was in isabela and cagayan last week to assist in fgd activities with irri collaborators.had a bit of free time so we went exploring callao cave in penablanca town, just a 30-minute drive from tuguegarao city.
getting to callao cave can be a bit hard because of lack of where-to signs.we actually got lost on the first try.there are two routes, one is where you get off from the Pinacanauan Riverbank and rent a boat that would take you across and and from there take a flight of stairs up on the jump off point.the other route is where you go directly to the registration area and get a safe parking space for the vehicles.
one has to pay Php20 as entrace fee and can enlist the help of a tour guide.an english-speaking tour guide.lufet!we would ask him questions in tagalog and answer back in english.haha.some of the interesting facts we learned from him:
- callao is pronounced as "kal-law," taking from the kalaw bird;
- the cave has seven chambers with interesting rock formations;
- the first chamber holds the chapel, with a grotto of the Our Lady of Lourdes at the top. cave weddings can be held there;
- stalactites are a type of dripstones which hangs from the ceiling of limestone caves, while stalagmites are the opposite;
- they grow an inch in 40 years;
- experts are still exploring additional chambers;
- one has to take close to 200 steps to go up the mouth of the cave
the cave is not the only tourist attraction in the area.getting there is a visual treat in itself.there's this barangay where horse-drawn kalesas are their mode of transportation.it has a very magical feeling to it! =) it was harvest time in the area so the fields are of beautiful golden brown.some folks were also busy drying their palay on the main road which made it a perfect scenery with tall coconut trees lining up the side of the road.
too bad i was't able to borrow a good camera for the trip.i only had to rely on my SE G705's 3.2mp camera so all pictures were post processed.
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