The person who can guess what Hoyop-Hoyopan means gets to win a t-shirt! Our travel guide jovially shouted through his mic as our van wended its way to Camalig, Albay for a bit of spelunking at Hoyop-Hoyopan Cave. Wind? I ventured. Nope. Blow! My seatmate answered. Correct! (Bigyan ng Jacket! Harhar)

Brgy. Cotmon, where the cave is located, is a bit far from Camalig’s town center and it took almost thirty minutes before we reached the area. An uphill climb to the cave’s mouth welcomed us, along with vendors selling raw crystals broken into small pieces and made as pendants.

I asked one of the vendors what would happen if the crystals they’re mining ran out. It won’t happen, she says, they’re too abundant. The local government should probably look into this and find an alternative and more sustainable livelihood for them.