San Vicente, Palawan: The Long Beach Challenge
When the opportunity to travel to Palawan again knocked on my SMS inbox, the first thing that came to mind was to do a cheap El Nido trip via Puerto Princesa. But then, my excitement was immediately dampened by the thought of travelling by land for 5 to 6 hours. With my 4-hour daily travel to and from work, land travel has taken on a new face in my life. On top of that, the long weekend promised to crowd El Nido and of course Puerto Princesa. I remembered then this place which claimed to have the longest white sand beach in the Philippines. The promise of long stretches of white sand beach and my longing for some peace and quiet at the time brought me to San Vicente, Palawan.
Long Beach is the main attraction of San Vicente. Unlike the beaches of Boracay, Puerto Galera, El Nido, and other famous beaches, Long Beach is not surrounded by resorts and restaurants. White sand, white sand, and more white sand is all that one sees. There are occasional palm trees, a cliff and limestone formation here and there but mainly it's white (and yellowish) sand and crystal clear water all around. Except for a few fisherfolk and picnickers, the beach was almost empty of people. Perfect for my emo-mode.
Our third day in San Vicente was not to be a lazy day though. My friend and I put before ourselves a challenge: walk the the entire stretch of Long Beach or at least 95 percent of it. That was the Long Beach challenge.
Crazy fools that we were, we set off to walk at half past 10 in the morning armed with sandwiches, bananas, trail mix, water, sunblock-moisturizer and shawl. Never mind the heat and the glaring sunlight. That's traveling according to one's pace and whims and mood.
Our habal-habal driver dropped us off at Beach 2, located in Barangay Agutaya. When we told him that we would just text him when we're ready to be fetched in Beach 3, he gave us this you-must-be-out-of-your-mind look. Seeing us walk almost a kilometer, he realized we were dead-serious and left. He would text us every so often to check if we were ready to be fetched but we were glad to disappoint him.
We took on a leisurely pace, taking time to smell the sea (there were no flowers) and to feel the healing effect of sea water and sand on our our soles and souls. It was a contemplative walk, a deep encounter with the Creator of such beauty before our eyes and with the inner Self. In my mind I was singing Amazing Grace, What A Wonderful World, Kahanga-hanga (based on Psalm 8) and repeating lines from the poem God's Grandeur. It was paradise.
Even paradise has its challenges. Just like the Garden of Eden? At almost noon, my legs were getting tired and the sun had turned from warm to hot. The cliff marking the boundary of Beach 2 and Beach 3, we realized, was much farther than we had thought. But, still, there was no turning back. When the going gets tough, one of the best courses of action is to take a break and nurture the body-mind-spirit. So, out of the bag went the sandwiches prepared for us by Steve, our wonderful host at Peace and Love Resort.  |
| The soothing effect of seawater on my feet kept me going. |
And then, we were surprised by a pair of beautiful butterflies and different limestone (?) formations such as the mini cave-like formation below.
We were in for another set of surprises, albeit not-too-pleasant ones. The cliff, our marker, suddenly was nowhere in sight. And when we finally saw it again after climbing some big rocks, we realized the water around it was deep. So much for my leisurely walk. We had three options. First, we could swim around the cliff - which was not much of an option as I am not really a good swimmer and we didn't want our gadgets getting wet. Second, we could go back and look for a way out to town - which was not an option either for our persistent and singleminded spirit, if not proud ego. We were left with the third option then. Take a detour! Climb and go around the hill and come down on the other side via a rugged path. I realized then the detour was happening not only physically but also emotionally as I had to accept the reality that, even while on vacation mode, I had to be ready for the unexpected. Embrace the unexpected I did . . . only to be surprised one more time. The path going down was not just steep but also slippery. I was ready for the sun and sea but not for this "mountain trek." I was ever so grateful to my friend Sim for being so resourceful and skillful and more importantly for not giving up on me when my helplessness started to set in.
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| What a relief it was to see the shore once again and the cliff behind us this time. |
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| After the trek we were rewarded with an even more beautiful beach to walk on. . . |
...and more beautiful sights to behold. Oh, so much like our life journey. Good times come with bad times, both adding spark and meaning to our life journey.
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And the journey continues. . .
At half past 4, we headed to Beach 1 for the last leg of our Long Beach challenge. Rejuvenated after eating a simple meal at the carinderia in the market (which claims to sell "organic halo-halo") and lingering a bit in Capari, famous for housing the crew of Survivor Philippines, we were ready to walk the entire stretch of Beach 1.
IThe sun was kinder to us now. The gentle breeze was refreshing. It was nice walking in silence and greeting the locals who were out to fish and chat with one another. 
This little boy was among my teachers during the Beach 1 walk. I thought he was playing. Moving and looking closer, I realized he was holding the end of a fishing net. At such a young age, he took his task seriously and with tenacity and quiet acceptance.
And then at last we were at the end of Beach 1 separated from Beach 2 by a small river. Had it been low tide, it would have been nice to cross towards Beach 2 where our Long Beach journey began. I spent the rest of the time then sitting quietly by the beach and savoring the day's journey and the strength within affirmed by having taken the Long Beach challenge.
What a beautiful journey of the body, mind, and spirit.
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