Abra is one of remaining 7 provinces, including Kalinga ang Apayao, I have yet to visit on my 81 province bucket list; And for the remaining days before my asia backpacking trip, I am trying at the most little time to visit this province.
The priority was to get a tattoo from Wang-Od in Tinglayen, Kalinga, and from my last attempt to visit Wang Od, I was told commute is possible from Tuguegarao up to Abra. I was also seeing some highway from google maps connecting Abra to Kalinga, so from that assumption, I can take my jump off from either Abra or Tuguegarao/Isabela.
The plan was to go via Tuguegarao but the buses are still queued up due to the suspension of operations of Florida Bus Line; Instead, we thought it was more convenient to take Abra first, and from there, go thru Kalinga, Apayao, and get back to Manila via Tuguegarao.
It was past midnight when the Dominion bus left Cubao. It was already past 9 in the morning when we reached Abra.
Upon arrival, I immediately asked Ed for possible destinations (as usual, i don't have any itinerary nor prior reading). Ed pointed us to some attractions in Bangued, Bucay, and Dolores. When we asked locals for possible destinations, they were pointing us too to Bucay, so that was our first in the list. Spots being the Roces cave in Pakiling,and the resort in Borokibok.
Upon arrival, I immediately asked Ed for possible destinations (as usual, i don't have any itinerary nor prior reading). Ed pointed us to some attractions in Bangued, Bucay, and Dolores. When we asked locals for possible destinations, they were pointing us too to Bucay, so that was our first in the list. Spots being the Roces cave in Pakiling,and the resort in Borokibok.
After a courtesy call to the Brgy Kaptain, and to the brgy secretary,Ms Nenet, with 2 guides (brgy tanod) we trekked 20 mins uphill into the cave opening. I got quite excited at the challenge right in the opening, but the rest was rather far easier. Sadly,none was really looking after the cave and so there were a lot of vandalism inside, and only a few stalactites are actually live. The spelunking took about 30mins.
The guides also brought barks of pine trees which according to them burns long,and is what locals used when they get in the cave (and it smelled really nice that I brought the remaining bark into my bag and would sniff at it every once in a while).
After the cave, we head next to borokibok resort. We thought it was all natural, and no chlorine,until the caretakers told us,they somehow still treat it with chlorine. Nevertheless, it was worth the P20peso entrance, unlike those pools that are supersaturated with chlorine. There was also a cave close by but we did not have any more time for the day.
For the rest of the night, we were accompanied by some of the resort staff, and was taken to the Manabo bridge,where we drank.. Right below the bridge. The bridge was quite long, i could only wish we would have visited with daylight.
How to go:
From Manila, take a bus to Abra.Dominion bus line costs P580 while Viron transit costs P560.
Upon arrival in Abra, take the jeep bound to Bucay; cost is P35. Jeeps leave every hour. Last trip is at P11am. Thereafter, there are tricycle that plies Bangued to Bucay, but will be P50 per head. Trike will leave once 3 passengers are in,or if passenger is Ok to shoulder the avail seat.
Upon arrival in Bucay, transfer to a tricycle to take you to Pakiling (Roces Cave) or Borokibok. Fare to Pakiling shall be P15-20 per head.Again, 3 passengers to go.
There are no stipulated charges for the caving, but gave P200 for the guiding service (P100/guide).
You may contact the brgy secretary of Brgy pakiling for query to roces cave:
Nenet (0926) 550 0170
No comments :
Post a Comment