I finally arrived at Sabang, Palawan, home of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Puerto Princesa Subterranean River also known as the St. Paul Subterranean River. Having arrived in Sabang quite late in the afternoon (around 4pm), I decided to explore the river the next day. In the meantime I can sit back and relax after that gruelling 3 hour journey from Puerto Princesa city proper.
The nice gentleman that sat near me in the jeepney motioned me to come with him to his “brother’s” resort. It is just a short walk from the pier where the jeepney stopped. The place is called Villa Sabang. After the man talked to the owners, he left. I wanted to thank him by giving him some money for cigarettes but he would not have none of it. He was just helping out. I smiled knowing that these simple folk are really as nice as they seem to be.
Villa Sabang is a simple place. It is composed of four huts. Two for guests. One for the shop/restaurant. And one for the owners. They have a nicely mowed lawn right in the middle. They also have some sort of fence surrounding the entire place. I doubt that they would actually keep anyone away. Maybe they just built it just for the sake of having a fence. Sabang can be divided into two sections, with the pier as the marker. Facing the sea, to the right of the pier are the resorts for tourists. To the left of the pier is the where the local folk live. There are actually cottages on the left side where you can get cheaper places, but I wanted a place which is a little more quiet.
The owner (or the one in charge, I wasn’t really sure) of the place handed me the keys to my cottage. As expected, my cottage was made of bamboo. When I opened the door, saw where I will be sleeping for the next two nights. Simple. Basic. Austere. Stark. Those are some of the words I would use to describe the bedroom. The bed is a simple queen size bed with simple mattress on top of it. Good enough for a night’s (or two’s) sleep. The bed also comes with a mosquito net. I haven’t seen one of these for quite a while! Obviously, I would need it when I sleep. I don’t really want any insects crawling all over the place while I’m asleep!
Behind the bedroom is the bathroom. Actually, it wasn’t even a room. Only a shower curtain separates the bedroom from the bathroom. The bathroom does come with a sink and a bowl. Sorry, no flushing by pressing any button here. I’ll have to do it the old fashioned way — with a bucket of water. No shower head either. Looks like the bucket will be my best friend for the next few days.
After freshening up, as my face was caked with dirt from traveling on that dirt road, I rested for a while. I stepped out and locked my cottage. I started to explore the rest of the resorts. After Villa Sabang, there are yet a couple more resorts available, including a couple recommended by the guide books. There as I was walking along the beach I would spot some foreigners. Mostly Caucasians. My impression is that, apart from Filipinos, foreigners still haven’t discovered Sabang yet. This may or may not be a good thing depending on your point of view. The difficulty to getting to Sabang may be the very thing protecting it from mass tourism. I like it just the way it is.
Sabang beach is an ok white beach. Nothing special about it. The beach is nothing like boracay, but at least it is not gray. Although I go to beaches, I don’t really swim much. Besides, the big waves there scare the wits out of me. I still need to see the Underground River the next day!
The sun is setting now, so i started to make my way back to Villa Sabang. Luckily they serve dinner. I ordered this chicken dish which was surprisingly good. But then I was about to finish dinner. The bugs of Sabang started coming. I’ve read about this. By nightfall the sandflies take over the beach. No wonder there was no nightlife in Sabang. i quickly made my way back to my cottage.
Okay, so I’m back at the cottage. What to do, let’s see. Other than a bed, there wasn’t anything else in there. No TV. No Radio. Nothing. The only thing keeping my company is a lonely incandescent bulb, that will abandon me after 9pm. Yes, Electricity is not 24 hours here in Sabang. I opened the mosquito net and slipped in, then, for the first time in years, I slept early, 8pm early. I woke up several times only to find out that it was only 12 midnight. Outside you can hear the pounding of the waves. To me it sounded like the there was a storm coming, ready to take my poor little cottage out to sea. But it was normal. No wave was taking me out to sea. Something else would. Anyway, I did my best to ignore the pounding waves and sleep. Who’d ever think that getting to sleep would be this tough.
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do you have any idea where i can get the contact number of villa sabang? its seems pretty nice to stay there…. i heard a lot of stories of the other resorts there they just treating you nice bcus of the money. i had a friend who stayed at villa sabang and she gave me a good comments about it but unfutonately she didnt able to get the mobile number of them. im planning to go there this december… hope you could give me a little help. thank you!:)