My Cave Connections Experience - SAGADA, Philippines

Spelunking at Sagada Cave is now my second favorite extreme adventure, next to my intense PLUNGED experienced at Bohol last year :). Seriously, I’m not really into spelunking lol or maybe I don’t know what it is or I guess I don’t want to walk into darkness, take note 4-5 hours inside the cave only with gas lamp (petrol lamp) hehe and since all my friends are into it and I don’t want to be called chicken wings or whatever they call it…so I go with them for the sake of friendship hehehe :P BUT I tell you…its really worth it.. *wink

[Sorry for the quality of the picture  :P medjo malabo. po]
My friends and I at King's Curtain

To start with:

The Lumiang Burial Cave is probably the most visited burial site in Sagada mainly because it is usually enclosed with any Sumaguing Cave Tour. It is also the starting point for the Cave Connection of Lumiang-to-Sumaging Cave, the more challenging of the spelunking options you may choose from. The cave is hidden several meters away from the road and the only way to get to the mouth of the cave is to walk.

There are some parts of the trail that are very difficult pass through because of its slippery trail and good things that there is a handrails constructed for the tourist, however the trail offers a good view of the limestone cliffs along the way.

When we reach the mouth of Lumiang Cave we saw lots of coffins, a hundreds of old coffins that are stacked up all over the walls and even in the cave ceiling, I noticed that some have fallen to the ground. The tour guide said it is cause by some earthquakes and scaffolding was devise to put those coffins in place and still intact.

The guides told us that it is a burial cave that exclusively only for women who died at childbirth. They were segregate for the reason that dying at childbirth brings upon a curse of some sort. While our guides were busy preparing our gas lamp (petrol lamps), of course our group prayed a little for the safety of everyone and when everything is all set... here it goes...!! Our buwis buhay na experience eto na: hahahhaa

Nagbiro pa si Manong tour guide “Ang takot sa dilim, walang aangal.. pag pumasok sa loob, tuloy tuloy na.. at ang gustong mag back-out.. umamin na…” hahahaha some my girl friends who are healthy..hmmm let say eh biniyayaan ng kalusugan sa katawan :) ay medyo nag hehesitate pang pumasok..  but then again… for the sake of friendship napilit din hahaha

The whole activity would usually take 4 hours or more depending on how fast or slow your group is, since our group composed with healthy individuals we were ended up more than 5 hours hahahaD. We started early in the morning at 6 am and ended up past 12 noon haha.. We asked our guides how fast it would take them to finish exploring the cave by themselves and they answered only a minutes or more. Wow * drooling eyes! Sila na ang nakatira sa cave :) hahaha.

Goodluck namn sa kakagapang :) hahaha

Most of the time I ask our guides “Manong, malayo pa po ba?” hehehe I was surprised because some of the passages were too small pa. Good thing my small petite* toot body is very helpful, that I can manage to get through those tight spaces and small hole and guess what… I wore shorts and sleeveless top.. I thank god I wore that kind of outfit that helped mo more in maneuvering throughout the cave .. yun lang mangisay-ngisay naman ako sa lamig hahahaha.. What an outfit!! Hahaha

This is what I'm talking about.. wrong outfit yet very useful [beach lang ang Peg!!] hahaha

Only TIPS for this activity is just LISTENING. Don’t ever attempt to go alone and make pasikat to the group because you don’t know where is  the right path even if you have a light on. Always remember that every obstacle inside the cave can mislead to a great danger. Just follow the professional tour guide; they know what to do, where and how to step in rather than finding your own path that may cause to a lot of trouble. Caving is not easy, I experienced it by myself and everything there can scratch you and or worst break your precious bones. Lol! So don’t be careless about this.. It might sound fun and exciting.. And yes, it is…So if you want to enjoy while doing it.. SECURE A GUIDE.

my slipper padding :P my one and only invention hahaha

There are some instances that we had to climb a ledge using only a rope and with the help of our tour guide that we kept stepping on their legs and backs just to get through that obstacle. Thanks Manong guide..mahirap yun ah.. yet ginagawa nila for our own safety *isang masigabong palakpak for them :)

At this point, I even found it difficult to slide down on my butt.

one wrong move and you'll be a HISTORY :P

minsan feeling ko butas na yung short ko sa kakagapang, kakapadulas at kakakiskis sa mga matatalas na bato

When we reached this part of the cave, my movements were already very limited as I was trying to prevent any more pain around my legs (kaw ba naman ang magshorts) hahaha. Unlike in Lumiang, going around Sumaguing cave is a lot easier because you just have to slide or walk around the rock formations and water pools. But I was still extra careful because the ground is so slippery, one false move and I might go tumbling down at mauna pa sa mga tourguide namin hahaha.

 Our exit is by going up to the entrance of Sumaguing Cave. I was literally out of breath at this point, daig ko pa ang nagbike at nag jogging mula ayala puntang pedro gil hahaha..  But, as I’ve said a while ago that finishing it is really WORTH IT J a heart fulfilling experience… a must do and one of a kind experience I did ever. I keep walking and walking and walking… until I reach the top… BUT!! WHAT!!! Outside the cave, you would think that the climb is over and you already got the finish line… You’re wrong… LOL. There are probably a hundred more steps of cemented stairs left before you reach the top where your van is waiting for. 

Hallelujah… I did it!! I thank God. I finished the whole activity and not giving up… I realized that despite all my hardships I suffer from spelunking adventure, it was still one of the best highlights of my SAGADA trip. Far beyond the great challenges it gave to us is the beauty of nature that lies underneath those caves.  I really love Philippines <3

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