Beside the Moriones Festival, we explored the area a bit for some relaxation and fun. Beautiful beaches, purple starfish, gently swaying palm trees, and bat-filled caves gave our weekend the right amount of island adventures. One of the nights we bought food at the market and grilled our own dinner. Unfortunately, the power went out and my friend had to grill using his handy headlamp. Still, it turned out awesome.
My favorite adventure was when we went caving. It was part hiking, part walking through caves, and part rock climbing. There were three caves in all. The first held several caverns, one especially gigantic one where thousands of bats flew in scattered directions, their screeching echoing off the walls.
The second, my least favorite, was the darkest, the most moist, the most creepy. I tried not to thinking about the squelching sound my Chacos made as I treaded through the damp muddy who-knows-what substance. I tried to ignore the cockroaches skittering beneath my feet as we made our way across the floor. I think we were all glad when we finally came back outside again.
The third cave proved to be my favorite and also the most difficult to climb. Its green and brown sculpted walls rose to the ceiling like tall majestic towers. In one cavern, the ceiling was low and so the bats were very close to us. As we reached the end of the cave, a spot of light greeted us from above. That was our exit. Climbing up the wall using small crevices for footholds, we came out into the bright sunshine, sweating but exhilarated.
I really enjoyed my adventures and the chance to share them with some good friends. It was nice to grow better relationships with some of my friends as well as get to know others I hadn’t had a chance to talk with much before. And even though it took exactly 24 hours through insane holiday traffic to travel back home, it was still worth it. Cool Baguio weather awaited me and I fell into my bed in a deep slumber full of good memories.
Yours truly,
a girl who dreams
