The Underground River, properly called the St. Paul’s Subterranean River National Park, has been a famous tourist spot in Palawan, Philippines to locals and foreigners alike for many years now.
I for one have been there maybe more than four times (I have lost count!) but would visit it again when given the chance. I fully remember how enjoyable and interesting it is to be there. More than nature, it is amazing how the workers at the PPUR National Park handle tourists. They know not only what PPUR means to tourism but also what they mean to help the industry grow.
The boatmen for example have been trained how to keep the tourists interested while navigating the river through funny stories. To keep them entertained and not jog their memory too much with a lot of information, they have organized the interesting items in the cave into “groups”. There was a grocery department where one finds stalactites and stalagmites in the shape of fruits and vegetables. There was a cathedral where one can find the church and the Holy Family in it. Tourists burst into laughter to hear the story of the cave in this manner but also remembers it better.
Below is a great video to show you how the interior of the cave looks like.
To top this recognition, the PPUR was also picked as one of the seven natural wonders of the world by Lonely Planet readers. So if you haven’t visited it yet, you might want to consider going there the next time you go to the Philippines. Better yet, why not make it the reason for your Philippine visit?#
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