Sabang, Philippines

Once again we were up bright and early and ready to hit the road. We caught a tricycle to the bus stop in El Nido where there was, again, an overfull van waiting for us. We jammed in our luggage, some went on the roof and off we headed to Sabang. The van, we were told, was going back to Puerto Princesa and not to Sabang, so we would need to get off at “the junction” and catch a bus or jeepney from there for the last few kilometres of the trip.

On arrival at the junction we climbed out of the air-conditioned van into the intense heat to wait for our next mode of transportation. I don’t know if this tiny hamlet even had a name other than “The Junction” (in the middle of which was a school, a bus stop and a few houses).

A tricycle driver at the bus stop tried very hard to sell us a trip to Sabang on his tricycle for more than we wanted to pay. By now we were hardened bargainers and sat stubbornly saying that we would wait for a jeepney. He tried to tell us that the jeepneys would still be two hours and they’d be full. Nevertheless, thanks to our trusty Lonely Planet, we stood our ground as we knew the jeepneys left Puerto at 12:00 and calculated the time we could expect their arrival. We decided that we’d wait a little longer to see if any jeepneys arrived and if not, we would take the tricycle. Shortly after that, the first jeepney arrived! Hurray! At least we thought…until we saw that it was packed to capacity. However, the driver and guys on the roof (yes, they sit on the roof) called us and told us to get in, started taking our bags from us and putting them on top. So I asked them if we could sit on top too and they said of course! So we climbed up and made ourselves comfy on big bags of rice and other peoples luggage. This was one of the highlights of the trip for me.

The view from the top was spectacular. The day was hot, the sun was beating down (I had my silly cowboy hat to protect me from being burnt) and the breeze up there was awesome. Definitely 100% preferable to being sardined inside the hotbox below us and breathing in the diesel fumes! The trip took about 2 hours as we stopped at other little houses and random roadside shops along the way. Bit by bit our comfortable seating got offloaded which was a bit of a bummer, but nevertheless we got there feeling excited and exhilarated. As soon as we had settled in I went and hopped into the sea to cool down.

Sabang is a tiny place whose claim to fame is that it’s the place people go to get to the Underground River. Most people only do day trips in from Puerto as it is such a short drive but we thoroughly enjoyed the three nights we spent there. The only place with electricity 24/7 is the Sheridan (go figure!) and most places, ours included, had generated electricity from only 6pm until 11pm daily.

We stayed at a place called Green Verde which has cute, basic little huts on stilts right on the beach. The shower is cold water only, the toilet is true Filipino style with no seat, no cistern, no flush and a bucket of water next to it. There was a minor ant problem, but me being the bug lady that I am didn’t mind that too much 🙂