Venturing Balay sa Agta Cave and Bugasok Falls in Argao, Cebu

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by Chasing Potatoes

          Remember my blog about Mulao River in Compostela, North of Cebu? A week before our trekking feat, I suggested to my friends that after Mulao, we will set foot on another adventure in Argao, South of Cebu. I had no idea at all why it will be Argao after Mulao. Maybe the words rhyme, lol. Kidding aside, later did I know that the two places have a story connection. So here in my blog I am going to share the story but first here’s our venture in Balay sa Agta Cave and Bugasok Falls.

          At 7:00 A.M., my friends and I met at South Bus Terminal. We rode a bus bound for Argao. It was a two-hour trip. We told  the bus conductor that our drop-off area was the Municipality of Argao.

  • Tip no. 1   Choose any bus of your preference.(Aircon or Non-aircon) Plan to take your bus trip early to avoid heavy traffic, save time and have a chance to  maximize your trip.                                  
  • ♦The fare of the non-air conditioned bus is 79.00 Php           
  • ♦ The fare of air-conditionned bus is 84.00 Php.
BUS!
We rode a Sunray Bus.

          After travelling the 68-kilometer road in the southern part  of Cebu for two hours, we finally reached the Municipality of Argao.

FUN FACT : Argao is a first income class municipality in the province of Cebu.

         As what I have read from travel blogs, it’s a MUST to visit first the Tourists Assistance Center office which is located in  Cabecera de Argao. Since we did not know the exact location of the office, we inquired from a local who willingly gave us the direction. (Thank you for that!) We passed by the beautiful town of Argao which offers a lot of heritage sites.

          I was amazed by the physical attractions that caught my eyes. I realized that Argao has much Spanish infuence.  It’s like a mini Vigan of Ilocos. The Casa Real (Municipal Hall),  St. Michael the Archangel Parish Church, the Unity Plaza, Argao Hall of Justice (APTA Building) and many more were preserved and maintained. I find this place quiet, quaint and just perfect. The preservation and maintenance of the heritage sites can serve as model for other municipalities in the province.

cleaaan
An old house along the street going to Cabesera de Argao.
ARGAO 1
Tricycles in Argao.
Cabesera de Argao
Taking a pic with the background, Cabesera de Arga
ARGAO street 4
Argao Hall of Justice (APTA Building)
Argao 2
The Casa Real (Municipal Hall)
The Church
St. Michael the Archangel Parish Church
ARGAO street 7
Argao is famous for its Torta
ARGAO street 5
Free birds
ARGAO street 6
Tourists Assistance Center Office

          At the tourism office, the tourism officer, Kuya Francis Manayan, informed us that there were no available tour guides. The guides who were in the office were waiting for another group of tourists.

         The officer’s information immediately made us desperate. This can’t be happening!!!. Our plan would be going to naught. I was frustrated at that time. Oh God! Please help! And you know what, God heard my prayer. The tourists were A NO-SHOW. So luckily, we could continue our adventure. YEY!

  • Tip no. 2    Please contact the Argao Tourism Commission at (032)-485 8063 a day before the scheduled tour for reservation of the guides.
  • Tip no. 3 Before proceeding to your tour, negotiate first with the guides. The normal rate (as of this writing) is 500.00 Php per guide and it is essential to have  two guides for this tour. So a total of 1,000.00 Php, subject to haggling if you wish to try for a lower rate. 
Inside the office of tourism in Argao
Inside the office of tourism in Argao with Kuya Francis, Kuya Nazer, ME, Nina Jeanne and Jobeth

         And the tour began. Good thing was that our guides, Kuya Nazer and Kuya Ariel, had their own motorbikes or “habal-habal”. Why was it a good thing? Because if we hired another “habal-habal”, we would be the ones to shoulder the fare of the guides at 160.00 Php per person back and forth. At least we were free of additional expense.

  • Tip no. 4    The “habal-habal” ride  will take 45 minutes to one hour  going to Conalum Barangay Hall. It’s really far.  We could feel the scorching heat of the sun while riding the “habal-habal”. So it’s important to use sun block, wear sun glasses, hat, etc. for skin and body protection.

          I wasn’t bored while riding the “habal-habal”. In fact I was amazed with the surroundings. I looked around and saw houses  which eventually became fewer and fewer. The next thing  I saw was the beautiful scenery of nature dominated by my favourite colors green and blue. The tranquility and serenity of the place made me forget the scorching heat. I was happy being with nature once more.

