our last weekend in tacloban we went spelunking! the langun-gobinob-lurodpun cave in samar is the second largest in asia! upon arriving at the meetup point, we realized that about ten of the local interns we had been working with over the last weeks were joining us, which was really special! to go into the cave, one needs a special permit. the office was closed, but one of the intern’s family members was the district boss of tourism, and gave us special permission. without the family connection it wouldn’t have been possible.
from the main road we hired some motorcycle drivers to take us up into the rainforested hills. we were stopped and checked at a checkpoint of the philippine army – a communist rebel group has used the cave as a base in the past so security is high. then we hiked for two hours to the entrance.
inside the cave quickly became pitch black. we stumbled over rugged, sharp rocks and crystals; blood was shed. stalactites and stalagmites were very impressive. often the ceiling of the cave was so high we could not see it with our flashlights. we went through some narrow passageways and across large muddy cesspools. eventually we made it as far as we could go without diving – an underground river connected the cave we were in to the rest of the cave system. one can spend a week down there without exploring it all. there were fascinating creatures like translucent crabs and massive insects running around. rumor has it there is a species of one-eyed “cyclops” fish living in the cave’s waterways. a completely mesmerizing subterranean world!
