sabang falls

the palawan chronicles continue...

the day we checked in at the daluyon beach resort, we spent the entire morning in search of sabang falls. the direction the tourist officer gave us was fairly easy. he pointed to his left and told us to just follow that path until we reach the falls.

such a deceiving instruction. i would have thought it was just near because he didn't use the infamous "nguso" which is the pinoy euphimism for too far.

so we walked the way he pointed to. we passed by the residential area with kids playing (it's a weekday! they're supposed to be in school!) and parents preparing their nets and boats. after the residential area, it started to have resorts again.

in one resort, we had to sign up that we were going to the falls. it's good actually, so they can keep track of their guests. they do not ask for a fee, but there is a donation box. we decided to give a small amount. to make the most of a third party presence, we asked richard (the caretaker) to take a rare photo of jan and i together.

we asked him how long until we reach the falls. no fingers, no nguso. just a plain answer of "mga thirty minutes." fair enough. we'd get there in 45.

so we walked on. we passed by a buddhist temple. but it was the thin buddha, not the fat one. we took a quick peek but did not go in out of respect. it was pretty interesting because there seems to be volunteers taking care of the place. in one of the signs it says that if the people do not help maintain the temple, support from the chinese people (or is it korean) will stop. the temple is quite clean, so the people must believe it and the chinese (or korean) people must really provide support.

the path to the falls was not an easy one. the beach side was not of sand but large stones and rocks. not pebbles. but bigger than fist rocks. it made walking quite difficult. the foliage were nettle so it hurts to hold them. i stung myself a couple of times with it.

for what seemed like thirty minutes, we were nowhere near the falls. i could not hear any body of water that sounded like a falls. at a certain point, i asked jan that we take a quick dip so we can freshen up. the heat was getting intense.

ep. the beach, though it looked calm and harmless, actually had stroung undercurrents. we had to hold on for dear life with one of the bigger protruding rocks. it wasn't even ten minutes yet when i decided to get out of the water. it was tiring struggling when i can't even swim.

after a quick drink of berocca, we moved on. it was probably ten to fifteen minutes when i finally heard the music to my ears... the gurgling of falling water. i saw a sign that brought my hopes up, only to be dashed to pieces when i finally saw it: this way to comfort room. agh! wala bang this way to falls?

i can hear it but not see it. kainis! but if the CR is there, then the falls must not be far behind! true enough, five minutes after, we saw it. the falls.

wow. i've seen bigger, more spectacular ones before. but it was the first time i saw a falls that went straight to the beach! there was an area that formed a mini-infinity-pool. at the upper portion, if you climb it, was the strongest part of the falls which can give a great natural massage. that spot, we had to fight over.

the best thing about it... we had it all to ourselves. yeah!

you know the funny thing was? it took us less than twenty minutes to get out. super bilis! it was as if we skipped a couple of corners and just got to the end. but we're not complaining! we had a great time and that was what mattered most. :)