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 2
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!
