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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