I live in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. Everybody knows that Puerto Princesa is home to many beautiful islands with their white fine sand, crystal clear water and variety of fishes. Our city is also known as the “City in the forest” for obvious reason that the green lush mountains are just everywhere.
Not everybody know though that aside from those published tourist spots you see in many travel brochures and travel packages, Puerto Princesa has a lot more to offer. Adventures which only us, locales, are aware of and spots which perhaps are more attractive than those places tourists visit. They are truly undiscovered gems. They’re very cheap yet priceless. Most specially, they are unexploited.
As my first piece of writing in this blog, I would like to write about one of those undiscovered gems that I have mentioned – Mt. Magarwak. It looks like an ordinary mountain from the highway.Hiking the mountain is free and you just have to spend for your fare and food.
What makes hiking it special is you get to see the majestic sunrise, the city during night and day (that is as you wait for sunrise) and the bright stars decorating the jet black sky.
HOW TO GET THERE
You will probably need a guide just so to feel safe. A friend of mine accompanied us throughout the adventure. She brought with her, her husband and two kids. One of the kids is just seven-month old. Imagine that! My family is with me and some of my friends. We were 16 hikers, majority are high schoolers and younger. We rented a multi-cab to get to the foot of the mountain. Each of us chipped in 70pesos for the rent. That payment was like paying an under-priced gold necklace because what you are going to experience is more than a gem – a lifetime experience you will surely treasure.
We woke up as early as 4:00 am. The travel took 30 minutes. It means from the city you are just 30 minutes away from pure fresh air.
DURING HIKE
It was pitch dark and the stars are still visible when we arrived. We brought bottles of water to maintain our body fluids and fruits in case we feel hungry. Most importantly we had flashlights. The hike took an hour. It could be longer if we took many breaks, but we are a bunch of strong hikers I guess.
It was still dark when we arrived on top, so we had the time to enjoy staring at the city lights and taking pictures. Too bad though that I do not know how to set my DSLR cam for such type of scenery.
When the sun burst its colors to the sky, we all just too contented that we did what we did. More importantly, we feel awe of how beautiful the scene is! We just saw many wonders of nature in one hiking!
If you happen to be in Puerto Princesa and you happen to have free time or perhaps want to make the visit “sulit” might as well try being on top of the mountain and look at Puerto Princesa in bird’s eye view.
