Tuguegarao: Callao Caves and Pinacanauan River

We landed at the Tuguegarao Airport after a delayed (surprise surprise!) Cebu Pacific flight. In the same flight were some congressional spouses who were on a Lakbay Aral tour. Little did we know that we would be encountering more of them in the next few days.

We planned to just take a traysi (local tricycle) to our hotel in the city center but after asking a female guard at the airport where to get one, she told us that our hotel actually has a shuttle service we could use even if we didn't book transfers. Another airport staff, upon hearing the conversation, confirmed that we can ride the hotel's shuttle and took it upon himself to go out and inform the hotel's shuttle van driver that there were more hotel guests inside. We were approached by the hotel's staff and told us to wait since he had to call for another van to accommodate us. Barely five minutes in Tugueguarao and I am already bombarded with local hospitality. Seems like a good start!

A few minutes after the congressional spouses left, our ride arrived. We were picked up by a spanking white and practically brand new Ford E-150. High rollers!

Hotel Roma is right in the city center, which we intentionally picked given the limited time we had in Tuguegarao. We got the deluxe dormitory room, which contrary to the impression that the name gives out, is not a cramped room with bunk beds and a shared bathroom. It is actually a HUGE room with eight single beds with individual side tables and a six seater dining table in the center. But wait, there's more! The room also has a sink, a big refrigerator, a bathroom with two separate shower rooms and a balcony. Not bad for only P4,500 a night.

After settling down and resting for a bit we were already itching to go try some local Tuguegarao fare, specifically their famous Pancit Batil Patung. We walked out of the hotel (where the congressional spouses' tour bus is waiting and over a dozen armed men stand guard) and asked the traysi drivers to take us to Jomar's Panciteria which serves nothing but the famous local dish.

They have huts outside but the sweltering heat made us decide to eat inside instead.

It was already past 2pm so the place was almost empty except for a group of locals belting their hearts out in the videoke machine located outside their hut. We opted to stay inside instead of in a hut because of the sweltering heat. We would have more than our fair share of the sun in the next few days anyway.

We ordered pancit good for 5-7 people since we were 7. We figured that we can just order more if necessary. A few minutes after, the server brought one heaping tray of pancit filed with meat, chicharon, egg and veggies. Immediately, we can tell that a second order was not necessary. We were all given individual cups of soup that kind of looks and tastes like egg soup which we were supposed to pour on the pancit. The server also handed us a huge plate of chopped onions. Apparently, you need to add the onions to your pancit. Surprisingly, it does make a lot of difference. No wonder when we entered the panciteria the first thing we saw was a lady chopping a big tub full of onions. If they make an effort to chop up that much onions then it can only mean that the onions are important, right?

But I think the group order is only the regular pancit and not the special one because there was no egg on top
but there was a generous amount of chicharon. Yummy!

The best part about our late lunch is after stuffing ourselves full of yummy pancit (our only gripe was they didn't have calamansi which would have balanced the salty taste of the pancit) and downing it with three liters of soda we only had to shell out P38.00 each! It was our cheapest meal of the entire trip, and one of the best.

I guess there are other places claiming to be Jomar's Panciteria? Good thing we went to D' Original.

Jomar's is located along a main highway surrounded by fields of green.

We were running late so instead of taking public transportation to the Callao Caves we just hired a van through the hotel. When we got to Callao Caves, we were greeted by a group of school children in costume playing the drums. Apparently, the congressional spouses are here as well and the children welcomed them with a performance. Great, we will be touring with a big noisy group of tourists. 

Number of steps before you reach the cave's entrance.

After paying the P20.00 entrance fee, we were introduced to a young boy who will serve as our guide. Fortunately, the congressional spouses arrived much earlier and are already on the boat ride on the Pinacanauan river (Whew!) so we practically had the caves to ourselves. Our guide spoke very good english and was very knowledgeable about the caves. I didn't get the chance to ask if they were given seminars or lectures about the history of the caves before they can serve as guides or if they just learned about these things on their own. Since we got to the caves a bit late, we had to rush if we wanted to make it to the river in time for sunset. Nonetheless, we were still able to enjoy the beauty of the caves. It looked better in some of the pictures I've seen, probably because the stream of sunlight through the ceiling openings did not illuminate the caves as it would have if we arrived much earlier when the sun was at its highest. Yet, there was a certain feeling of serenity and tranquility inside the caves that still put me in awe despite that it did not live up to my 'image' of the caves.

We walked back down towards the dock to ride a banca that will take us down the Pinacanauan river to witness the circadian flight of bats after sun down. It took a while before a banca approached us since most of the bancas were already on the river carrying the congressional spouses (them again). The sun was already setting and we were worried that we might not make it on time. Fortunately, after several calls to the inhabitants of the island across the dock, someone heard  us and went to get his banca to pick us up. As we were traversing the river, the first thing that caught my attention is the clear glassy look of the water.  Actually even when we were still at the dock I was already fascinated by how the clouds were clearly reflected on the surface. 

From afar we could already see several bancas docked by the river bank. The congressional spouses have probably been waiting for at least thirty minutes already. Lucky for us, within seconds from the time we approached the river bank, the first of the millions of bats started streaming out of this cave hole. The buzzing sound of their wings flapping started at a slow murmur then became louder and louder as more bats came out. It was a captivating natural phenomenon which I initially thought I wouldn't care much for. I mean who would actually enjoy lots of bats flying out of their cave at night? Again, I was schooled by nature. Don't judge something that you have not yet experienced because you never know what you'll discover. 

Back at the dock we paid our banca P600.00 for the ride and our guide P200.00. The guides don't have fixed rates so its up to you to give depending on how satisfied you were of your guide's performance.

On the way back, we asked our driver to drop us off at a good place to eat. He suggested this buffet restaurant near our hotel but when we got there it turns out they only serve buffet during lunch. However, right outside the restaurant is a small ihaw ihaw stall surrounded by several plastic tables filled with people. It looked like a popular place and the big towers of cold beer looked very inviting. So we ended up feasting on bbq, liempo, hotdogs, different kinds of isaw, grilled fish and fresh lumpia. I think we were still thinking of our cheap lunch earlier and we thought that everything in Tuguegarao will be as cheap so we just ordered practically everything we saw. When the bill came, we were somewhat shocked to  find out that everything we ate cost almost P1500! If you think about it P200+ each isn't that expensive but I guess coming from a P38 peso lunch and eating ihaw ihaw on plastic chairs by the side of the road gave us the impression that we wouldn't be spending much again. We just laughed it off and reminded ourselves that we still had a good and relatively inexpensive dinner. Because of the copious amounts of food consumed, it was logical to just walk back to the hotel. At 9pm the streets were already quiet and there were hardly any lights on. Reminds me of my father's hometown of Kalibo where the streets are dead as early as 8p.m. When we got to the hotel we were greeted by several men in camouflage carrying high powered firearms and about a dozen policemen positions several meters apart along the perimeter of the hotel. I guess the congressional spouses are on their way back now.

"Expensive" dinner at a roadside eatery

Hotel Roma's lobby

Earlier in the afternoon we bought a few bottles of alcohol from the grocery across the street. So the rest of the evening was spent drinking ice cold vodka while 'gossiping' the night away. Our room, especially the dining table in the center, is perfect for this nightcap. In the morning (or afternoon, depends what time we wake up) we are heading to Sta. Ana, Cagayan.