Revisiting our History: Exploring the Caves of Biak na Bato

       If you are looking for an adventure and in lieu of recent events you feel the need to revisit your historical perspectives, then look no further: this Biak na Bato National Park guide, complete with sample itinerary and budget proposal is exactly what you need.

            Biak na Bato is situated near Manila, and you can visit it on your own time whenever you feel like it--that means no need for scheduled tours which do not align with your day-offs!

Where to Go

            Biak na Bato National Park is located in San Miguel, Bulacan, conveniently only three hours away from Metro Manila. The national park boasts of hundreds of caves, some still remaining unexplored. In our day tour package we explored six historical caves that served as the Katipuneros' reception area, hospital, storage, and ambush sites for  Emilio Aguinaldo and his troops way back in the 1890's.

How to Get There

            From Cubao, ride a bus with a sign going to Cabanatuan. In our case, we took an ES Transport bus and asked to be dropped off at Camias Tricyle Station. Your landmark will be a clock tower with St. Paul University to the right. The fare is only P117. From Camias, ride a tricycle and ask to be dropped off at Biak na Bato National Park. The tricycle can fit up to four people and the travel time is about 25 minutes. The tricycle fare is priced at P150.

Once You're There

            The Park has a fee for entrance regularly priced at P50 for adults. Due to vandalism and other instances that could damage the park, visitors are no longer allowed to spelunk without tour guides. For Biak na Bato, the tour guides are locals in the area and you will need to negotiate the price with them. We took the tour for Yungib caves I, II, III, (Ambush Cave, Hospital Cave, and Imbakan Cave), Tanggapan Cave, Pahingahan Cave, and Bat Cave priced at P800. For this adventure, it was only me and my boyfriend so it was a bit pricey on our end. The more the merrier, and of course, the cheaper the ambagan! According to our tour guide, they can take up to 15 people per guide.

            There's only one carinderia in the national park so it's advisable to bring packed lunch. With all the walking, you'd need to bring some biscuits and loads of water, too!

Spelunking Galore

This is the park's entrance, complete with the map the guides will use to inform you of your tour package.

            Since we came in a bit late, the tour guide led us to some shortcuts through the caves. Cool thing was, she owns a tricycle so we got a ride for free. We visited the Yungib caves first, followed by Ambush and Tanggapan.

Some caves will require you to go through ladders like this

            The tour took us only 3 hours since we didn't go inside Bat Cave due to time constraints. It was already 5:30 pm and the sun was going down by the time we got to Bat Cave's view deck.

            The tour guides will give you a look back to the 1890's, complete with how the Katipuneros strategized to ambush Spaniard soldiers and how they used codes to make sure you were not a spy. My favorite cave would be the ambush cave where the cave ceilings were so low and we literally had to squeeze ourselves into the rocks.

Posing near Bat Cave's view deck

            You also have the option to swim in the river inside the park. No need to worry about changing clothes since there are bathrooms located inside and outside Biak na Bato's national park.

            As promised, the sample itinerary complete with the budget proposal for two persons:

Sample Itinerary

8:00 AM	Departure from Cubao
11:00 AM	Arrival at Camias Tricycle Station
11:05 AM	Departure from Camias
11:30 AM	Arrival at Biak na Bato National Park
11:35 AM	Eat lunch
12:30 PM	Start spelunking!
3:30 PM	Back to the entrance of National Park
3:35 PM	Departure from Biak na Bato to Camias
4:05 PM	Arrival at Camias, eat merienda
5:00 PM	Departure from Camias, ride bus to Cubao
8:00 PM	Arrival back to Cubao Station

Budget Proposal (for two people)

Bus fare back and forth	P234
Tricycle fare back and forth	P150
Tour guide	P400
Food and drinks	P200
Total	P984/person

             The adventure was well worth it. For less than a thousand pesos, you'd get the adventure you are looking for, complete with the tranquil of the province and the historical knowledge on how Emilio Aguinaldo and his troops fought back against the Spaniards. Maybe that's what we need--a little review on our history every now and then--to awaken the sleeping nationalistic Juan in all of us and remind us who the real enemy is.