Exploring Callao Cave

After more than an hour of ride going to Tuguegarao from Kalinga, we finally arrived at Peñablanca, a town in Tuguegarao, where the Callao Cave is found.

We arrived there at around noon. I was raining and everything was slippery. We were all sleeping in the van because of our tiring activities the previous day. The van parked at the entrance of the cave and we all walked to register there. The area is near a river where you can have a boat ride.

Upon registration, you need to pay PHP20 fee to them and then they will assign you a guide inside the cave. They have a policy that you cannot go inside the cave if you don't have any guide with you. We had two guides. I didn't get their names though (sorry, memory gap!) but they are the best guides you could ever have.

quite gloomy weather. View at the top

200 steps

We started our tour going up 200 steps to reach the entrance of the cave. The steps are not that difficult to climb into. At the middle, you can see a nice scenery of the river and the nearby towns. As you reach the top, you will be greeted with the wide entrance of the cave. As you enter, you can see an excavated part where they say some ancient people's bones were excavated. They preserved this area as one of the attractions here. As you go further, you can explore the rest of the cave.

rock formation in the cave

a glimpse of the sky

natural sky light in the cave

There are seven chambers in this cave. However, since it was raining non stop, we are only allowed to go up to the 5th since we will not be able to go back if we pushed through. The cave was amazing. There are a lot of rock formations there. If it wasn't that slippery, we could have reached the last chamber. It was pretty inside and there are those sparkling rocks too. I forgot what it was called but it was all sparkling.

the chapel in the cave

Also, Callao Cave is famous because they have a church inside this cave. Mass is celebrated here during special occasions. The place was serene and you can feel that it was in a holy ground because of this church.

all muddy and dirty!

We got out there all muddy but it was the best part of our trip. We learned much and experienced nature first hand. We decided to take the river cruise too even if it was raining. We paid them PHP500 for the boat which is very scary but as you go in, it was really fun. You can also opt to rent a life vest for a fee but most of us opted not to. Regularly, they let the guests go to a small island at the end of the river trip but since it was raining hard, we just passed by the small waterfalls that drenched us in clod water. The river boat ride was short but it was fun. It was a bit dangerous but we adrenaline junkies liked it that way.

the river

water's a bit high

falls at the side of the mountains

we're cruisin' the river even if it is raining hard

After the caving and river boat ride, we all decided to go home. It was past lunch and we are already starving. We bid goodbye to everyone and we promised them that we'll come back since there is another cave that should be conquered. I am sure we'll be back here. I hope it is soon because I really would like to go caving again.