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1/13/13

The Crystal Cave

I have always been fascinated with caves, and being in this part of the Philippines gives me the privilege to always seeing one if circumstances permits. Being close to Mabinay- considered the Cave Capital of the Philippines having more than 400 caves situated in the whole area of the municipality; is really great. 50 of this caves have already been developed and are indeed open to everyone who wishes to have a one of a kind caving experience FYI. I am so proud to be able to see for my self one of the famous and marked "easy" cave- The Crystal Cave.

 Mabinay is by the way located in the central part of the Negros Island. It is 87 Kilometers northwest away from the capital Dumaguete City. So 2 hours and 30 minutes ride perhaps.

When you reach this signage, you sure would know that you are in for an adventure. All you need to do is to register listen to the orientation, and then hike for like 10 to 15 minutes, so let's go.

The registration and orientation area. They have a fee of P15 pesos fee for each cave a P300 peso fee for the guide. Not bad.

The hiking starts now:



When we reach the opening of the cave, the first question is why is the cave locked up?
The municipality of Mabinay decided to create a barricade to protect the cave. "Sayaw" or the Pygmy Swiftlets resides in this cave and the locals long time ago harvest's swiftlets edible bird's nest in these caves-which are by the way expensive due to it's high protein and valuable mineral contents. Not only they are expensive, they are as well dangerous to harvest being on those dark part of the cave. Chasing the birds and harvesting their nest would mean touching the minerals. One and basic rule before entering the cave is to "NOT TOUCH ANYTHING" because the rocks are too delicate with other particles. Simple touching would mean death to these rocks. It takes 10 years or an inch of growth, and 150 years to create a column. So now you know, let's get inside.

The reason why this cave is called Crystal Cave is because it literally sparkles like diamonds when it gets hit by a light. Truly amazing!


We were greeted by the residents of the cave.

The tail-less scorpion or the cave spider- my memory is getting horrible.

Cave cricket.

A centipede.

The one and only cave bat. He is quite shy. He hates the light..:]

Let us go further and take a look at the inside of the cave.

They have to install a light on some parts of the cave to have it sparkle. It actually looked awesome with the lights on.

The bacon formation.
See those teeth? It looks scary.
  
The beauty of a column.

There's actually a lot of fascinating formation found in this cave, and it amazes me how the love between the stalactite and the stalagmite does in order to survive and actually reach the point where they can be together after a century or two forming a column. It is indeed the story of love, giving, patience, waiting, and unselfishness. 

The cavers...bwahaha

Bye for now. Till next time.

This is indeed a one step closer to the intermediate caves. I wish I can go back to this lovely municipality and experience their other caves. It really made me realize how beautiful our country is. How we are to take care of these national treasures for the next generation to see. Thank you for sticking around. The next destination is on my next post...xoxo!


Photo of the day and special thanks to Phioxee for taking this shot. I lurv it!

Swear the water did not feel on me but to it's dearest stalagmite.




52 comments:

  1. Great photos, scary creepy crawlies though!

    Janine xx
    BakeGlueandTrend

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  2. One reason I love to blog, you get to learn and see so much you never knew before. This was a great post, what an adventure.

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  3. Basta mga kuweba, ang una kong tinitignan ay ang daanan. Baka madulas, haha. Ganda ng mga formation ng stalactite and stalagmite.

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  4. Huwaw, sobra talaga akong na-amaze sa mga magagandang lugar nyo sa Dumaguete. Sana maka visit din ako jan one of these days.

    Nice Cave shots miss xoxo_grah!

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  5. never ko pang na experience ang pumasok sa mga cave, ang tanong ko minsan kasya kaya ako doon? hahaha jowk. ang saya ng experience ninyo. na inggit ako!

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    Replies
    1. ai, kakasya ka...gagawan natin yan ng paraan..hehe

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  6. super gaganda naman ng pinupuntahan mo... parang linggo linggo ata nasa trip ka :)

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    Replies
    1. sana nga linggo linggo...i miss going out...:)

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  7. ganda naman dyan kaso kakatakot haha
    di pa ko nakakapasok sa cave
    want ko din matry haha

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  8. Oh wow! I'm a bit claustrophobic and might feel uncomfy in a cave - but those cool critters! The scorpions, the crickets, the centipede and the bat! Would love to see them!
    xxx, Lara
    http://rockteraptor.blogspot.fi/

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  9. i've been in dumaguete but never had a chance to visit this place. ang ganda.. next time!

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    Replies
    1. just give us a ping when you come back...we would be glad to take you anywhere...:)

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  10. good sharing about the cave~ i like expedition too~ =D

    Regards,
    http://www.lonelyreload.com (A Growing Teenager Diary) ..

