Location: Barangay Villa Ventura, Municipality of Aglipay, Quirino Province, Philippines
Aglipay Caves is according to my research is a 37-chamber cave system which is good for spelunking enthusiasts> It has 8 chambers developed for caving for enthusiast of different levels of ability. Within its vicinity houses also facilities for seminars, field trips, youth activities or environmental camping.
This is a part of my March 25-26, 2016 Quirino Province Tour Package which includes: Governor's Rapids, Siitan River and Bimmapor Rock Formations, Diamond Cave, Scenic Nagtipunan Hills and Cabarroguis Quick Tour.
This is a part of our 2-day March 25-26, 2016 Quirino Province tour, just timely that it was a Holy Week. It does not include the travel time where we left Cubao at 9:30 P.M. boarding a Florida airconditioned bus on March 24, 2016, Maundy Thursday and arrived at Gaddi-Total Gasoline Station in Cordon, Isabela at 4:00 A.M. of March 25 for a total of 6.5 hours travel time. A service vehicle as part of our tour packaged booked our tour operator, Mrs. Aurea Martinez, the Tourism Head of Quirino province. From Cordon, our entry point to Quirino is its first municipality of Diffun and next to it is Cabarroguis.
It was the only option left for us since all trips leading to Cabarroguis and Maddela of Quirino province were already fully booked and so, we were forced to take a bus heading for Isabela.
And yes!!! After a sumptuous breakfast in our accommodation at Joyce Homestay in Cabarroguis, we had our first destination to Aglipay Caves.
Aglipay is the third municipality coming from Cabarroguis, the capital town of Quirino. We passed through Saguday, another municipality of Quirino. It was a 45-minute refreshing drive heading to Barangay Villa Ventura where Aglipay caves are located.
By the way, part of our package is a P2,500 van per day with an exclusive guide of P500 per day. Our group is consist of seven and the total of P6,000 will be shared among us. The tour package does not include all other related fees like the entrance, food and other costs.
There was a registration site a few meters from the entrance of the cave where we paid P25 each and for that we were provided with our own guide. There were two guides provided to us and we were only informed that there are no fees for the guides except when guests give them a tip for their services.
Getting inside the caves was a great experience as like any other caves where I had spelunking, its interior houses stunning and awesome formations of rocks not to mention its stalactites and stalagmites which were formed by natural movements for hundreds of years.
The cave was somewhat dry and you can walk inside without being soaked in dripping water though when you touch the walls, they are slightly sticky. One can walk comfortable inside as most of the parts where we walked through are flat and even wide.
Our entry point was at Cave 1 and then when we exited from it, we walked to the mouth of Cave 8 and exited again to Cave 2 and finally in Cave 3.
I was greatly amazed when my guide showed to us the rock formation resembling to rice terraces. Other rock formations were like: the snake, the peacock, the wedding, turtle and the owl. The guide was patient enough to explained to us what rock formations are visible to our own naked eyes.
All parts of these four caves we had spelunking are easy to deal with except when entering Cave 2 just adjacent to Cave 8 where there is a very small hole to pass thru. At first, I was thinking I will not fit it but the technical advice from the guide made it possible for us to pass through that hole. Generally, the cave ceilings are too high except for the one I mentioned earlier
HOW TO GO THERE
Below is a comprehensive guide of Lakad Pilipinason how to go to Quirino coming from different points.
There’s no easy way to access Quirino Province from Metro Manila. Directly, one can take a late overnight bus from Metro Manila and arrive at the town of Maddela the next morning. It’s time-consuming but less expensive than taking a one-hour flight from Cebu Pacific Air to Cauayan Airport in the neighboring town of Isabela. From there, one still has to ride a one and a half hour van ride to Cabarroguis, the province’s capital. Alternatively, one can also ride a one-hour flight to Tugeugarao City via Cebu Pacific Air and Philippine Airlines, then board a three-hour van ride to Quirino.
Traveling to Quirino via Metro ManilaVIA METRO MANILA
There are bus terminals in Cubao, Quezon City and Sampaloc, Manila that goes directly to Quirino Province. Most have a daily schedule to the province and usually rides out at night, arriving the next morning. Ticket fares are usually at around Php500.00, give or take, for a one-way trip. Please call the numbers provided for their respective bus schedules.
Five Star – Cubao | (02) 851-6614 | Twice Daily | Fare Php500.00+/-
GV Florida – Manila | (02) 743-3809 & (02) 781-5894 | Fare Php500.00+/-
Nelbusco – Manila | (02) 712 5902 & (02) 743-1332 | Fare Php500.00+/-
Northern Luzon Bus Line – Manila | Fare Php500.00+/-
Cebu Pacific Air - (02) 7020-888
Flies four times weekly to Cauayan, Isabela (plus 1.5 hours van to Cabarroguis, Quirino)
Flies daily to Tuguegarao (plus 3 hours van ride to Cabarroguis, Quirino)
Philippine Airlines - (02) 855 8888
Flies daily to Tuguegarao (plus 3 hours van ride to Cabarroguis, Quirino)
Traveling to Quirino via Baguio CityVIA BAGUIO CITY
There are two known bus companies that ply the Baguio to Quirino Province route, NA Liner and Kiangan Motor Service (KMS) bus lines ((0915) 947-1440, (0999) 849-2106, (074) 304-3113). Both have daily trips to Madella, Quirino.
Traveling to Quirino via BalerVIA BALER, AURORA
Passenger vans, pick-ups and ordinary buses regularly ply the Aurora-Quirino route. These trips last for about three to five hours on the mountainous road of Aurora's Dipaculao municipality.
