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.

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.