Calinawan Cave, Tanay, Rizal

I have never heard of Calinawan Cave, until my 8 year old nephew, who is into outdoor activities now, planned to do some trekking and caving.

Calinawan cave is in Tanay, which is but an hour ride away from home.  We headed to Daranak Falls, which is the jump off point.  There were way too many people at Daranak Falls during holy week, and we reminded ourselves never to go there again during Holy Week.  We wanted to back-out, but nephew prevailed (of course). 

The good thing is, most of the people there only wanted to be by the falls- and were not interested in the cave.  We signed up for the trekking and cave tour at the booth, which is a few meters away from the entrance to the falls. The guide showed us the trail to the cave, which is a 30 to 45 minutes uphill trek.

And he just keeps on going...and going..and going..and going...

We reached the cave- and there was a kiosk where we hired another guide to the cave.  The cave tour is run by the descendants of the person who discovered it. It was discovered during the Spanish colonial time and the family has donated it to the government, but the government is not acting on it so until then, they will continue to run the tours to the cave.

The cave is not impressive at the outside.  It looked like a mound of unimpressive stones with a small opening.  The guide lent us flashlights and we went down the opening.  

But we were surprised how big it is inside. We found ourselves in a big hall and the guide shared with us how the cave was discovered by his ancestor. Calinawan cave was where the Americans and Filipinos secretly meet during the Spanish-American war.  It was where they “settled” (nagcalinawan) and signed off on the details of their agreements. Another account says that here is where the Filipinos realized (nalinawan) that they wanted to be a free people. The guerillas hid there during the World War 2, and so did the 200 Japanese before they were cornered by the Filipinos and American soldiers. 

At the mouth of the cave

Inside the caves, there are different rock and stalactite/stalagmite formations.  (I'm sure there will be a lot more if you let your imagination run wild). At the entrance is the eerie looking face which the guide calls as “The Face”. It stands at the entrance like the guardian of the cave. 

The Face..up close

The Face

Further is a big column, of course called "The Column". "When the stalactite/stalagmite meet, they form the column". This one took millions of years to form.

Our guide by The Column

To the right of The Column is The TRex. 

The mighty T-Rex

Further up, is the beautiful and impressive Grotto. It does look like the scene of the apparition of The Lady.

The Grotto

There is also The Curtain and another which looked like an aquarium.  Beside the aquarium is The Volcano. 

By The Curtain

The Volcano eruption

And of course, this hole the shape of a heart, which the guide jokingly calls as The "May Forever".

Yes...Forever exists..

Guests can explore levels 1, 2,3 and 4 of the cave .  There is a level 5 where the bats live.  We had children with us, so we opted only for levels 1 and 2- which took us more than 30 minutes to explore. 

What used to be bat caves..before they got disturbed by people and they had to move to the lower levels of the cave. 

And finally.. The Exit

After the cave, we met with our first guide and did the river trekking- which was a lot of fun for my nephew. 

It was a fun day-despite the heat.  My nephew and 1 year old niece survived (and enjoyed) their first cave experience.  Looking forward to more outdoor activities with these two!

USA Day6- Beautiful Yosemite

Alluring, dazzling, delightful, exquisite, fascinating, gorgeous, grand, magnificent, marvelous, splendid, stunning, sublime. Words are not enough to describe the beauty of Yosemite.  I have always thought of Yosemite as a river- I did not know it is a beautiful valley of granite domes, wilderness and waterfalls.

Hayward to Yosemite was a 3 hour drive- a task which Kate happily took. I enjoyed the view of the big farms and the buildings and houses in small towns, which I see in cowboy movies.  

Off to Yosemite

Big bears manning the small gas store

After 3 hours of singing and eating and catching up and napping in between, we finally arrived at the entrance of the park. There is a nice river by the entrance. We went down to the big boulders on the river - where we put our selfie stick to good use. 

The deeper we go deeper into the Yosemite valley, the better it got  as we got closer to the rock formations. 

I was stunned by the glistening granite formation of the El Capitan. I was looking up at the "largest monolith of granite in the world", towering over us at more than 3,000 feet above the floor. In one short profound moment, it made me realize how small I am in the grander scheme of things. Humbling. 

The "Chief"

We parked at the Village Store, had our lunch and  took the bus to explore the other parts of Yosemite valley.

We got off the bus at the stop near the Bridalveil Falls and hiked the easy trail through the trees, by the stream and through a bridge.  The waterfalls was named so because of its flow resembling a bride's veil swaying in the wind. There was not as much water though, because there was drought in California when we visited.  

We hiked back and spent more time exploring and taking pictures of the Half Dome and the other magnificent rock formations. It is simply lovely, everywhere I looked. 

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We went back to the Village Store, where we had lunch earlier and where we were parked, grabbed some souvenirs and prepared to head to Sacramento, where we will spend the night.

On our way, we stopped by the tunnel view to marvel at the panoramic view of Yosemite. Not for the last time because I will make sure to be back, next time on a winter, to see the glacier.

Hasta la vista Yosemite! 

Mekong Sunrise at Kampong Cham

My most recent travel is not in Siem Reap, as I have wished, but in Kampong Cham and Phnom Penh in Cambodia. And as it is a work-related travel, I could not complain (hrmph*).

After some introductions and a short orientation at our Phnom Penh office, we headed to Kampong Cham.  With my Nepali colleague and another Cambodian colleague, we travelled for more than 2 hours under the 37 degrees heat of the sun, since it was almost lunch when we started.

From Phnom Penh to Kampong Cham, I lost count of the many, many, many pagodas we have passed by.  They seem to appear everywhere: in the city,or town centers, in the middle of rice fields, on top of a hill, everywhere! Wherever they are, they all look regal.

One of the Pagodas in Phnom Penh. Monk walking towards the pagoda.

We spent 2 nights at the Mekong Hotel,which is opposite the Mekong River. The rate is good at 18-dollar a night for a single/double occupancy room , which does not come with breakfast but with free wifi. 

Breakfast (which means baguette + banana + coffee/tea- yes, everyday) is served at $2.50. But there are also several restaurants close to the hotel which offer better breakfast, such as the Mekong Crossing, which is just across the hotel.

The Mekong Hotel6 Samdach Pann Rd., Kampong Cham, Cambodia

The rooms are a bit ran down but it is spacious.  The corridors, surprisingly, look like big ball room. But whatever it lacked in amenities and/or aesthetics, the best thing this hotel could offer is the view of Mekong River.  And I just loved waking up to sunset by the river. Bliss. 

Sunrise by the Mekong River. Fishermen do start early, everyday.