will render you speechless and breathless. On my recent trip to Puerto Princesa, Region 4- B in the Philippines -- we availed the tour package offered by Je Voyage Tours.
The reason why I opt to have the package was because it was a special time with my husband and I do not want to waste any minute in searching and doing my thing when it comes to exploring new places. We also got our plane ticket via Cebu Pacific, oh yes they have monthly promos for cheap airline seats.
I am a tourist baby! haha
When we arrived at the airport, the driver was already waiting for us, then he drove us to our hotel and we stayed at Sitio Reden. My rate is 9/10 because the place was so relaxing, very clean,complete amenities inside the room and spacious but it was approximate 15 minute ride from the city proper, there was no convenience store nearby.
Patio
Our room inside
After we settled our things, the driver picked us up after resting for an hour for the city tour.
City Tour usually includes a visit to The Plaza Cuartel, Crocodile Farm, Baker's hill,Mitra's Ranch, and Puerto Princesa's Cathedral.
Inside the Church
This angular church painted in pastel blue stands on the land where the first mass on the city in 1872 was held. On that year, the Spaniards proclaimed the Immaculate Concepcion as the patroness of Puerto Princesa City. The current church was built in 1961.
Entrance on The Plaza Cuartel
Adjacent to the Puerto Princesa's Cathedral is an understated park of paramount historical importance to Palawan Island. A grim reminder of World War II, at first glance it may appear as an ordinary park until you stumble on the triangular memorial marker at the heart of the garden. It is also a site of the infamous Palawan Massacre where 150 American prisoners where burned alive by the Japaneese forces in the olden days. They said that only 11 prisoners were able to escape that ill fated event.
The site where the massacre happened, this was were the American prisoners hide out when they got burned alive.
Creepy eh?
Memorial Plaque
The stunning view of Mitra's Ranch, it is one of the popular tourist spot and always included in the itinerary, it is owned by Senator Ramon Mitra's Family.
Lovely scenery
The crocodile farm, they breed crocodiles and they called it "organic"
Big MEERKAT
Selfie with the crocs
Boney
Bakers Hill, this beautifully designed park is hemmed with life sized statues and houses and well manicured garden, it is perfect for families and children. Tourist come here for their delicious baked goodies like hopia and my favorite chocolate moist cupcake.
They also have this view deck tower, and you can try to pole dance if you want =p
Some of the city tour does not have this itinerary, but you can ask your driver or your tour guide to provide you a time in buying souvenirs, ask them to bring you to the cheapest souvenir shop.
They have tons of souvenirs and it was so cheap!
After a long day, we decided to eat at the local restaurant, they have the authentic crocodile sisig, hmm.. at first I was too afraid to eat those, because I can imagine myself being a cannibal haha! honestly, it doesn't taste good for my own opinion it was too juicy and it has after taste.
The crocodile meat
Our second day, we stayed at Marina Hotel spa, my rate was 10/10 even if it was too far from the city proper the view and the amenities were so nice and I can stay there forever.
The infinity pool
Sunbathing
They have a SPA inside this yacht
Outside our room, we forgot to take a photo inside because we were too excited to stroll around the area
Second day was the highlight of our trip It's underground river Puerto Princesa’s pride is easily the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River (or Underground River), a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature, before reaching Underground River, the 2-hour ride to Sabang is also a very wonderful experience, we were able to pass by panoramic view of the mountains and seas (Ulugan Bay is really beautiful). Once you reach Sabang, you will need to wait for your tour guide to give you the permits, and while waiting, your well-trained tour guide (ours with a BS Tourism degree) will brief you and give you an overview of the tour and the do’s and dont’s. If you are on a DIY tour, officers from the UGRT staff will be the one to brief you.
Sabang
At last, we are here! I told myself that I am one of those lucky people to see this place before leaving this world. LOL! after disembark, you have to register your name again at the information counter found inside. Then take a short trek into the Underground River tour site, and wait for your name to be called for the tour proper.
I can vaguely remember how scared I was but it was a really amzing experience.
Remember that the water area surrounding the Underground River is a NO SWIMMING ZONE! So drool all you want over their crystal clear water.
Inside the Underground river, it was indeed a memorable experience especially the "dome" area, tourist guide will going to explain things while pointing the high end beams because flashlights won't work because it was so dark inside the area. Just a tip, you may want to volunteer to hold the lights because the success of the tour will depend on you, since you are the one bringing light into the cave so the more curious you are about the surrounding, the more things you and the people in your boat will see!
Goodbye Underground river, till we meet again.,
After Underground River, we had our lunch buffet! Can you imagine eating a worm? oh yes I did! For the brave one, this exotic food will not make you sick haha!
Although it looks like a worm, it is actually a mollusk found inside rotting mangroves. The word ‘tamilok’ was surprisingly coined by two Americans. They started calling one of their friends - "Tommy, look!", after seeing the locals eating the tree worm. The locals adopted this term to refer to this wood worm delicacy, that was according to our tourist guide.
It was like eating a pasta hahaha!my verdict, it tastes good! because I love oysters, and it tastes just the same!
We were supposed to go back to our hotel after our buffet lucnh but 4 of our fellow tourist asked the tourist guide if we can drop by to see Ugong Rock Adeventure, we were lucky to be in this group because we were able to experience this intense activity. You might want to add this in to your UGR tour.
If you are afraid of heights and extreme adventure, then this is not for you. The Caving began with a short talk and a prayer. A staff then guided us inside the narrow crevices. He explained that the passageway and rock formations were caused by tectonic movements millions of years ago when the area was still underwater. He added that the cavern was used as a place of refuge during World War II. The first course was easy! I really thought it would be that way all throughout until we reached the end of the narrow cave and started the uphill climb. There was an area where we had to cross a wooden bridge above the steep rocks. We also climbed ladders and boulders. My energy was nearly depleting, yet I was hyped to continue as I wanted to see more of the spectacular rock formations!
Spelunking,Then, we reached the spelunking area which made me think twice. My body is not made for rope climbing not even sports lol. I felt I couldn't make it even with a harness! But I realized I didn't have a choice, because I would be left alone in our group. The staff were all very helpful, they assisted me in every step until I reached the top! YAY!
After all the adventures that we went through, it was gratifying to see an amazing view of the lush landscape and karst mountains at Ugong Rock's viewing deck! It's worth all the sweat and sacrifices! We lounged in an open cottage and decided which route to take on our way down, since I am a little bit afraid of going down, we decided to just go with zipline. It was so fast and steep, it turned out we need to pay again for the zipline but oh well, we had the fun!
We will definitely go back! and it is a must visit place!
James Franco, Is that you?
On our third day, we went Island Hopping Honda Bay is just near Puerto Princesa so it wasn’t that a long trip in getting there. The tour had a stopover first at a scuba rental place before proceeding to the docks.
Hubby and I rented out two snorkel gear and two pairs of beach shoesThe rental was quite expensive though so I would suggest you bring your own equipments prior to this tour.
We went to Luli Island, StarFish Island,Pambato Reef and Cowrie Island.
Starfish!! yey!
View!!
I also want to add before you go home, you must also try NOKINOKS halo halo in Puerto Princesa City, it was the best halo halo ice cream we have ever tasted because the ice was made from the coconut juice, it was so yummy! we even bought 6 for overnight hahaha!
Our budget was PHP 6,000 Per head excluding the airfare. Our total package costs was PHP 4,000 per head including hotels,airport transfer,tour package.
I will have this updated in the future for my DIY trip because I will still definetely go back and experience this again..
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