Following a quick tour of Hong Kong, I headed to Manila, the capital city of Philippines, where I spent an uneventful weekend before catching a flight to the island of Palawan and the port city of Puerto Princesa.
In addition to the Honda Bay islands, this area of Palawan is known for its Underground River, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and recent winner of one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature. It's also the world's longest navigable underground river. The cave system stretches for a total of 24 kilometers underneath the mountains, and the river itself winds its way through about 8 km of it.
It's cliche but the photos simply don't it justice. The stalagmites and stalactites date back tens of millions of years and many resemble religious figures, such as the Holy Family and Jesus Christ (see photo above and you can see for yourself).
As you can see from the video, the caves are very tall. You have to keep your mouth shut as you look up, as the thousands of bats flying around often drop handmade 'gifts' down on visitors.
Following the tour, I returned to the city of Puerto Princesa where I dined at Kalui, the #1 restaurant on the entire island. I had to make a reservation a month in advance, in fact!
To see more photos from this incredible excursion, click here.
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