Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Mabinay's Crystal Cave

Into the cave!
Do you like caves?  We do.   Very much, especially my hubby.  We planned our trip to Dumaguete for many months after we're availed ourselves of Cebu Pacific's promo flights. We planned to go to Dumaguete, Bacolod (where I visited my brother and his family)  and back to Dumaguete.  From Negros Oriental  we traveled by bus to Bacolod, Negros Occidental for 6 hours.  Yes one island, Negros Island, but each has a unique history.  Negros Occidental was  for so many years, the Sugar bowl of the Philipines, and now a tourist destination for its yearly Maskara  Festival, while Dumaguete boasts of having one of the oldest universities, also the first American university in the Philippines, the Siliman University. Dumaguete also boasts of having the  largest cave, the Odloman  Cave,  in the Philippines, among other things.  Bacolod is dubbed as  the City of Smiles while Dumaguete is dubbed as the City of Gentle People.   

Coming back from Bacolod to Dumaguete, we planned to pass by Mabinay Caves. While in Bacolod,  we started inquiring about the caves, and Bacolod Dept. of  Tourism gave us leaflets and also cell phone number of the Mabinay town Mayor. 

The Mayor's  phone number was also in the leaflets given to us.   I opted to send a text message to the other person mentioned in the leaflets, as I am too shy to disturb a VIP like the Mayor! When nobody responded after twenty minutes, I reluctantly sent a text message to the Mayor too. The Mayor, Mr. Jango Uy,  was more prompt in answering my text messages, and I sent him many inquiries.  Mayor Jango Uy even gave us instructions how to proceed from Bacolod to Mabinay Caves, two towns away from Dumaguete City via Ceres bus.   From Bacolod  we went to Ceres South Terminal, took the bus to Dumaguete.  We told the driver to let us off at Bulwang town, where the Mabinay caves are.  It was about 5 hours bus ride.   Mayor Jango Uy  also gave us the number of one of his tourist guides,  Rhen Rhen.  Rhen Rhen met us at Mabinay bus stop and together we went to Bulwang, another 15 minutes bus ride.  

Up  to Crystal Cave
I have an injured knee so I decided to go to only one cave, the Crystal cave, which is recommended for novice/amateur spelunkers.  In  case you don't know what a spelunker is (I had to ask my hubby, as I don't know myself), that  means cave explorer, Precilla.  Rhen Rhen, our tour guide,  is a young guy who will not tire in answering your gazillion questions, that I promise.  He is knowledgeable about the caves, about Mabinay, about the tourist spots in Negros and many other things.  Rhen has an engaging  call center agent voice, but he's not into hard sell at all.  

The Crystal Cave is the most beautiful of the  caves. It is 157 meters long and 12 meters deep with an entrance slopping 2 by 4 meters.  It used to be the  most difficult to explore because it is so full of karst formation, until they built a raft-like flooring suspended by ropes  to the cave's 'roof'.  It is like standing in the middle of a crystal house, where touching and feeling the karst formation is irresistible. Source: http://www.orientwind.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43:negros-oriental-the-caves-of-mabinay&catid=11:negros&Itemid=13 But please, don't touch the karst or the  stalactites, stalagmites as you'd cause them to die and it would take hundred years for them to come alive again. Can you appreciate the length of time these cave formations took so you could admire how lovely they look now? 

Aside from spelunking, there are other activities  you may enjoy in this place:  rapelling, rock climbing, swimming, underground passageways, crawling, duck walking, photographing (of course) caves, frogs (!), spiders, snakes and bats.  

Recommended gears:  hiking shoes, long pants, long sleeves, helmet - they couod provide you, change of clothing, water, candies and yes sandwiches or any food you prefer, as there is no restaurant in this place yet.  There is a restaurant about 2 kms. away, we were told. 


 
Rhen turned the cave's general light switch on
The Crystal Cave is so 'user-friendly', providing spelunkers  with wooden railings and floor






Formations at Crystal Cave
Rhen also regaled us a folklore of Mabinay:
http://www.godumaguete.com/mabinay-negros-oriental.html

The story goes this way: In an inland part of the province of Negros Oriental, there lived two powerful rival chieftains named Datu Ilog and Datu Namangyan. Datu Ilog had a very beautiful daughter named Binay whom he loved very much and Datu Namangyan has a brave and dauntless son Binto who loved to hunt wild animals.

One day while Binto was chasing a wild deer he inadvertently entered the territory of Datu Ilog accidentally and saw Binay taking a bath in the river. It was love at first sight for both of them and they started a love affair that had to be kept secret knowing that their fathers were enemies.

