I was trying to conserve my energy as I climbed the 272 steps towards the main chamber of Malaysia’s Batu Caves. It would’ve been easier if the sun wasn’t at its zenith. It would’ve been easier if there were no monkeys careening up and down the steps waiting for an easy snatch from tourists. It would have been easier if I wasn’t carrying ten kilos worth of photographic equipment.

There were a lot of it would have beens, but after what seemed like an eternity (kidding), those would have beens ended as I found myself staring at the dark maw of Batu Cave’s mouth.

GANESH IS EVERYWHERE AT BATU CAVES

According to the stamps on my passport, I have flown exactly 16 times to Kuala Lumpur. And on each one of those trips, I’ve always wanted to visit Batu Caves. Indeed, along with the Petronas Towers, it is one of Malaysia’s most iconic tourist spots. And for the life of me—I just don’t know what happens—we always seem to miss going to the cave.

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Before discovering pancit batil patong, the first thing that comes to our mind when one mentions Tuguegarao City is its cave—a huge one where light filters in from a natural crevice above, illuminating a row of pews facing a natural stone altar. A cave, whose chambers are large enough to hold weddings in. One unlike any other in the Philippines. Callao Cave.

INSIDE CALLAO CAVE IN PENABLANCA

But we were dead wrong on our assumptions.

During my first visit to Tuguegarao City, I was finally able to step inside this northern gem. It’s not located in Tuguegarao City, as I previously thought, but in the sleepy town of Peñablanca. Twenty four kilometers away from where I thought it was.

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It was the evening of our first day in Quirino Province. We were relaxed—hanging out, passing tall tales, out-grossing each other with the crassest things we could think of, and drinking beer at the porch of the Capitol Plaza Hotel Quirino. A few minutes in and it started to drizzle.

Are you sure it’s still safe to push with the caving activity tomorrow? I asked, worried that it might get too slippery inside the cave for safe passage—we were not exactly the best example of a spelunking group. Don’t worry, we’ll go as planned. It’s perfectly safe, our guide assured us.

Well, goodluck guys, I’m sure you’ll all have fun inside Aglipay Caves!

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Stalactites creep down from the darkened ceiling of Lahab Cave in Dumalag, Capiz like frozen slimy alien tentacles. Our local guide, perched above a crevice overlooking the entrance of the cave looked down, probably checking the trail we were about to endure on our way into the bowels of the Earth.

I looked down to the supposed trail and said to myself, what trail?

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Our fourth day in Capiz didn’t start so strange.

After a pleasant overnight stay at Maribert Inland Resort, we immediately boarded our van and headed to the nearby town of Dumalag—our itinerary for the whole day, nothing but cave exploration.

My first experience spelunking was at Norzagaray’s Pinagrealan Cave. It was a fairly easy cave to conquer but I know my limits when it comes to physically demanding activities. So I can’t help but feel a bit of trepidation as we alighted at the gates of Suhot Cave and Natural Spring Resort.

I swam through the darkness. The water was freezing and we can hardly see anything but the faint greenish light gleaming at the far end of the cave. Gingerly, a few of us crept on the side walls of the cave where the water only reaches up to chest-deep in height. Eventually, I arrived at the far end. My eyes adjusted to the midday brightness of the sun and saw Iligan City’s secret waterfall, Kalubihon Falls.

Coming from the relaxing dip at Pampam Falls, a part of the three waterfalls that make up a stream in Barangay Dalipuga, we continued our hike uphill. It was not an easy trek, especially for someone as unfit as yours truly. The climb to Kalubihon Falls only took fifteen minutes but it was a punishing quarter of an hour—especially its final leg.

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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.

Stuffed with lunch and done with our waterfall activities, we again clambered on Puerto del Sol’s van to see more of Bolinao. A spelunking activity was next on our itinerary and we’d be doing it under one of the town’s three caves, the most wonderful of the three in fact; we’re getting down and dirty at Bolinao’s Wonderful Cave.

And yes, it’s literally named Wonderful Cave. And why not, if I was gonna christen a cave I discovered, I would probably also name it after some great sounding adjective, like the Most Awesome Cave or Super Extra Cool Cave, haha. I guess I’ll just have to make sure that it is as excellent as its name suggests; otherwise it would be better if I simply name it as Cave #1 or something generic.

It was with great trepidation as I stepped inside the cool chamber of Pinagrealan Cave. It was the first destination for Lakbay Norte’s eight-day jaunt through the northern parts of Luzon and the only preparation I did for this caving activity was to bring a flashlight.

The Pinagrealan Cave is a kilometer long cavern in Bulacan used by Filipino Revolutionaries during the Spanish and American uprising in the country. According to the books, even the great Emilio Aguinaldo hanged out at this cave.

The morning was just waking when we stepped off our Lakbay Norte bus. Golden rays were blooming up through the far horizon and the air was still crisp from the previous night. Still hazy from our short bus nap, we meandered groggily through the dirt path towards the Pinagrealan Cave.

Spending time at Battery Grubbs to view the majesty of the setting sun, it was fully dark when we arrived at the shadowy mouth of Malinta Tunnel where earlier we witnessed the Corregidor Light and Sound Show.

This time, we’re gonna enter the tunnel at night and spend at least half an hour inside its side laterals so we relieved our bladders first before we each grabbed a helmet and slung a huge flashlight on our shoulders.
 
I originally planned on bringing my tripod inside but our guide insisted that I won’t be able to use it as our pace was gonna be brisk and the floors inside the tunnels ranges from fully paved to utterly rocky ones. So, out goes the tripod and I now have to depend on my camera’s fully cranked ISO to capture our passage through those unlit tunnels, pardon the grainy photos please.