THE CAVE (Sagada to the max)

when you think of a cave, you'll think of darkness, stones, bats, cold dripping water and batman.

the sagada caves have those except for, well, batman.

before the cave adventure, we went to another burial cave and get a glimpse of coffins (this time not hanging) stacked like logs. unlike the hanging coffins, the feel of this cave is different, we talked in hushes and there's something eerie on the calmness and/or quietness of this place. and for the first time, i didn't dare going farther or nearer the main entrance (but some korean adventurers did because according to our guide, they will do the big cave connection, apparently, this cave and the sumaguing cave are connected and it will take them about four hours to navigate, i think it's cool but you need to be an experienced one to do this, so wala akong lugar dyan hehe).

as there's really nothing to do there except staring at the coffins, we excitedly rode on top of the jeep for the most exciting part of the tour: Sumaguing cave. on our way to the cave, while on top of the running jeep, i got these pics with one hand holding the rails for my dear life and the other shooting (i am crazy i know).

while sitting at the entrance of the cave, we felt how cold it is inside and our hearts are starting to pound harder with excitement as our guides briefed us on what to expect inside. according to them, what we are sitting on were man-made (obvious naman, semento kaya eto hehe) but inside, everything is natural, walang daya, so prepared to be awed, just don't open your mouth too wide as not everything's dripping inside is water, dyumi-jingle din po ang mga paniki hehehe.

since all the lamps are already lighted, here we go!

who's afraid of the dark?

it's big, it's deep, it's slippery!

it's approximately 1 km deep, tired already?

how wonderful and amazing caves can be?

to get around, you need to jump to and from some wet and slippery edges.

hold the stone walls, dip in the icy cold water

sit-walk on your butt (and feel that cold stone with running water)

and watch your steps (and that edges, too. falling into whoknows how deep is discuraged inside)

you also need to step on the guide to get down this wet curtain like rock formation

and have this picture taken :)

and be mesmerized by this

or this (another angle)
fruit salad (see the banana?) with water terraces

whew! got a flashback of how suspenseful, action-packed, cold, dark, slippery, tiring, exciting, dirty and how happy the group was after that. some conquered their fears, some overdid their own expectations, at ako, i want to do it again!!! the last few parts are also the most important and the most exciting, if the guide asked you if you still want to go on, say yes and and you'll be awarded with this wonderful feeling of having done something difficult and yet, you made it. it was the part when you need to pass a small and very low hole and then be greeted by an amazing rock formations and natural pools, and then "walk" on the wall by holding a rope, embrace a huge rock before submerging yourself in a chest-deep freakingly cold water, walk thru it and then more water hahaha. ang saya! when we reached the point where we're almost done, having pulled ourselves up, applauding ourselves for a job well done is like the most fulfilling thing we ever did to ourselves hahaha.

we also tried to convince other people (not in our group) to go on and told them at the same time how difficult it was (but more nang-aasar at nagyayabang hehe).

75% of the work was done, now we need to go back to the entrance and once again crawl, sit-walk on our butts, look for our sandals/slippers (don't wear havaianas here), more crawling and hey, it's dirtier going back and more difficult too (me nakita akong nadulas, aww).

and then, there was light. hay salamat.

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thanks to manny for some cave shots (bro, nagpaalam ako sa yo ha hehe). manny's a film reviewer too, aside from being a programmer (by profession) and an awesome photographer. whatchawaiting for, visit his blog.

next stop: Anawangin, San Antonio, Zambales (sana matuloy, sana matuloy)