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  11. What a lovely place. We also have a crystal cave in our place (Antipolo) but I haven't been there yet (shame on me). But I would love to see that place you had visited. But I hope I won't get to meet those creepy crawlers. hehehe. :)

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    Replies
    1. yeah better visit the one in your place and blog about it...we'll be glad to read about it...:) the crawlers can't eat you out...hahaha

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  12. While looking at the pics of cave it seems like Rhinna song is playing 'shine bright like a diamond..ka inggit di pa ako naka visit ng cave:(

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    Replies
    1. really?...well you got to try one out dear...:)

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  13. I've tried caving once, in Bulacan, an experience of a lifetime I must say. Pero parang ayoko na maulit, ang hirap gumapang, mag-rock climb, mag-rapel, haist, kala ko din di ako magkakasya...hehe! Glad I didn't see any creepy crawlies tho. Pero sulit ang ganda ng loob ng caves, amazing talaga ang mga rock formations, mahirap lang talaga. ;P

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    Replies
    1. hahaha...isa din yan sa mga concerns ko...but kaya lang yan pag maraming kasamang maiingay...nakaka wala ng pagod pag may friends kasama...:)

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  14. ingit ako sayo, laging may fun experiences :) medyo pass nga lang ako diyo, takot ako sa caves. dark and madaming insects - yikes! super like the last pic :)

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  15. Ganda dyan talaga! By the way, nakapunta na rin alo sa underground river sa palawan and they have those different kinds of rock formation too:)

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    Replies
    1. i haven't been there but I really wish to be there someday...:) that is on my list of places...:) Palawan is really something mi...:)

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  16. Amazing clicks !!! Seems like you had loads of fun :)

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  17. Wow, this place looks really cool! Though goodness, some of the animals living there really freaked me out. Like the centipedes. o.O

    X i x i a ❥ thisisxixia.com

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  18. Great pics!!!
    you are an adventurous person , that is super cool

    kisses

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  19. mukhang enojy naman kayo sa adventure na ito... sana maexperience ko ang cave adventure this year...

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  20. Turistang turista ang dating! chix na chix! :)

    "One and basic rule before entering the cave is to "NOT TOUCH ANYTHING" because the rocks are too delicate with other particles. Simple touching would mean death to these rocks." Wow, parang sa mga ruins ha...

    E ano po yung mga nagssparkle na parang mga diamonds? Parang yung sa mga buhangin?

    Parang kinilabutan ako dun sa gagamba. Ayaw ko din ng centipede. Pati mga linta, ganyan. HAHAH! Pero natuwa ako sa bat. Kailangan may kasama sya para dumami sila. ^_^

    Ang kyot ng last photo! :)

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    Replies
    1. ung rock talaga ang nag s-sparkle. kakaiba nga eh, parang built in sa rocks na mag sparkle...talagang hindi pwede mag touch..:)

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  21. What beautiful pictures. We've been in several different caves, and they were all a little bit different, but all beautiful. (When you were deep down in the cave, did the guide turn off the lights to demonstrate the true meaning of "dark"?)

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  22. wow ganda naman dito.. Nice pics!

    btw, parang similar xa sa Mystical Cave sa Puting Bato, Antipolo naman.

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  23. Great post & pics !!! Maybe we follow each other!? Let me know :) Greetings www.yuliekendra.com

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  24. HI!
    awesome places! so glad i've found your blog!
    I´d love u to drop by mine and let me know if you like it ;)
    kisses from Spain,
    S

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  25. Ang ganda ganda lang.. except the residents..ipis at kung anu anupa.. buti di kayu nakagat.. namiss ko tuloy pumasok ng cave..may fear at excitement factor talaga...

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  26. beautiful!!!!:)
    http://www.borsadimarypoppins.com/

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  27. Oh my gosh, those bugs are so scary! I'm glad you enjoyed your cave adventure, it's something on my bucket list!

    x
    d a n i e l l e | daniellewu.com

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  28. Yan ang isa sa mga hindi ko pa nagagawa, ang bumisita sa isang yungib.

    Maganda ang napuntahan ninyo ah. Sparkly. :-)

    Ano kaya ang dahilan ng pagkislap ng mga bato sa kweba? Narito kaya ang mahiwagang bato ni Darna?

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  29. amazing pics!!

    http://timeofstyle.blogspot.com

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  30. ;-) this was so much fun. ;-) we should have go for the other caves ;-(

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  31. Que lindo lugar flor,adorei praticamente tudo.A natureza ajuda com sua beleza,não é?
    Beijos,
    Blog paisdas-maravilhas

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  32. Wow! Looks so nice. The only cave I've been in is at the Underground river in Palawan. =)

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  33. Looks like a creepy place! Pero napaka-exciting adventure at experience! Nice captures! Galing ng mga rock formations.

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  34. Nice photos girl feeling ko naki tour na rin ako :) btw u look cute on your last photo :)

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  35. Hi!

    Nice article, ive been searching for an arctilce that can give me info about caves in Mabinay and so far this is the most helpful. Do you have any contact number for the guide? or do you know how to get there from Bacolod? I'm travelling solo May 10 tentative date.

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    i couldn't believe that i would ever be re-unite with my ex-lover, i was so traumatize staying all alone with no body to stay by me and to be with me, but i was so lucky one certain day to meet this powerful spell caster Dr Akhere,after telling him about my situation he did everything humanly possible to see that my lover come back to me,indeed after casting the spell my ex-lover came back to me less than 48 hours,my ex-lover came back begging me that he will never leave me again,3 months later we got engaged and married,if you are having this same situation just contact Dr Akhere on his email: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com thanks very much sir for restoring my ex-lover back to me,his email: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com or call/whatsapp:+2349057261346

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