Palawan's enchanting underground river

TRAVEL TIME

Jo Erlinda G. Nebres

Published in Philippines Today

http://www.philippinestodayus.com

Palawan's enchanting underground river

Marvelous! Enchanting! Extraordinairy! Wow!

These are a few words to describe this-must-see Underground River !

This simply unique underground river has been known as the world's largest underground river and is found in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

The mystical eight-kilometer St. Paul Subterranean River runs under a mountain range hollowed out by a cave system at the bottom of karsts limestone cliffs, topped in rich rainforest cave system of sprouting and most awesome stalactites.

Outside this cave, you can lie down sunbathing on a pristine, powdery white sand beach or begin snorkeling on the emerald blue waters on the coast! Nothing beats the excitement of cruising in a mystical underground river!

From Puerto Princesa it will take you two hours drive to the pier where a boat ride takes you to the underground river. Going to the underground river is an adventure itself. Upon reaching the island, there is a little bit of trekking on a forest trails leading off into the jungle. One of these leads to a boat landing point where you charter your boat and boatman to take you into the caves. While hiking, there are monkeys and large monitor lizards roaming freely. You can hear and watch many beautiful birds there! The entrance to the underground river is a sight to see with its calm deep blue green water encased by sharp, pointed rocks!

Now, going inside the underground river is another totally different experience. More mystery unfolds. If you’re afraid of the dark and deep water, then this adventure could pose a problem for you. Each boat carries one light only that primarily points to fantastic stalagmites. The boat ride is quite long, more than 30 minutes and if I remember correctly, covers at least four kilometers of the distance but when riding on kayaks it will push farther.

On your way back, when you see the opening of the river, you kind of heave a sigh of relief because the ride is almost over. Then again, you’ll see breathtaking sceneries that make you want to stay a bit longer.

Marveling at this one of the Seven Wonders of the World , interesting rock formations are very noticeable, and the thousand of bats and swiftlets, including the one that produces the edible birds nest.

Puerto Princesa, capital of Palawan, prides itself as the cleanest city in the Philippines. To protect its mega diversity, only eco-friendly programs are adhered to by tourist establishments. And there are strict ordinances against dynamite fishing, with only net and line fishing allowed. Palawan may have opened itself to tourism but it has also taken serious efforts to preserve this last frontier.

So come to the Palawan underground river and find out for yourself why it is now leading in the search for new wonders of the world.

For comments, email gagabytes@yahoo.com.

Blogging - My New Best Friend

Blogging - My New Best Friend
By Jo Erlinda Gabot
January 22, 2009

I’ve been writing for many years now for a Filipino community newspaper in America. I first started as a freelance media relations officer at the Office of the Mayor of Manila. Along the way, I sidelined as a media relations consultant to some officials and friends as I grabbed the opportunity to earn more, taking advantage of my connections with the print, radio and television media editors because my father is one of them.
Last October 2007, I met a tragic car accident in Nasugbu, Batangas. The car I was driving hit a parked gasoline truck which I did not notice because it was dark. Due to the great impact of the collision, my car hood smashed my windshield hitting me in head and face. I woke up in the hospital three days after coma and learned that my nose broke, there were holes in my face and you can even see my skull during my heartbreakingly incident. If it wasn’t by God’s grace, I would not be live again. If you see my totally wrecked car, you would not believe that I would survive that mishap. It was a miracle. A miracle of God.
After operations on my face and broken legs and bones and almost a month of recuperation at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, the doctors finally allowed me to go home. My recovery continued in the house. After several months, I went down to the pit of depression. I could not accept the damages on my face.
My friend advised me to start writing my thoughts down. I went home that night, inspired to write my thoughts. After several write ups, I noticed the word blog on my friendster profile. I began to type blog on the query box of the search engine of Google to get more information about blogging. To my amazement, my query returned huge number of results. I read some of them.
Even when I want to go places to while away time, forget all my troubles, especially my tragic accident, I just go to my blog and find beautiful places, far or near, which you can enjoy and you will be at peace with yourself. The Philippines, my country, has plenty of good and beautiful sites which you can even call paradise. El Nido, Puerto Princesa underground river, Tubatahha Reef, Hundred Islands, Boracay, Coron, Panglao, Siargao -- all gems for tourists, local and foreign. Indeed, blogging has become one of the most effective marketing tool nowadays. You blog and while away time and earn at the same time. Why not?
At that thought, I began using my friendster’s blog. I began putting my masterpiece on the site doing my best to make my blog’s lay-out friendly to my readers.
It’s amazing what blog can do for online marketers. Most especially to the online entrepreneurs and writers like me. Blog today is the most powerful tool for ranking a website in Google search engine. Most Search Engine Optimizers or SEO use blog to drive links to a specified website they wanted to promote for Google love to read texts on the net!
Every writer wants to be read on the net. They want to share their thoughts to the world. The writers' challenge is to encourage readers to agree on what’s written on their blog. They want to be seen on the world of W3’s. They want to gain popularity as a blogger and to gain avid readers and friends thru their site.
As a blogger, I am happy to know that someone read my articles or someone commented on it. I was surprised at first when lots of readers commented on my articles although I don’t even know them. I never invited them. Wow! Next thing I knew I began researching on how search engine works and learned the importance of quality content of the articles to the ranking of Google’s search engine.
It’s really fun to write. It’s really engaging to blog. It is every writer’s new best friend. Most especially, it is free to blog. It’s free to share your thoughts. Make one now. You might never know what writing and blogging your thoughts can do to your life.
Blogging has played a significant role in my road to full recovery, physically, spiritually and emotionally. Now, I am so confident and optimistic about the world we live in. Sharing one's thoughts verbally to your friends, acquaintances or even to not so friendly folk isn't that easy. But through blog, this best friend of mine, I can now share everything to the world!