There is a small opening between some banana plants on the hillside where you can slip in feet first trying not to dislodge loose rocks.
You will drop into the Panaghoyan Cave, a new discovery, that Joni found in 2006. Almost immediately you float down an underground river, thankful that you escaped the heat above ground.
The hard part starts where the river ends. The rock in this cave is quite sharp and the ceiling is very low so a lot of crawling is require. Only near the exit can you stand erect.
This cave will give your legs and back a real workout. The first time going through this cave my technique was torturous but going through the cave again a few days later Joni showed me a better way to get through the low passageways.
It works best if you sit on your butt and scoot along leaning back when the ceiling is low. In this cave the ceiling is dripping with millions of stellagtites requiring weaving your way through the maze.
Even while using great care one still jammed me in the back and unfortunately broke off.
It was regrettable but I was crouching down as low as I thought possible. It was the only damage I witnessed in the caves all day.
We exited at the river where there were 2 boatmen in small bancas (outrigger canoes) waiting to bring us down river to the bridge where we would catch a bus back to town. I was mystified about how they had gotten word to pick us up.
Joni said he called them on the cell phone before we left.
We reached the bridge at the town of Jaibong which is famous for its mussel farms.
Joni had arranged a meal of steamed oysters and mussels before we caught the jeepney back to Catbologan.
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