ON THE ROAD LN3 | Caving at Norzagaray & Bass Fishing at Pantabangan Dam

Monday, January 23, 2012

The Lakbay Norte bus was waiting at the Victory Liner Kamias as I boarded down from a 30-minute cab ride from home. It was three in the morning and with still no sleep, I lugged my bags aboard and met the crew. I chitchatted with the Lakbay Norte guys  a bit and then had a cup of hot taho where I met Mang Poka, a washer at the station for 12 years. We rolled half an hour later, here we go North Luzon!

Norzagaray was two hours away and everyone had their much needed shuteye. It was much too soon when I felt our bus bumping away uphill towards our first stop, the Pinagrealan cave.

I actually dreaded this stop since it was gonna be my first time to do real spelunking. Not that I’m afraid of getting bumped up but really because I cramp easily and I don’t want to ruin the trip by being hosted back out of the cave on a stretcher haha. After a feast on local sweets and some words from the Mayor, we were off to the dark depths of Pinagrealan cave.

The floor was wet and expectedly uneven. With flashlights, which not everyone has, we managed to slowly move towards the bowels of the cave. A third of the way and we were already wading in cold waist-deep water, there really was no other way to move forward but to cross these murky obstacles. Twice, we’ve had to squeeze through tight crevices, with cameras held tightly for the bottom was also filled with water.

I don’t have an idea how long it took us to reach the end of the tunnel, I was only glad I was able to reach it with no problem (other than dropping my flashlight twice into the water.) Only thing was we have to do it all over again to go back where we came from.

Four hours later found us at Microtel Cabanatuan. Still full from the Crispy Pata and Bahay Itlugan, (a local specialty) breakfast at Norzagary, it was again time to chow down.

Inside their Liquid Restaurant, we wolfed down everything from veggies, pork, beef and chicken dishes, eskargo anyone? Kuya Bodgie and Ate Shena would be proud of their choice of servings.

After half an hour, we were off again, this time to Pantabangan Dam to do some bass fishing. The road to Pantabangan was quite long and it was already five in the afternoon when we alighted from our bus.

Now I know absolutely nothing about fishing and with the wind blowing with absolute abandon, I begged off the boat ride and instead focused on shooting the landscapes instead. It was almost sundown and I knew with the way the clouds are forming that we’re gonna have a grand sunset going on in a few minutes time.

The only problem was I was unable to find a suitable subject for foregrounds. Some minutes of walking along the water’s edge, and I finally found my prize. A lone tree elevated from the docked boats. I waited for everyone to clear out before pressing my shutter and photographed the tree from every angle ‘til the colors went out of the sky.

One of the last photos I took was with A of Lakwaterso.com, the sky was ablaze in orange fire and a boat painted with the Philippine colors was docked just below the poetic looking tree; a picture perfect ending for Lakbay Norte 3’s first day.

 

 

   L A K B A Y   N O R T E   3   S E R I E S

   ON THE ROAD: LAKBAY NORTE 3 CAVING AT NORZAGARAY & BASS FISHING AT PANTABANGAN DAM
   TOPLOADING & WHITEWATER RAFTING AT KALINGA | SHOOTING LANDSCAPES & SURFING AT THE BLUE LAGOON
   PADDLE BOARDING & BIRDWATCHING AT PAOAY | HIKING AT HOLCIM’S ECOTRAIL & AIRSOFT AT BAGUIO COUNTRY CLUB
   RIVER CRUISE AT DAGUPAN & GO KARTING AT TARLAC | JUNGLE SURVIVAL, SPA TIME & PINOY HENYO AT SUBIC
   PUNING’S HOT SPRINGS & LUBAO’S PRADO FARM
   HOW I JOINED LAKBAY NORTE 3 LAKBAY NORTE 3! | PICKED 4 LAKBAY NORTE 3!

   LAKBAY NORTE IS AN ANNUAL MEDIA FAMILIARIZATION TOUR AROUND NORTH LUZON
   ORGANIZED BY NORTH PHILIPPINES VISITORS BUREAU

You Might Also Like

19 comments

  1. congrats on your first spelunking adventure!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Super inggit to the max ako sa caving! I'm starting a series on my blog soon (right) about extreme adventures, and spelunking will definitely be one of them. Love na love ko yan hehe

    ReplyDelete
  3. Huwaw! Kumarir ng daily update! Easy lang, enjoy mo lang ang byahe at kain :D

    (Crispy pata for breakfast? Only on LN... hahaha)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kakainggit! Ang sipag mag update Christian hehe! Sana tuloy-tuloy lang para we can always feel what you guys are feeling hehe!

    ReplyDelete
  5. First day pa lang exciting na! I can't wait to read everyone's posts about LN3!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Spelunking would also scare me too. Clautrophobic minsan e. Heheh! =)

    ReplyDelete
  7. nice!!! ng e effort ka talaga mg hanap ng foreground. :)
    I love spelunking!

    ReplyDelete
  8. nice 1st day pa lang updated na... hehehe!!! pagbalik nyo for sure nag gain na kayo ng 10 pounds, kaka-kain... sarap!!! hehehe! have fun guys and enjoy! ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  9. eto ang trip na nakaka-inggit talaga. Super inggit lang talaga ako. Grabe, the photos makes me go there too. Kilan kaya ako makakasama sa Lakbay Norte! Hirap kasi pag taga-Mindanao at ang layo ko sa Norte.

    ReplyDelete
  10. choosing to take the landscape shot and doing the boating... is equally fun. enjoy your norte trip with the rest of the bloggers and media group.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow! Ang sipag mo mag-blog bro! Thanks for that picture! Ang astig!

    ReplyDelete
  12. ahhh..... I will wait pa sa mga kasunod! =)
    parehas tayo madali mag cramps... so I know how you feel when you got out of the cave... hahahaha... congrats...enjoy kayo jan!

    ReplyDelete
  13. nice! it started na! :) have a safe journey bro and brings us great shot!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Uy.. simula na pala ang Norte Boss Christian.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ingat christian...... another adventure for Chriatian d great!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Lestat
    Thanks! Swerte di ako pinulikat haha

    Aleah
    Nakapag Sagada ka na Aleah? I think they have one of the most beautiful and challenging spelunking sites :)

    Nina
    Only in LN indeed haha, bumigat kaming lahat after ng trip :P

    Drew
    Haha sorry nagkadelay delay na

    Robbie
    Me too shempre!

    Tin
    Basta may helmet and good flashlights carry na yan!

    Simurgh
    Haha shempre, can't just shoot the sunset ng basta basta, sayang naman :P

    Pinoy Adventurista
    Haha tama!

    Journeys and Travels
    Si Marcus and Ed taga Visayas, lumipad talaga sila just to join Lakbay Norte, kaya mo rin yan! :)

    Dong ho
    Hehe oo nga naman, thanks Dong!

    Angel
    Underexposed pala! I'll reprocess it tomorrow, ang hirap mag pp sa laptop

    Ian
    Halos mapakanta ako ng Alive paglabas hehe

    Romz, Lan and Andy
    Salamat mga pre!

    ReplyDelete