There are many lessons learned on a World Cruise and we had one today. First of all, we had decided that we would not do HAL tours unless we could not arrange private tours ourselves, mainly because we don't like having 50 people on a tour, which reduces everyone to the lowest physical common denominator, secondly the prices are higher, and thirdly you can't suddenly change mid tour to follow your own desires if you see something appealing. The other thing is that for new countries we usually ask around to not only find out what others who have been there recommend, as well as to assess the safety concerns. This is a pretty discerning group of travellers, and most are real adventurers willing to seek new experiences. We had not been to the Philippines and we are going to both Puerto Princesa and Manilla. We had heard before our trip that the main attraction would be the underground river and caves in Puerto Princesa which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But as we asked around we heard that many people were afraid of security in The Philippines, and we started to raise our antennae. Barry and I then went to the HAL excursion counter and were handed a paper citing all the reasons why the excursion to the river might not meet expectations, why it was only for the VERY fit and able, and how you had to sit in a low canoe for 2 hours with about 8 or 9 others. Barry was really concerned that he wouldn't be able to manage the sitting for 2 hours so we didn't sign up because I didn't want to do it alone. Then Tao, our wine steward who is Philippino, persuaded us that it was a spectacular experience, not to be missed. Jonathan arranged through the port agent a private tour, the day before, for Karen and me. Barry decided to opt out because of the warnings received.
All I can say is that the lesson learned is don't believe all the naysayers, including the HAL excursion desk. This day was spectacular and will be one of the highlights of our world cruise. My only regret is that Barry and Jonathan didn't go, because it would have posed not one problem for either of them.
I will start my description by telling you that we are going to shamelessly use our friend Jeff's pictures on a Part 2 posting. That "rotter" has the best camera, with an amazing flash, and a lens that is about 8 feet long (kidding), and an uncanny ability to compose an excellent shot even when whipping along in a bus at high speed. His pictures are always superb.
The name of the island where we docked at Puerto Princesa is Palawan. It is a long skinny island with a population of about 1.4 million, with 250,000 living in the city. They call it the city in the forest. This remarkable city has a lot to teach the rest of the Philippines and the world, as they have transformed themselves in the past 21 years, with the strong and wise leadership of their mayor. Once one of the the dirtiest ports and cities in their country and maybe one of the dirtiest in the world, it is now spotlessly clean, with no air pollution, and a leader in preserving its natural habitat. There are strict anti- littering laws, that result in jail and fines after 3 strikes. The mayor ordered the clean up of the water at the port that resulted in many many tons of garbage being carted away. While all the homes in the town, are modest - and in the countryside really rudimentary, we were totally impressed with how everything was swept clean and neat. This island was occupied during WWII by the Japanese and suffered some terrible atrocities, one of which I will tell you about later.
The pride and enthusiasm of the people of this city were at once on vivid display for all of us as soon as we docked just before 7: 00 a.m. I personally have never seen such a welcome of our ship before - it was truly amazing. On the pier was a giant big screen TV playing snippets of sites to see, dancers in colourful costumes, drums and music, and stalls, and a shaded seating area. Young high school girls with pink sashes were lining the gangplank handing out shell necklaces like leis to put around our neck, that had medallions welcoming our ship. There was a real air of excitement and I could feel that our arrival really meant a lot to this city, which was reinforced a few minutes later when Karen and I walked down to find our van. Two tour guides, one of whom Gilles (pronounced Heel) would turn out to be our guide said "you are like paparazzi to us, can we have our pictures taken with you?" Wow and even wanted an autograph. Once aboard our van we heard how much excited the city was that our ship came to visit. They had been planning for our visit since January. The only other cruise ship to dock there was in January and the passengers did not take excursions. This was the first time in this port for Holland America. I heard later that even the policemen were stopping our guests on the street to thank them for coming to visit. Talk about feeling welcome.
