Thursday, October 11, 2007

Hinagdanan Cave

There is something eerie about caves. It feels like you are traversing the unknown. All your fears and phobias could easily come into reality when you set foot in a cave. Maybe because we are brought -up in a society which view caves as something dark and inhibited by monsters. Added to that, we always associate caves with snakes, spiders and bats - animals which we connect with the dark side. Then, there is the fear of height, fear of close space, fear of darkness and the fear of the unknown. However we regard it, cave really scares most of us and if you want to test your phobias, then, a cave is the place to go.
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I must admit that I am not a fan of caves. This probably is only the third time I have entered a cave. The first time, if I remember it right is the Crystal Cave in Baguio which I visited with my family when I was still a kid. The second cave I have visited is the Underground River Cave in Palawan a couple of years ago. So this is, as far as I can remember, only the third time that I will enter a cave.
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The Hinagdanan Cave in Bohol is the most well known and easy to reach cave on the island of Panglao. HInagdanan means "laddered" mainly because of the large number of stalactites hanging from the ceiling and matching stalagmites sticking out of the earth below them. The cave leads to a large underground cavern, that contains a pond. Its underground pools with their limestone bottoms glimmer clear and green, however, it is not advisable to swam in there because it is not clean. What makes this cave really amazing is the cave is lit up dramatically by natural skylights that enters from two holes at the cave's roof creating an eerie and remarkably beautiful natural effect.
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Here are some pics I have taken of the cave. (Pardon the shots 'coz it is really dark in there):










So while it may be true that caves are something we might fear, we must admit that there is something mysterious about them that we love to explore. Admit it - as much as we flinch about it, still - we love the unknown right? Well, I surely do because it makes life less boring.

11 comments:

  1. I totally agree with you Lawstude, a cave is the last thing I want to go to. Its risky on top and risky on the bottom too.

    Keep posting...:-)

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  2. Hi Lawstude,
    That sounds like you had a lot of fun in there. I think you made a lot of excellent points about why most of us fear caves (specially those scary things taught to us when we were kids). Great post!

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  3. @ carol - right. i keep on "googling" if there is a term (phobia) for fear of caves and i can't seem to find one. Is there a term for fear of caves?

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  4. @ elizabeth - when i was a little kid whenever i am not following things or if i am being stubborn, i remeber my elders used to tell me to stop or caveman/cave monsters will get me. Subconsciously, I think I have been doing the same to my nephews and niece. So I guess the tradition of fearing caves will remain.

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  5. Caves are a universe on its own. Though I'd rather see the beauty of nature in open air, caves offer different kinds of attraction din so I try to explore din them din if the opportunity arises.

    Nice travel posts here :D

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  6. hey bro norman! good for you to explore another cave. guess it comes with my nature to explore, either mountains or caves, and while i have my share of phobias and fears, you're right, going out of our comfort zones every once in a while makes life a little less boring. thanks for dropping by my little blog. keep the faith!

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  7. Nice blog you got in here. Pretty pictures and good read. Keep it up sir.

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  8. @ ferdz - thnx for appreciating this humble blog. while this is not a travel blog, halos puro travel na nga yata na po-post ko dito. i think ill be making up for my future lost times kasi.

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  9. @ lagal[og] - ur welcome dude and thanks for dropping by my blog too.

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  10. I LIKE CAVES. IT IS SO MYSTERIOUS AND SO DARK. MORE DARK PICTURES PLEASE.

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  11. Gee i dont know Lawstude. They call the study of caves spelunkology, maybe there is such a thing as spelunkophobia. Just a guess hehehe. ;-)

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