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.