         At last we arrived at Conalum Barangay Hall. We paid 20.00 Php as Barangay Fee. AAAAAnd the trek going to the cave started.

Barangay
Conalum Barangay Hall

         The trail was very easy at first. We saw lots of bushes and trees and heard the sound of the beetles in the area. The natural sound of the beetles was music to my ears. As we went onward, the trail became narrow. As I looked at it, the width measured one foot. It was literally a foot trail, lol. Beside the trail was a cliff, 70 to 80 feet  deep. This may be the reason why two guides were needed for safety purposes.

          In some parts of the trail, the cliff was carved intentionally to make passing through it easier.  We went down to the mouth of the cave and came to the most scary part. We had to cross a very narrow path with a cliff at the side by holding on to a rope so as not to fell down to the depth. It was risky and difficult. This venture is not for the faint-hearted.

  • Tip no. 5  Though there are guides to guard you from danger, please be extra careful. The guide told us that one mountaineer fell off and died.
to the CAVE
The trail going to the cave
Nina jeanne trail
Ninja on the moves.
to the CAVE 2
The cliff was carved intentionally to make passing through it easier.

         At last Balay sa Agta was now in full view. The name Balay sa Agta in English translation is Giant’s House. The cave was really HUGE. Let us see if there’s really a giant living in the cave.

  • Tip no. 6    Kuya Francis, the tourism officer warned us that there are insects that may bite us along the way. It is better to wear sandals for this venture so that you can easily scratch off the insect. (And it really bit me, OUCH!)
argao cave
The mouth of the cave is eating us. , lol. 😀

          One nice thing in the cave was that it was cold!!! The guides joked that the Giant turned on its aircon unit, lol. It was really cold. It was my first time to experience a cave that was cold. Inside the cave, it was very dark, darker than the color of night.

  • Tip No. 7   Though the guides brought flashlights, it is advisable to bring additional headlamps or flash lights.
Darker than the night
It’s dark without light inside the cave,darker than the color of night.
DARk
In our case, Ninja just used her cellphone as flashlight.

          For every five minutes of the trek inside the cave, we encountered new discoveries. We saw different kinds of rock formations. There was a rock that seemed to have tiny bits of diamonds which caused it to sparkle. Hundreds of bats sticking their feet to the ceiling, hopping cockroaches (or I may call them cockhoppers, though it’s not a nice name, I think, lol.) could be seen through the flash lights.

          Midway of our tour was a huge hole above the cave, creating a majestic view where the light from outside passed through. They call it the skylight.  Finally we saw light. And we continued our tour to the end.  Upon reaching the end of the cave, we were instructed by Kuya Nazer to turn off the light to see the rock formation above! AND OMG! The rock above really appeared like a giant puffing his tobacco!!! It was the AGTA!!! We saw him despite the darkness because there was a small hole where light passed through. I tried to take picture but it was not clear! Kuya Nazer told us that a lot of tourists also wanted to take a picture of him but could not do so while others were able to take shots which were not clear or blurred. CREEPY!

With the Cave

SKYLIGHT
Skylight
Trying to capture the AGTA
It’s the picture of the AGTA, his image will never be captured. lol

         The walk from the mouth to the end of the cave could take  45 minutes to one hour and there was no other way out so we had to go head back. A total of almost two hours was our cave experience in Balay sa Agta!

  • Tip no. 8 Please don’t ever touch the rocks or anything else in the cave. Let us be eco friendly and be responsible for the preservation of this unique natural resource.
  • Tip no 9 Bring a lot of water for hydration and a little snacks in case you get thirsty/hungry. Remember you are inside a cave and there is nothing to buy there. Again, don’t throw your garbage anywhere.

          We headed back and I garnered no sweat, lol. It was because the cave was such a cool place!

        Our trail in going to the cave was still the same trail in going back. Our next destination was Bugasok Falls. We rested for a while. Then we bought some young coconuts which were fantastic for hydration. Fifteen pesos each only.

we loooove BUKO
My Favorite, COCONUT!

         We rode on motorbikes in going to Bugasok Falls which took us ten minutes. I was really happy to see again this kind of water form but then felt sad because we couldn’t take a plunge in the rapids because the rope that used to be there was not there. It was used for rappelling to go down to the falls. Without a rope one could not climb back. So what we did was take nice pictures for instagram.HA! 😛
          I requested Niña to take a pic of me on a different side of the waterfalls. Excitedly, I hurriedly run to the place. I stepped on mud and whoops. I got stucked. The mud was knee deep. 😦   Good thing, I got no wound or scratch.

