[ journal.com.ph ] April 14, 2008
By: Alex Silva
A tour of Puerto Princesa will not be complete without visiting its famous underground river, which, according to some tourists is full of wonders that border on the mythical, the legendary and the religious.
The depth of colors, intertwined with lights and shapes conspire to form imagery that could be subjected to an artist’s interpretation. However, those who have been to the underground river many times before could have “seen,” what others had failed to see.
Images of kings and Gods and tamed animals and children could be spotted in one “massive artwork done by an unseen hand.”
This reporter managed to come face to face with these enchanted characters during a 45-minute banca trip inside the underground river.
I managed to capture the figure of an old King in regal suite using only an ordinary digital camera with the help of a battery-fed spotlight. Ailen Joy Chan, the city’s tourist guide said it was very seldom that visitors, who took photos inside the cave using a digital camera or cellphone cameras capture the images, which are hidden in some undistinguishable lines and water marks on the wall.
Aside from the “king,” images of the Sto. Niño wearing a gold vest, a boy holding a wooden crucifix, a lion playing at the back of the king, an image of Mother Mary and a peacock could also be clearly seen on the photograph.
Local folk believe that the elderly, bearded king could be Jesus Christ and could be the latest version of an image of the Lord.
The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park houses the underground river. It has been declared a premier ecotourism destination and has been inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage lists for its outstanding universal value and ecological significance as a natural site of intense beauty.
Its most outstanding natural feature is the ever flowing water beneath the spectacular karst of mountain before emptying into the South China Sea. With a length of 8.2 kilometers, it is considered the “world’s longest navigable underground river.”
Cathedral-like chambers, wide hallways and other interesting geological formations welcome wide-eyed visitors to the grotto beneath the St. Paul Mountain or the under ground river.
At the mouth of the cave, ancient trees growing right in the water’s edge frame a clear lagoon. Monkeys, large monitor lizards, and squirrels find home on the beach forest near the cave.
Aside from this monumental photo captured by People’s Tonight, different images, rock formation or stalagmite and stalacmite formation depict several images like fruits, animals, vegetables, figurines, an expressway and Titanic. Even LRT could be clearly seen inside the cave.
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