I was worried about one thing and only one thing as I stood by the mouth of Lumiang Cave, about to start our Cave connection Spelunking tour with friends — the seam of my shorts. There’s something that I didn’t mention when I blogged about my Sumaguing Cave adventure the year before — that the seam of my shorts, the crotch part, ripped apart in the middle of the activity. good thing no one noticed. (Or maybe no one brought it up even though they noticed.)
I thought I learned my lesson. but for Cave Connection, I totally forgot to come in my sturdiest, most durable shorts. The pair I was wearing was something I got for only P60, and I was a little bit totally worried that it would fail me just when I stretch my legs to hop from one wall to another, revealing something that would make the trip Rated R-18. but it was too late to do anything that time. I figured I would just traverse what needed to be traversed in the most graceful manner that I could, if that was ever possible, and checking every now and then if the crucial seam in question was still intact.
So there, despite knowing how tough and strenuous this tour would be and at the risk of sounding sleazy, I was worried about my groin more than anything. but that worry immediately faded away as the challenges we faced quickly erased all the silly and shallow nonsense I had in mind.
My friends enjoying their first Cave connection adventure!
Hva er dekket i denne guiden?
The Cave connection Experience: From Lumiang Cave to Sumaguing Cave
Some useful Tips
Cave connection tour Rates
Where to stay in SagadaSearch for more Sagada Hotels!
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The Cave connection Experience: From Lumiang Cave to Sumaguing Cave
Before this trip, I had been to Sagada twice and on both occasions, I chose to do the Sumaguing Cave Spelunking Tour. On my third visit, the group agreed it was about time to up the ante and try the more challenging of the two popular spelunking options in Sagada — Cave Connection, so-called for it connects two of the dozens of caves that run underneath this breathtaking mål.
The Cave connection tour starts at Lumiang Cave, a burial site where hundreds of coffins are stacked as part of the local tradition. At the mouth of Lumiang, we were gathered around our tour guides from SaGGAs (Sagada genuine Guides Association), who briefed us on what to expect inside and how to make our tour easy, enjoyable, and above all, safe. around us were some broken coffins and human remains, which were all cluttered by an earthquake several years ago, according to the guides.
One of our guides at the Lumiang Cave
After lighting the lamps, our tour guides asked us if we wanted to hand over our cameras to them so they could take pictures of us as we crawled, climbed, rappelled and squeezed our way through the crevices and gaps between the rocks. Unfortunately, I chose to not bring a camera for this trip for I was worried I would either break it or wet it or both. (Thus, I’m using pics of a friend who was with me for this blog post! Yay!)
The first few minutes were easy. but it was the only easy time in the whole spelunking tour. We found ourselves facing a big rock with a tiny, tiny hole, and we were told we would need to go through it. The first thought that popped in my head was, “How is my beer belly gonna make it past that hole?” but that was not the right question to ask, I realized when stuck my head out and took a peek. Behind the opening was a steep almost-vertical cliff. Our guides were confident that (1) I would fit, and (2) I could make my way down, so I just said to myself, What the heck. bare gjør det. Naks, Nike tagline.
That’s my friend Jenny! All smiles!
That’s Jay, who owns all the pics I posted on this entry.
That was just the first of the many physical challenges that made somewhat regret that I did not frequent the gym or took my PE classes seriously. There were a number of descents and ascents, climbing and rappelling, crawling and scooting, gripping on our guide’s shoulder and stepping on his knee, cursing and praying, and more! There was even a part where we had to brave an eight-meter pool filled with cold, cold, cold water! but it was all fun. After all, we were taken good care of by our inspiring tour guides!
Kald!
We spent a long time resting at a spot that they call “Dance Hall” because of its wide flat feature. When we decided to move on, we found ourselves in a familiar place — Sumaguing Cave! I recognized the rock formations instantly. since I was already pretty spent, I opted to just cut my trip and head back to the bright world above instead of exploring Sumaguing Cave all over again. Others in our group completed the tour.
Some useful Tips
Planning to take the Cave connection Spelunking Tour, too? let me share with you some tips that you might want to consider. These tips are the same with the ones I posted for SumaGuing Cave. Jeg har nettopp lagt til et par notater til.
Bruk et solid par sandaler med et godt grep. Mens sko gir perfekt mening i mange trekkingsturer, vil et par sandaler med stropper rundt anklene og føttene fungere best (tror jeg). Selv om mange besøkende som bruker flip-flops fullfører turen som er skrapefri, anbefaler jeg ikke dette til alle fordi det har en tendens til å gli overalt, spesielt på våte områder av hulen. Det er glatte deler, så pass på at fottøyet ditt har godt grep.
Ta med en lommelykt. Få den typen du kan stroppe rundt hodet. Guiden din vil bringe en kraftig lampe (høres magisk ut, ikke sant?) Men den lønner seg å ha en lyskilde som du kan kontrollere, slik at du kan se mer og bedre.
Bruk lette klær. Du blir våt og skitten. Det er bassenger (og de er veldig kalde) inne, og du må dyppe i dem i løpet av turen. Det er dusjrom i butikken nær munningen av Sumaguing Cave. Hvis du ønsker å ta en dusj, kan du bruke dem mot en minimal avgift.
Ta med et vanntett, støtsikkert kamera. Du kan fremdeles bruke et vanlig kamera og la en av guidene holde det for deg. De har virkelig denne Spiderman-lignende balansen som skjer om dem at de ser ut til å ikke gli eller falle eller hva som helst. Men for å være på den sikre siden, bare ta med et vannsikkert, støtsikkert kamera.
Implementere et kompis -system spesielt hvis du er en stor gruppe. Guidene sjekker alltid om gruppen er fullført. Du kan gjøre det lettere for dem hvis du gjør et kompis -system.
Lytt til din guide. De går inn, rundt og ut av denne hulen oftere enn du kan forestille deg. De vet hva de snakker om. Hør på dem. Det er for din egen sikkerhet og glede.
Og selvfølgelig:
7. Bruk et par holdbare shorts. Din fleksibilitet vil bli testet her, og det siste du ønsker er å utilsiktet vise din * woohoo * mens du prøver å gå ned og alle ser opp.
Selv om det var en av de mest fysisk utfordrende aktivitetene jeg hadde prøvd mens jeg reiste, likte jeg opplevelsen grundig. Jeg kom ut av den hulen totalt brukt, utmattet og utrolig sulten. Imidlertid var det mye tilfredshet, oppfyllelse og ja, stolthet etter å ha avsluttet den. Vil jeg gjøre det igjen? Sannsynligvis ikke. Men hvem vet?
Og det store spørsmålet, hva skjedde med shortsen min? Perfekt. Akkurat som hele opplevelsen.
Cave Connection Tour -priser
Her er prisene fra april 2019.
Guideavgift:
P1000 (bra for 1-2 pax).
P500 per ekstra person
Toveis transport (valgfritt):
P400
Hvor du kan bo i sagada
Kenlibed Inn. Sjekk priser og tilgjengelighet!
Sagada Heritage Village. Sjekk priser og tilgjengelighet!
Shamrock Tavern Inn. Sjekk priser og tilgjengelighet!
Kaffearvhus og vandrerhjem. Sjekk priser og tilgjengelighet!
Rocky Valley Inn. Sjekk priser og tilgjengelighet!
Søk etter flere Sagada -hoteller!
Bilder av Jay Leano
Flere tips på YouTube ⬇
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