Off we went - Charlie driving, Gilles, talking non stop, filling our head with data, for the 2 hour drive to the Sheraton Hotel, where we would go to a public wharf to meet a small boat that would cross the sea to the entrance to the underground river. The traffic in the city was pretty bad, made worse by the prevalence of multi cabs which they call tricycles. They consist of a motorbike, off to one side, and a metal structure built around it to the other side with a roof, that carries passengers and goods. Pretty rickety, and may be rented for 50 cents. The thing is that all traffic slows to the speed of these vehicles. Apparently as we learned later they are all colour coded, and 3 days of the week certain colours only may be on the street, and on the other 3 days, the rest of the colours. Only on Sundays may they all compete for business. This is part of their attempt to control air pollution and to level the playing field for all those with licenses to operate a taxi. There are some complaints as you can imagine about how difficult it is to bring in enough revenue to support a family on 3 or 4 days of work.
As we made our way out of the city, we passed the typical country homes which were constructed of bamboo poles and mats made of banana or palm leaves. Basic, open to the air, but tidy. All the children were dressed in uniforms and were walking to school, which is either 1 or 2 shifts depending on the village capabilities. They all looked neat and well dressed, and well fed and very happy. The surroundings gave way to undisturbed vast and sweeping mountain side hills of palm trees, and jungle vegetation, interspersed with rice paddies, bananas and coconuts. The villages were tiny. We passed through one that had been the settlement for Vietnamese refugees during the Vietnam war, but now only held 1 family, as all the rest had long ago returned home.
The next sight was shocking. We came upon what at first we thought was a traffic accident, with military soldiers, policemen and lots of cars and motorbikes. On the road beside our passing van was the slight, dead body of a man who had been shot in the head. I have never in my life witnessed a murder victim, and for those of us in the west, at accidents it is customary to cover the body to offer dignity, and also to have a clean crime scene traffic would have been diverted. This scene however was vividly raw for all passers-by to see and the image of it has not left me since.
On we went, our Gilles chatting merrily as if nothing had happened. The rest of the journey we began to see gorgeous mountain ranges, and valleys, and bays of turquoise seas. By 9 am. we had reached the Sheraton Hotel. For the better part of the last hour, the homes we passed had no electricity or other services and the hotel exists on power generated from its own small windmills, solar panels and generators. The government is protecting the environment and so there is no development allowed. Also, the park in which the underground river is located is protected.
Our main attraction was just around the corner - the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is a World Heritage Site inscribed by UNESCO in 1999. The world's longest navigable underground river is now one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature, that winds for 8 miles through a spectacular cave before emptying out into the West Philippine Sea. The caves were formed 100 million years ago, and have inside them stalagmites and stalactites, and estimated 40,000 bats, a swallow which uses clicking sounds to echo-locate its way in the darkness, tarantulas, and scorpions. Only the first 1.5 miles is open to the public, not only because the oxygen supply dwindles the further you go, but also to protect this rare site. Only approved researchers may venture further. Recently a team of cave researchers found crystals deep in the caves, that are unique and have not been found so far in any other explored caves. Also they found prehistoric fossil remains, estimated to be 20 million years old, of the Sirenia, dugong dugong, a herbivorous marine mammal related to the manatee, an animal that I wrote a book about while working at the University of Guelph. This was pretty exciting to me. They limit the number of visitors to 900/day and passes and permits must be obtained to enter. They have also discovered another subterranean river BENEATH this one, just recently. This cave and one other in Brazil are the only known locations of manganese phosphate deposits, which is a mineral formed from the guano of bats over millions of years. Today they opened the caves only to the guests from HAL.
We went to the wharf, where we were greeted by about 100 beautiful young school children, who sang and waved flags just for Karen and I as we alighted our van. I was beginning to feel like a celebrity. No wonder it is an addictive thrill for those who are. The sight in front of us was simply beautiful - a white sand beach, turquoise waters with surf pounding, and gayly decorated blue and white outrigger boats bobbing on the surface, waiting to take us to the cave entrance. Karen and I went aboard ours, which had 2 drivers, and our own 2 person armed police security detail. My goodness, this celebrity thing was really something! Off we went, the spray bouncing over the bow of the narrow boat as we made our way for about 15 minutes, and thought about how inviting this scene was. We had to offload in a moderate surf, which meant wet pants and bare feet - all familiar to us from our cottage life in Canada. Then we were greeted by yet more guides who led us on a wooden slatted path to the loading dock. The underground freshwater estuary of this river is one of the largest and most important in the world. The configuration of the area is that there is a small lagoon like area, with calm waters, bounded by a sand bank, at the base of the mountain, where the entrance to the cave lies. We were given hard hats, instructed not to look up at the roof with our mouths open (bat droppings and water dripping is real) and lifejackets, and loaded into a low boat with raised seats and outriggers. I was relieved to find yet another guide who would be doing the paddling ( I thought Karen and I would be charged with that ). At this point I was doing a slow burn inside because it was apparent that Barry would have easily been able to do this tour, and I was very sad that he wasn't there to share it with me.