  • Tip no.10   Please be careful and be mindful of the surroundings.

          But still picture taking must not be missed. We couldn’t leave without pictures.

BUGASOK FALLS 2
Bugasok Falls
JOBETH
Jobeth 🙂
nina jeanne
Ninja 🙂
BUGASOK FALLS
Patatas
BUGASOK FALLS 1
Jobeth

         And then it was time to bid goodbye to the falls and we headed back to Argao town. Before going to the town, we stopped at the Riverstone Castle, but apparently it was closed and it was now for sale. 😦

Riverstone Castle
Even the dog is not happy about this, lol.

          Torta is a kind of sweet cake with ingredients of tuba (soured vinegar) and mantika sa baboy ( pork’s fatty residue.)  If you want to buy some TORTA(sweet cake) for  pasalubong you can buy them in CHITANGS Torta at 35 pesos each only. The store does not only sell torta but also some other delicacies.

for pasalubong

BUY TORTA
I want one TORTA please

        The guides were good natured. Kuya Nazer even told me that they were well taught and trained on the proper ways to guide and the things to avoid, in short the dos and the don’ts. Good job, Kuya, for you really applied what you learned and guided us very well. We learned a lot from you. So, thank you!

The guides
In front : Ninja, ME and Jobeth and at our back KuyaNazer and Kuya Ariel and those two boys I do not know lol.

         Nina, Jobeth and I paid the two tour guides 480.00 Php for the “Habal-Habal” fare and 720.00 Php for their services as tour guides, a total of 1200 pesos. (so we paid 400.00 Php each)

          There were buses that pass along the highway. So it was just easy to ride back to Cebu City. (same bus fare)

My words are not enough to describe this difficult and risky feat so here’s the video for your reference.

As what you have seen in the video, we didn’t have proper caving equipment but today, the package tour for caving in Balay sa Agta already includes rental for caving equipment.

         

Shown below are the estimated expenses in this Balay sa Agta and Bugasok Falls Venture

  • 79.00 Php/pax – (non-aircon) Bus Fare from South  Bus Terminal to Muncipalilty of Argao

  • 160.00 Php/pax – Habal-habal fare from Municipality of Argao to Barangay Conalum (back and forth)

  • 20.00 Php/pax – Barangay Fee

  • 240.00 Php/pax – Tour guide

  • 79.00 Php/pax – (non-aircon) Bus Fare from Muncipalilty of Argao to Cebu City South Bus Terminal

A total of 578.00 Php/pax

*food, souvenirs and miscellaneous fees are not included 

Before I end this blog, here’s the story that connects Argao and Mulao.

          ‘’Maria Cacao is the diwata (fairy) or mountain goddess associated with Mount Lantoy in Argao, Cebu, Philippines, similar to Maria Makiling of Los Baños and Maria Sinukuan of Mount Arayat. The basic form of the legend is that whenever rains flood the river that comes from Mount Lantoy, or a bridge is broken, this is a sign that Maria Cacao and her husband Mangao have either travelled down the river in their golden ship so that they can export their crops, or travelled up the river on their way back.” excerpt from wiki

         Kuya Francis told us that the golden ship is parked somewhere. I guess the golden ship is in MULAO! So that’s the connection of my two adventures.

       I know this is just a myth, but stories are stories, they may be fact or fictitious! But this story explains the existence of the present. Without stories, there can be no explanations. Stories channel us to where we are now, the present!

 

 

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Chasing Potatoes

Why Chasing Potatoes? I’m Chasing Potatoes. I chase time and opportunities because just like round potatoes they roll and get lost. I chase them to store memories to last a lifetime. I make haste, running after them, fearful that they might be gone. That’s why I go places on land or in water.My story tells about the journey of chasing time and saying yes to wonderful opportunities.

79 thoughts on “Venturing Balay sa Agta Cave and Bugasok Falls in Argao, Cebu”

  4. hi there!…. my friends and i are about to embark on this same adventure and your blog has been quite informative…a few questions though….did your guides or the barangay hall from where you started provide any protective gear for cave exploring?…as well as headlights? Were there parts of the cave where you would need to pass a body of water, a little lake or so? Would greatly appreciate a response!!…thnx

    PS. Have you tried canyoneering in Alegria?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi Jensing, thank you so much for dropping by. 🙂 Based on my experience the trek to the cave was not that difficult. There were no gears provided. I brought my own flashlight and the guides also brought flashlight and rope.

