2nd entry of the “Sagada Chronicles”
For most of us walking on pavement and seeing concrete buildings is a constant reality. The opportunity for us to walk on dirt trails and be able to see abundant plant life and naturally growing foliage does not come to us easily. We actually have to exert effort and do some planning just to breathe some fresh air. We climb up escalators in the malls and elevators in our offices and we go down basement parking areas. This is why we crave to get away. To climb up trails in order to reach summits that afford us magnificent views unspoiled by smog. Occasionally we also seek out adventures deep within caves, away from the comfort afforded by sunlight and come into contact with our pre-historic origins when man used to call similar caves, home.
A visit to Sagada would not be complete without visiting the “Sumaging” Cave (also known as the Big Cave). But if you want to know stuff about “Sumaging Cave” go use google and type in Sagada and I am certain that you will find references to this cave that will give you an idea what its like in there. Though I would recommend a visit to the Big Cave to anyone who comes to Sagada I had no intention to go that way again. I had a different plan.
After visiting Sumaging the first time I went to Sagada our guide told us about a more challenging alternative wherein we would enter one cave and emerge in another. It would take around three to four times as much time as Sumaging and is definitely more challenging. They called it The Cave Connection. There it was, a challenge, a reason to return, and so I did.
In the tourist office of the municipal hall of Sagada you will find all the information you will need to know about how much it would cost to hire a guide to visit the Big cave. But you wont find anything like that about The Cave Connection. The reason for this is that they don’t really advertise it since it is not meant for first timers and people only learn about it through word of mouth. The guy in the tourist office said that it is three times more difficult than the Big Cave and would take at least four hours.There would also be times when we would have to swim. The bottom line was it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park.
There were eight of us in our group and I wasn’t confident that we were all ready for the Cave connection. I asked who were interested but in the end I made a unilateral decision and discouraged Mella, Len, Selya, from joining our little expedition. I suggested that they just get another guide and go to the Big Cave instead. None of them knew how to swim nor had any experience in wall climbing, nor spelunking. It would be their first time to enter a cave. Vince, Yano, Ian, Park, and My self would be tackling the Cave Connection. Everyone can swim, had more experience doing this sort of thing, and I’ve been with these guys in a lot of different situations that I was confident that we could all handle the Cave Connection.
Wednesday morning, we had our breakfast and then proceeded to prepare for our coming adventure. I brought along a full sized knapsack something that could actually pass as a daypack. I packed my first aid kits, extra athletic tape, duct tape, head lamp, a mini maglite, and a solitaire flash light, extra batteries, hunting knife, Swiss army knife, weather proof digital camera, a sarong, a bottle of water, some food, binders, and other emergency supplies. I carefully placed everything in zip lock bags to make sure everything is waterproof and remains dry. Obviously, I was planning the activity with the worst-case scenario in mind.
We met up with our guide, Mang Egbert at the Municipal hall and had a quick briefing. We then started our trek towards the caves. We stopped along the way to pick up their equipment. They had kerosene-powered lamps, the kind commonly used in the provinces. They also brought kern-mantle rope, which meant that we would either be climbing or descending using ropes.
We soon reached the point where we had to go our separate ways. One group was headed for Sumaging (Mella, Len, Selya,) while the other headed for Lumiang cave (Yano, Ian, Vince, Park, and Me). We had a group picture of course before going our separate ways, we said our goodbyes and wished each other good luck. So our adventure began.
For most of us walking on pavement and seeing concrete buildings is a constant reality. The opportunity for us to walk on dirt trails and be able to see abundant plant life and naturally growing foliage does not come to us easily. We actually have to exert effort and do some planning just to breathe some fresh air. We climb up escalators in the malls and elevators in our offices and we go down basement parking areas. This is why we crave to get away. To climb up trails in order to reach summits that afford us magnificent views unspoiled by smog. Occasionally we also seek out adventures deep within caves, away from the comfort afforded by sunlight and come into contact with our pre-historic origins when man used to call similar caves, home.
A visit to Sagada would not be complete without visiting the “Sumaging” Cave (also known as the Big Cave). But if you want to know stuff about “Sumaging Cave” go use google and type in Sagada and I am certain that you will find references to this cave that will give you an idea what its like in there. Though I would recommend a visit to the Big Cave to anyone who comes to Sagada I had no intention to go that way again. I had a different plan.
After visiting Sumaging the first time I went to Sagada our guide told us about a more challenging alternative wherein we would enter one cave and emerge in another. It would take around three to four times as much time as Sumaging and is definitely more challenging. They called it The Cave Connection. There it was, a challenge, a reason to return, and so I did.
In the tourist office of the municipal hall of Sagada you will find all the information you will need to know about how much it would cost to hire a guide to visit the Big cave. But you wont find anything like that about The Cave Connection. The reason for this is that they don’t really advertise it since it is not meant for first timers and people only learn about it through word of mouth. The guy in the tourist office said that it is three times more difficult than the Big Cave and would take at least four hours.There would also be times when we would have to swim. The bottom line was it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park.
There were eight of us in our group and I wasn’t confident that we were all ready for the Cave connection. I asked who were interested but in the end I made a unilateral decision and discouraged Mella, Len, Selya, from joining our little expedition. I suggested that they just get another guide and go to the Big Cave instead. None of them knew how to swim nor had any experience in wall climbing, nor spelunking. It would be their first time to enter a cave. Vince, Yano, Ian, Park, and My self would be tackling the Cave Connection. Everyone can swim, had more experience doing this sort of thing, and I’ve been with these guys in a lot of different situations that I was confident that we could all handle the Cave Connection.
Wednesday morning, we had our breakfast and then proceeded to prepare for our coming adventure. I brought along a full sized knapsack something that could actually pass as a daypack. I packed my first aid kits, extra athletic tape, duct tape, head lamp, a mini maglite, and a solitaire flash light, extra batteries, hunting knife, Swiss army knife, weather proof digital camera, a sarong, a bottle of water, some food, binders, and other emergency supplies. I carefully placed everything in zip lock bags to make sure everything is waterproof and remains dry. Obviously, I was planning the activity with the worst-case scenario in mind.
We met up with our guide, Mang Egbert at the Municipal hall and had a quick briefing. We then started our trek towards the caves. We stopped along the way to pick up their equipment. They had kerosene-powered lamps, the kind commonly used in the provinces. They also brought kern-mantle rope, which meant that we would either be climbing or descending using ropes.
We soon reached the point where we had to go our separate ways. One group was headed for Sumaging (Mella, Len, Selya,) while the other headed for Lumiang cave (Yano, Ian, Vince, Park, and Me). We had a group picture of course before going our separate ways, we said our goodbyes and wished each other good luck. So our adventure began.
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