In the Chambers of Aran

I've been passing by these mountains (Twin Peaks as they call it) whenever I go to the lowlands via Kennon Road. All I see on the outside are its trees and rocks, and a veil-like water falls ( and so it's called bridal falls). Looks typical to me so I never thought that there is a beauty inside of it. It was formerly known as Tukang cave now called Aran Cave. According to our guide , Aran is an Ibaloi word which means "giant". The story: When the Americans were constructing Kennon Road, each day a person goes missing. The residents believed that there were giants who lived behind the mountain and they made the cave to keep their captives, and they named it Aran.

This is my first time on a spelunking adventure. I prefer mostly climbing up mountains or going on a long or short hike(as long as it's an open space). I'm not claustrophopic, it' s just that I have a lot of what ifs when it comes to caves. Like what if it collapses? then I will be buried alive. What if it rains?then I will drown inside. What if we're trapped inside? But I told my self I wont know until I try. I want to challenge the dauntless in me.

We started the day early meeting with the organizer, comrades and tour guides. They gave us waivers to sign just in case something bad happens on the way, the organizer will not be responsible for it. ( is it dangerous?)

We rode a jeep going down Kennon Road. In less than thirty minutes we reached our first stop, the registration area. From there, we started to walk for about 500 meters to get to the entrance of the cave. We crossed a hanging bridge, and walked by the rocky riverside.

The entrance is so small that we had to crawl, slither and squeeze our way in. One of us has a bigger body built that she got stucked and has to be pushed and pulled to get in.

I thought the cave would be just like an endless dark tunnel, but inside was a world of rock formations, pools and water falls.

I was amazed when I saw these uniquely shaped rock formations. I thought it was bats. But when the light shone on it, it was "Wow!"

We waded our way through the waters, holding on to a rope for support just in case we get pulled by the waterflow. The water level in some areas are about 3 ft high. My excitement turned to worry because I'm not a good swimmer. But I was glad to see that our tour guide was behind me. He will surely save me.😁

We climbed our way up through the side of the waterfalls like crawling spiders. Going up was really arduous. There was nothing to hold on to except for the nooks and crevices on the wall. This took most of our time as we have to wait for the others to climb up. I looked down and the jagged rock surface made me cringe.

We passed through small gaps in between rocks..finding ways how to maneuver to get through. I was wondering why one of the important things to bring was a head flashlight and not just any flashlight- I will need both of my hands for gripping when climbing.

The passageway was really narrow. Some had scraped their backs and the others had their shirts and pants torn by the spiky rocks. I had to walk side ways to get through and my shoe got stucked. I pulled it hard, but then the sole came off. I wont be able to walk on those edgy rocks without my shoe. So I tied the sole to the shoe with its shoelace and tada! It worked.😁

At the end of the cave were small compartments surrounded by stalactites and stalagmites I was not able to take some photos as my camera battery was already drained. But it was astoundingly wonderful. We rested and ate our snack, then turned off our lights for a few seconds. It was scary pitch- dark and eerily quiet. It felt like creepy creatures will come at any moment and swallow me whole.

Going back was still exciting as we have to rappel our way down. It was a six- hour action -packed walk going in and out of the cave. When we finally got out, I had a mixed emotion of relief and joy to finally see the light. I had an indescribable feeling of accomplishment. Hunger- stricken, I shouted " Yay! I made it out alive!"