Sohoton Cave Tour

After more than two weeks (19 days to be exact), I was back in the area, this time not just passing by the cave system on my way to anywhere, but really visiting to tour the cave/s with balikbayan friends!

Let me do some qualifiers first. In this story, I prefer to call it as "Sohoton Cave" (singular), contrary to how it is referred to by the authorities (as Sohoton Caves). Why and how is that? I know this is a wide "cave system" with many openings located at various locations, but as visitors/tourists, you may only enter via one and only one designated entrance/exit place. To avoid confusion let me call it "a cave" in reference to the single "cave system" that it is. Even if this is usually called "Sohoton Caves" by many!

Let's go!

After registration, briefing and wearing of life vests, we walked down to the boat boarding area..,

I thought the life vests were "cumbersome" hehe. On my trip to Mabini, I was not asked to wear one.

Sosyalin the dock ah! It's a pontoon made of plastic cubes, just like at yacht clubs. Okay, fine!

Hmm, come to think of it.., this wearing of life vests is worth analyzing - not that I am against it - there just seems to be a misplaced notion among authorities, as to why boat passengers must wear those.

If you ride a boat as regular daily commuter, you are not given a life vest, because there is none on the boat in the first place, because nobody requires or censures boatmen to ensure that their passengers wear life vests. But if you were a tourist, people in-charge will insist you wear the required life vest, to the extent they may deny you the service, if you don't wear a life vest, as this is in compliance of a law.

A question arises: does the maxim, or rationale, or principle behind that law only applies to tourists or visitors? Don't regular boats also encounter accidents and regular commuter passengers also drown?

Anyway.., let's not dwell on that debate.., because/and off we went! Yehey!

It was unintentionally fun that there were too many of us to fit in just one boat. Why? Because we had to be divided into two boats, thus, we were able to take photos of us cruising on a boat along the river. You can't do this if you were just on a single boat, right? Fun doing whacky poses during the boat ride!

Boatmen obliged to let the boats run side-by-side at wider stretches of the river. Aliw!

There were nice surprise sights and scenes, even for me who was not a first-timer on this river..,

Like that boat in the thickets, can you see it? It had some passengers on board, and our boatman told me it's a commuter boat waiting for more passengers, it would soon move to its next boat stop. Wow!

Here here.., a family that goes together, rows together - except for the mother! Donya sya hahaha!

Look, she even covers herself with the big blue batya. She's not hiding from our cameras, but from the sun's rays! She shouted that back to us when we shouted our question to her over a loud engine roar!

She even ended that with "walang pambili ng gluta"! O ha?! Hagi hi mana ku-an!

Anyway again.., we arrived at the Sohoton Cave docking area after just 19 minutes on the river..,

Where is the docking area? To the right, not seen in the picture hehe! Ah, if you're wondering about the kayaks, let me quote paragraphs from a previous story (I went to Brgy. Mabini, haven't you read that?)

It's like this my friend kaibigan sangkay ko...
That area with a small boulder, is indeed the boat landing point for folks visiting Sohoton Caves. You disembark from the boat and walk (actually climb) just a few steps to where the guides and park staff greet you for a short briefing, the ceremonial crowning (with helmets hehe), plus a live local singer & even refreshments (fresh coconut water), if arranged earlier. Then you tour the caves c/o your guide!

After touring the darkness of the caves, you go out and down to the landing area. But no, you are not boarding your boat just yet. Because this is usually included in fees you already paid, you will then be given paddles and asked to hop on those colorful kayaks! Note: two people to one kayak is best (and the maximum anyway), but you can ride alone if you really want to. To the natural bridge park you go!

That's it pusit!

See these three lovely ladies? They just got off from their boat (at left, not in picture)..,

And the entrance to the cave is up where I stood to take their picture with kayaks as their background!

Once you climb the few steps up, this is what you first see and encounter - the boatmen, guides and...

A local singer (sometimes more than one) dishing out lively Waray-waray songs. Yes you may dance!

Hey I got a short clip of that dude singing! I'll put it here once ready :)

After listening to, or dancing with those "sway-balance" songs (you'll notice most Waray songs are on the andante tempo, they're waltzy), you may then proceed to another hut for your crowning ceremony!

Yes, the "helmetization" of your head! You must wear a helmet, whether or not you had a rebond, relax or plantsa of your crowning glory, and whatever kind of shampoo you just used. Helmets are required!

Believe me, you will need that helmet inside the cave. Some stalactites are even at my knee level. And note, I said stalactites, not stalagmites! And it's dark there, even if there are flashlights. Plus, the bats!

The stories and histories start even before you enter the cave itself. So, listen to your guide!

And don't "migrate" or "teleport" (sa binisaya pa don't transfer) especially in the dark to another guide's group even if you know them. You could cause a commotion if your guide senses someone's missing!

Follow where your guide goes. Pass where he passes, walk where he walks on, or else, you'll be lost!