Secrets like smoke can't be kept from going out, especially with Binay's change in behavior, being in love. Datu Ilog, noticing the difference, decided to follow her one day and caught the lovers redhanded.

Binay pleaded with her father to spare Binto's life but an angry Datu Ilog would not be appeased knowing his daughter's lover, his hatred for Binto's father overriding all else. He struck Binto on the chest with a spear,  killing him instantly. And just as instantly, a small pool of water sprung forth in the place where Binto died, and the people called it Banintohan.

Binay, full of grief for her beloved's death and her fearing her angry father, ran away, wild and without direction, she ran like mad.

Mother Earth took pity upon the ill-fated lovers and swallowed Binay up. And from this spot came forth a body of water, known now as Mabinay Spring.

Datu Ilog, in search of his daughter met Datu Namagyan along the way. Remorsefully, he admitted what he had done and Datu Namangyan, surprised to see his proud and brave enemy meek and repentant, instead of being angry for his son's death, joined with him in his grief and they both decided to merge forces.

Where they met is now marked by the joining of the two rivers, Ilog River and Namangyan River.

Okay, time to go back to Crystal Cave for picture-taking:



Aside from Crystal Cave (157 ms), these are the other recommended caves:

Panligawan (143 ms) - for novice/amateur spelunkers
Pandalihan (282 ms) -  for novice/amateur spelunkers
Cayaso (2,222 ms) - for difficult/extreme spelunkers
Baliw (769 ms) - for difficult/extreme spelunkers
Mambajo - (670 ms) - with rapelling/medium difficult 
Odloman (8,870 ms) - for difficult/extreme spelunkers


The fee is P400 for the guided tour and P15 per person for each cave.  
And yes, Mayor Jango Uy's cell phone number is +639166792344.  another contact person is Jeffrey Dasian, cell phone number +639182427269. Happy spelunking and say hello to Rhen for us.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Mariyah Gallery in Dumaguete


We were in Dumaguete recently and since we did not chance an organized tour that day, we checked out the brochures from the Dept. of Tourism and decided we'll go to the museums by ourselves.  We went to Mariyah Gallery and found treasures of mixed media - mostly mural paintings, terra cotta and wood sculptures of the siblings Danilo 'Danni'  Sollesta and Cristina 'Kitty' Taniguchi.  Mariyah Gallery is at Larena Drive, Bogo Junction, Dumaguete City, Philippines (Tel. #: (63) (35) 225-1687)

From our downtown Hotel in Perdices St.,  we took a tricycle ride to Mariyah Gallery.  The gate was closed but unlocked.  We let ourselves in and Dave roamed around until he met Danni   at the backyard.  They fetched me in  front as I can't get enough pictures of the treasures they have in front. 

Dave admiring Danilo Sollesta's work of art.
At the back, I introduced ourselves to the two artists.  Kitty was working on her terracotta sculpture.  Both artists are unassuming and down-to-earth.  We did not know that they are world famous with several art exhibitions behind them, and more art exhibitions in the future.
I wonder whose work this gorgeous lion is, Danni's or Kitty's.  Looks like Kitty's!


Samples of  Kitty's  Terra Cotta bricks


Kitty's works are more sunny and bright.

And a little normal romance, that's Kitty's style.

The above three mural paintings are Kitty's - colorful, sunny  and bright

Danni's colors are ghastly, but nevertheless unforgettable

Danni's men are pretty, and  all the women have full breasts


The above three mural paintings are Danny Sollestas's
I am no art connoisseur, so I can't speak the art lingo, but I noticed that Kitty's works are more 'normal' while Danni's are more on the side of macabre and grotesque, like they're  challenging the viewers, testing their limit as to what is reality.
Danni's baby-like bodies with big tits in unimaginable positions

Half human, half animal with baby-like plumpness, that's Danni's style

This is almost a yoga pose if not for the twisted head

The above four sculpture are Danni's.  Isn't the above gargoyle what nightmares are made of? 
Just so you sleep soundly tonight, look at Kitty's work of art again.

And yes, here's something to meditate with, fresh and pristine, at their front yard!
Danni's work of art - strong women with glorious tits

Dave and ever so patient Kitty, answering Dave's gazillion questions

Brother and sister artists - Kitty (Taniguchi)  and Danni  Sollesta

I won't pass the opportunity to pose with the artists too :))

Meeting Kitty and Danni is one of the highlights of our trip to Dumaguete.  Thank you so much for the generosity of spirit and warm hospitality, Kitty and Danny. 

For more about Kitty, here's her website: 
http://www.saatchionline.com/cristina_taniguchi 

For more about Danni, here's his website:
http://umberblade.multiply.com/
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