      When my friends and I went there, the cave was dry but the guide told us that heavy rains might cause flood inside the cave.

      And yes I have already experienced canyoneering which I will be blogging soon. 🙂

      Like

  6. Hey Girl thanks for dropping by on my page!
    Wow I admire you and you’re Friends stamina, I never really tried this kind of adventure, though I have some friends who invited me but I never have thought about it, but after seeing you’re post perhaps I might consider it.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Ohhh, that’s nice! You must have plenty of memories in Argao. 🙂 Argao is such a beautiful place, and it’s one of my fave towns here in the province of Cebu 🙂 Thanks for visiting Navigating Dad. Have a good day 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Potato found, chase no more.

    Christmas love
    spreads joyfully to
    friends, new and old, as
    natural as mountain streams
    flow under

    ice and snow
    still moving, to join.
    Harmony
    comes from sharing a
    round table. Buddha

    Mohammad,
    Jesus, Confucius,
    Abraham, Gandhi
    and Luther invite a pope
    to break bread

    under one God
    that all pray to here
    in Gwangju,
    there in Amsterdam,
    and Davao, where the

    hunt for food
    and water reverts to old
    ways, not the
    usual Christmas,
    but children scramble

    for goodies
    like coconuts, fruit, rare meat
    while we feast
    on turkey, baked so
    well, spring rolls folded

    and rolled by
    hands so delicate you can’t
    imagine
    what they’ve done. Merry
    Christmas everyone.

    Liked by 2 people

      1. Hello.. I just wanna ask how many hours it took for you to begin your trek feom argao and back from bugasong falls was?

        My friends and I are planning to start with oslob and do argao nxt..do u think the entire day would be enough for both? Thank you.

        Your post was very informative. 👌🏼

        Liked by 2 people

        1. Hi, Ellie we rode a habal-habal from Argao Tourism office to Balay sa Agta and Bugasok Falls. It wass just a 30-minute ride. But if you trek I think you can do in 3-4 hours.

          Anyway, thank you so much for dropping by 🙂 Have an awesome day.

          Like

      1. I am hoping to visit this one the soonest mate. I have been looking for the perfect timing. Been a little under the rock these days due to some errands. If I decide to go, can you assist me? 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  23. Thank you very much for this blog. We have been planning to check out Argao, but we became hesitant after hearing really bad stories about their tourism office. With your blog post, we will know what to expect.

    The 500 guide fee seems fine, but we don’t get the point why the tourism office requires two guides for two people. And the pay-here, pay-there (i.e. fees for each aspect of the tour) seems to be a hassle; tour payments are supposed to be packaged.

    Personally, the Argao tourism office needs a whole lot of know-hows on how to handle local eco-tourism.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. There should be two tour guides for safety purposes. Some parts of the trail are very narrow and steep at the side and the two guides will help you cross the difficult trails. If you want a guide you can negotiate at the tourism office. I think one guide is okay with you since you are a mountaineer, am I right?

      As for the fees , the locals tourism office will hand you guides. We were told that the fee is 500 Php but I think you can bargain. Being able to bargain or settle for less may be the reason why there is no package deal, just my guess. I really don’t know about that package thingy. Anyway thanks for dropping by Idol.

      Like

  24. FINALLY I FOUND YOU. Everytime you come to my blog and I click on your name, it takes me to a 404 error page 😦 Finally here I am. hahaha
    LOVELY PHOTOS , this looks like a great adventure as well, something I would definitely take part in. wishing you an awesome week chica, xoxo

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Yes, my blog site before was locked down and I can’t access it anymore. Luckily, I got a back-up file. That’s why I’m in WordPress now. And I love it more here. Haha! Anyway, thanks for dropping by Dana, I am glad that you love my adventure. Have an awesome week too. 😍😘

      Like

  26. Just wow. You’re photography is honestly amazing. And your description of the trip is not only helpful, but makes me want to go oh so badly!!! If only I could travel as much as you do! Anyways, I feel like one of my favorite parts would have been riding those “habal-habals” and actually walking the trail! It sounds like an amazing and awe-inspiring trip! Thank you so much for sharing! Your humor made me smile:) ❤

    inconformistafashionista.wordpress.com

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thank you, Miranda. Your comment was so nice that it really made me smile too. I am glad that my posts can be helpful coz that’s what I wanted them to be. Thank you so much. This makes me wanna go out and wander again. haha! xoxo

      Liked by 1 person

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