Now, that I am finally done with the interesting Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, I am off to my next destination. The thing is, I have absolutely no idea how to get there. I have already gotten the hang of the public transport system of Bohol Island and more or less know where certain places are but Panglao Island is another thing. Public transport isn’t as plentiful as it is in Bohol island. I asked around how I can get to my destination, but the suggestion was to hire a motorcylce taxi or habal-habal.
The nice lady even called a habal-habal for me. Actually, it was more like she yelled out to a man by a motorcycle and asked if he was a habal-habal. We agreed on a price and I got on his motorcycle and we were off. Panglao Island is a deceptively large island. There roads on Panglao Island are surprisingly well kept. Along the way, my driver told me that there are plans of building an international airport in Panglao Island.
I wasn’t sure if that is a good idea. A lot of tourists come to Panglao Island primarily for diving and most of them pass through either Cebu international Airport or the Tagbilaran domestic airport through Manila. If tourists can go to Panglao directly, there might be less business for the people on the way to Panglao. Then again, it would be immensely helpful and convenient if an airport were really built there since the Tagbilaran Airport is right smack in the middle of the city.
My destination is the town of Bingag in the northern end of Panglao island. My driver made a right turn at a road where no one seems to be travelling and got me a little anxious but I was relieved to see my actual destination, the Hinagdanan Cave. The name Hinagdanan come from the root word “hagdan” which means stairs. This made me wonder why they would call this place by that name. The entrance to the Hinagdanan Cave was right in front of us with a small shelter just beyond the rows of souvenir vendors. I was under the impression that the shelter was the entrance to the cave area which was still beyond it. However, to my surprise, there was a flight of stairs beneath the shelter where you go down to see the cave. So this is where the name comes from!
The cave is accessed from this flight of stairs where there is a dark passageway below. As with all caves, the place is dark and damp. There are hand rails to help people with their footing though. The path down is lit by small fluorescent bulbs, which, in my opinion, do not give a nice light to the cave. Incandescent light would have been much better, anyway, who am I to complete, it is more energy efficient afterall. The cave has all the requisite stalactites and stalagmites but the star of the cave is the small pool at the end.
I can’t really see much of the pool since it was very dark. But I would assume the water is clean. A small dip revealed that the water is also cold. It is said that the waters of the pool have minerals which can heal the body. There cave is lit by a few holes from the top, and given the correct angle of the sun, it would have made an impressive sight, but alas, the sun was already too low and I would not be able to get my shot. There were a few young ladies swimming in the pool at that time, I didn’t have the time to swim myself since I have a schedule to keep.
For me, the Hinagdanan Caves were quite a letdown. The cave was small. It was not lit well enough. But I can’t really complain here since there was no entrance fee. I have been to much better caves in the country and this one doesn’t quite live up to the hype. Nevertheless, it would be an interesting change from all the church hopping that I have been doing all day.
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