Take that entrance as an example. Your guide will (usually) herd the group entering through the green arrow. You might think the limestone walls and rocks are thin anyway, but if you enter through the blue arrow.., you may still hear your group, but you will not know where to pass - even if you come back and re-enter at the green arrow! Same with the red arrow, it goes up to enter the cave on a different 'realm'!

I actually observed after the hour-long walk inside the darkness (55mins in our case), all groups come out of the cave from a higher ground, walking on a limestone cliff ledge with a nice river view, down to my red arrow! But all I remember was a leisurely walk inside the cave. There was no climbing. Howda?

That's the most amazing thing about this cave (I think). It is big, wide, with so many formations to see (you are allowed to touch some), you walk on dry ground (if you want to, and just follow the guide), no climbing, no crouching needed (I am 6'0" and I walked erect all the time, all the way). Quite engaging!

Okay I ran out of 'anything more to say' - which is seldom haha! So let me just post some of my pics in succession below. Let this be another "photo-album-again"! By the way, like everything in this blog, you can copy and repost or share any or all of the photos and/or videos that you see. Just don't forget the attribution requirement: mention you got it from my blog, https://philippinetravelnotes.blogspot.com/

Ceiling of the cave entrance..,

You can (if you want to) skirt around this top-heavy stalagmite and stalactite combination!

Bats in this part of the wide cave system are tiny. Yes, they look cute! At other areas are bigger bats.

Other nooks have birds (swifts/balinsasayaw?), yet in more areas bats & birds mingle, says our guide!

I could see the pathway on the other side of this crevice. Okay ah, you can play hide-n-seek here!

As I said above, the walking paths are not low. You can stand straight whatever your height is!

Some parts are wet with either flowing or dripping water. But where you walk is "generally" dry..,

Many parts of these stones shine shimmer glimmer glitter or flash when caught by your flashlight!

A lot of stalactites can form into things you want to imagine! Many are in abysmal darkness. Duu!

But many of these stalactites act like dividers.., with wide (but dark) open spaces on the other side!

Even with a bright light, I'm not sure I can walk around this place alone! Some shapes are erie!

Some come in fascinating different colors. Listen to the guide as he 'scientifically' explains those.

You will be amazed at how nature has slowly formed (or not formed) them through the centuries!

Like on this one, we peeped and trained our lights up inside.., it's so high who knows what's up there!

So at walking level, be careful as you could bang and break some of these that took eons to form..,

This soft, cool but dry chocolatey thing is the walking path. The "icing" is/are stalagmites to be..,

The holes are/were due to dripping water that will leave mineral deposits to become stalagmites.

Look: at the end of this dark "alley" is an opening (but don't you go there, it's a high cliff outside)!

This portion is dominated by gray, silver and bluish-white. I wonder what mineral causes that color..,

Blurry photo, but I needed to show how wide the cave is, plus the many "drip-holes" on ground.

They 'barricaded' some of the drip-holes with stones, just so people won't step on them..,

Some of my vertical (portrait orientation) photos I made into a collage..,

Some of the formations look like cascading waterfall curtains! Could they have been?

Some look like pillars that toppled to the ground! But no they are not as they're part of the ground!

Let's stop that there, lest google already be mad at me for posting so many pictures!

But this was such an eye-opener to me (about caves, I mean). I know this is not the most popular cave in this country, in terms of how they are promoted by the tourism department or local authorities. And I know too, that I am/was not that crazy over caves anyway. As I always say "I am not a caveman, I am just a son-of-a-beach"! However, in there I learned to value how "inner earth" slowly amazingly evolves.

Ayan, naglalabasan na ang mga "inner earth" hahaha! Well seriously, I believe Sohoton Cave should be "Step 1" to real "Spelunking 101"! What they do is pure cave appreciation, what it is, how it came to be. This should be good for school kids, the unitiated youngsters or the inexperienced AND finicky adults!

I have not been to so many caves in this country, but on those I have visited, the "to do in there" were a merry mix of 1) adventure - where you paddle on a river, clamber up/down slippery cave terrain, shriek or shudder at eerie creatures like snakes/bats or jump into a body of water; and/or 2) wonder or gaze at installed attractions - like arts/crafts, war memorabilia, even (farcically enough) a religious chapel!

At Sohoton Cave, perhaps they haven't got to installing "attractions" like the above (so go now), all you get to experience are the stalactites and stalagmites and how they came to be - at very close range, to the extent that you are even allowed to touch or trod on many of them (aray ko, not good)! The basics.

All you need is a helmet and whatever else you are wearing! No harness, no climbing, no crouching, no sliding, no crawling, no cascading water, no yucky/icky things to touch! You're like touring a museum!

Okay, after the cave, I said you don't return to your boat, right? Because you'll ride one of these..,

Paddling to the nearby "Sohoton Natural Bridge". But this cave thing had been rather long na, di ba?

So let us better talk about that Natural Bridge thing in another blog entry. That's next. Praaamis!