I looked at the cave entrance, which to me looked narrow, and really dark and low and I suddenly realized I was going to be in a big dark cave with bats! Wow - what a peak experience to be in this cavern. We learned all about the formation of the stalagmites and stalactites and the time it takes to form them. One in the shape of a giant mushroom took 1 million years of drips of limestone mineral water. Many of the formations have been given pet names by the locals - the holy family, the face of Jesus, and my personal favourite - a naked woman called Sharon Stone. I will let the pictures speak for themselves and do enjoy Jeff's pictures on the next post. Also I strongly urge you to go to YouTube and find a 15 minute professional video on the caves under: "La Venta Expedition on Puerto Princesa Underground River".
After our cave tour, Karen and I were taken to the Sheraton for a lunch overlooking the sea, with coconuts served as drinks, and a delicious brunch. Then we hopped into our van and proceeded to the city, with a quick stop to a stone formation called the Elephant Cave -ie use your imagination.
Gilles had been telling us stories of the War years and he wanted to show us a special memorial. The Japanese inflicted some extreme horrors on the people in the Philippines, and I will tell you that after Marcos was deposed the Prime Minister, Japan asked Prime Minister Acquino for forgiveness for the atrocities committed. But like Gilles said, when people ask, we tell them the truth. When Japan first conquered this island, there was a mayor who was Japanese by ancestry, and they approached him to be lead their puppet government. He refused. He was decapitated for that decision and his head taken to Manilla as an example to the Philippines about co-operation with their occupiers. Gilles took us to a park not far from our ship where there is a monument to 150 American soldiers, prisoners of war, who were shoved down a tunnel hole, no bigger than 4 ft by 4 feet, which we saw for ourselves, which was bomb shelter. The Japanese soldiers poured gasoline on them, and threw in hand grenades. The tunnel led out to the sea, where those trying to escape were met by bayonets and machetes to decapitate them. Eleven men survived by some miracle and 1 man, Dan Schloat, returned a few years ago, at an advanced age. The story is that no one in the city knew he was coming, and he was found kneeling at the tunnel, wailing and weeping so loudly that a large crowd gathered around him and when he was calm enough he told them the story. The present mayor promised Don that he would erect a monument to those brave men, which is there now. Flowers rest on it from visitors. Don, wrote a book about this event before he died a year or so ago. I will get it and read it when I return. Apparently also the Japanese bombed this city on their way to Pearl Harbour. Once again this world cruise has pressed upon us what "world" war means. When you travel the vast seas of the world, you develop an appreciation which cannot be grasped by our modern air travel of just how vast an area was involved, how difficult it was to defend, and to navigate. Let us all work to continue to ensure that war is truly the very very last option in any conflict between the nations of our world, for mankind is capable of horrible acts carried out in the name of winning such wars, no matter which side you are on.
Back at the pier, a group of about 20 or more young boys and girls who looked to be 6-10, dressed in white, hair groomed and ribboned, gathered to serenade those of us on the lower promenade deck looking over, with their violin music. They had a full and captive audience who clapped loudly and appreciatively. I had to dress for dinner, but Barry told me the parting was even more emotional, as they sang a song to our ship as we sailed away about the city in a forest, that brought tears to everyone's eyes.
Both of us, and everyone else we spoke with on the ship said the same thing - why were we all so misled and how much we would recommend to our friends and family about how friendly, how clean, how safe and how beautiful is this island. Do visit if you have an opportunity and don't miss the underwater river tour.
Here is our ACE photographer Jeff with his friend Corrine. We will post some of Jeff's fabulous pictures in a special
separate section soon.
This one is called Sharon Stone
No comments:
Post a Comment