"Forests, lakes, and rivers, clouds and winds, stars and flowers, stupendous glaciers and crystal snowflakes - every form of animate or inanimate existence, leaves its impress upon the soul of man." - Orison Swett Marden
Ok, looks like Marden missed mentioning islands. Maybe because he never visited the 100 Islands National Park. But I did! And, so this one is for all you Mardens out there. An account of my island hopping weekend getaway that so impressed my soul :)
I had heard of this place from only a few people but was always taken in by the idea of a numerous little islands in an area smaller than the size any major city that one can think of. I was eager to set my eyes on them. And like it happens with all plans good there were detractors - no good hotels around, not many restaurants to choose from, and the likes. So visiting the 100 Islands which is situated 3 1/2 hours north from our city turned out to be a perfect birthday gift this year.
The 100 Islands National Park consists of 100 plus islands -120 as per our boatman who took us there and 124/123 as per my wikisearch. Of these only one of them is big enough for safe inhabitation, and just two other used for tourist commerce - fitted with washrooms, a stationary store, a shop for renting snorkeling and camping gear a couple of ice-cream sellers. Thats all! All other islands are uninhabited, at best a few kilometers in their periphery, flushed with green wilderness, with these thin strips of light yellow-white sand beaches. To me they looked like these huge, green, Hershey's Kisses floating in the sea with cream oozing out on the sides.
We set out in these tiny little 4 seater motor powered boats on the South China Sea at 7 am. Much to my relief, the sea was calm that morning, making for a smooth ride despite our dingy rides. After about 45 minutes of heading out into the sea we stopped at Cuenco island. The sea water by the beach was blend of emerald green and turquoise blue, and absolutely clear. The sight was an eyeful! For minutes we were just speechless, taking in the beauty and silence. In a while our boatman took us into the island. A short walk through thickly set greenery brought us to a cave. As we looked up at the stalactites on the roof, some 20 feet high, we could barely see any rock. All we saw were bats! A hundred, maybe two hundred - looking down at less than ten, rare visitors! While I was still reeling in the feeling of being grossly outnumbered, I looked below to see at the base of the cave. At a sheer 30 feet drop was the South China Sea, making its way through the underground into the cave on the island. (It is later that I learnt that the these islands were actually coral formations deep under the sea which surfaced only after thousands of years of geographical shifts.)
After this we "hopped over" to Children's Island. These was a pretty little set up with 3 islands set in an obtuse angle to one another - two connected naturally by a strip of beach and the third connected by man with a 20 meter, sturdy wood plank bridge. This island was commercially set up for refreshments for tourists, snorkeling and kayaking. We stayed there for some time to let the children play in the beach, while the adults looked around. Interestingly, it was impressive to notice that the sea life was unperturbed by human presence. You could see tiny fish swimming up to the shore and some larger ones under the wood plank bridge. And coral reefs were unbroken and only a few meters away from the shore as per a snorkeling enthusiast one of us spoke to.
Our next two hops were even more exciting.
We rode through a channel in the sea with a procession of these green little islands on both sides, each a few meters away from the next, and arrived at an island which was like a tree covered hillock sticking out of the water. Not a speck of sand around in the name of a beach. And this hillock of an island had a huge gaping hole right through its center going all the way to the other end and opening to the sea again. A hillock in the open sea, with a cave running end to end, right through its very core; all held in place with nature's own masonry. Amazing!!
Our final stop was at President's Island, know as such, for its height. Here we just had one business. And a really important one at that. Of getting to the top. In preparation, we got some sugar into our veins, in the form of ice candies, and shot off the block. At 10.30 AM on a sunny day, we took some 80-90 extremely steep steps (some man made, some natural), through thick foliage to a clearing on the top of the island. What we saw from the there was more than the effort's worth - a vantage view of the 100 Islands! Islands in various shades of green, sprawled haphazardly across a clam, sky-blue sea stretching over many miles in any direction you looked! A visual feed to last a lifetime.
After this, much to my reluctance, we headed back to mainland. I really hadn't got enough of it...
It's been 3 weeks since the trip, and I still see vivid glimpses of what I saw when I close my eyes. Sure we clicked pictures, but I don't really need them. In fact in many ways, I feel a camera never quite does justice to what we experience. One really needs to get out there to get it all in.
So my Mardens, lets get away from our usual routine weekends of pub hopping, gourmet popping and psychostimulant shopping and go instead for some island hopping @ The 100 Islands National Park, Pangasinan, Philippines. The experience would make for pure soul food, I promise!
