Note: I took a short course in travel writing recently and this was one of my assignments. Hence, the unusual text-heavy blog post :)
My original plan was to go to Puerto Princesa to see the Underground River, which was then recently hailed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. But weeks before the trip, things became a little hectic for me and what originally was a wish for an adventure-seeking journey suddenly turned into a desire for an R&R vacation.
All
I wanted to do was to lie down on the beach, drink a margarita, and
read a book. So I scrapped the Underground River excursion and booked
ourselves in an upscale resort located on an island that was accessible
from Puerto Princesa. When I mentioned the name of the resort, T got
worried.
“Isn’t that where the kidnappings took place?”, he asked.
In
2001, twenty people were abducted from the resort by terrorists who
call themselves the “Abu Sayyaf”. Among those kidnapped were Martin
and Gracia Burnham, missionaries from the United States who were there
to celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary.
Not
a pretty picture but I thought lightning rarely strikes the same place
twice. Besides, the kidnappings happened more than a decade ago and the
perpetrators have been caught and imprisoned since.
“But isn’t that where Rico Yan died?”, T asked, still not convinced.
The
year after the Abu Sayyaf kidnappings, famous Filipino matinee idol
Rico Yan died in the resort for reasons unknown to all. The doctors say
the actor had a cardiac arrest due to acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis,
or in layman’s terms, he died in his sleep while having a nightmare.
But until now, no one really knows for certain what happened.
But despite these two unfortunate incidents, T and I still pushed through with the trip. And we were so glad that we did.
As soon as we got sight of the island,
all of our worries have vanished completely. Blue skies over crystal
green water? It seemed like a place where nothing could go wrong. It
was paradise.
continue to part 1...
Dos Palmas
Travel Date: 2-4 November 2012
Part 4 - Snorkeling at Helen's Garden
Manila Sales Office
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Nakakabitin! Sana part 2 agad hehehe
ReplyDeleteThe water is soo clear.. prang ang sarap magbabad sa ganyang water..
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