Binuthan Cave, Bonbon Cebu

Trip type: Motorcycling + hiking
Technical designation: wala, whatever
Who it is for: for people who hate their boss and have six hours to spare in the morning; people who want break their necks

The mouth of Binuthan Cave

I set out at 4.30am. My eight-hour work kicks off at 10am so might as well be early. I just want to do a recon ride to Binuthan Cave and maybe go back there

on Saturday. It is Wednesday and I am homicidally bored. This is one fine cure.

I am not so sure about leaving this early. You can’t really tell if you’ll meet the good or bad guys in the dark. Besides, just two days ago, a security

guard got killed at a nearby gasoline station (that is, near where I live). It was 2pm and two guys dropped by this gas station and stuck it up. The guard

fought back and the next morning, he was just a figure in the news, arms above his shoulders the way you would when you are about to make a yawn and legs

slightly spread apart in a Vee shape.

I was not sure about riding my bicycle that early so I decided to go motorbike riding. I made a short stop at IT Park. As a self-proclaimed outdoor guy, I

need to stay fit. The only way to do so is to know how others do it. So I watch these people jog at the place.


At IT Park, learning how to stay fit by watching the joggers

Five minutes and I got no glimpse of IT Park jogger and her best friend so I decided so go on. Sorry if I did not let you know of my intention for dropping

by at IT Park. You know anyway, I guess, and you do that, too.

Entry point is about two kilometers from Bonbon bridge. When I had my breakfast at Bonbon, Manang said it is duol na lang. My concept of duol is E-Mall and

South Bus terminal. She did not make it clear what duol is for her.

Teleportation: just by turning by back, I'm in Bonbon already

I went alone and because I have no idea where the cave is and quite likely there is no one you could ask for directions when you get there, I took a local

guide. The guys name is manong Ben and he was just chilling in his payag when I saw him. I was asking for directions and there weren’t too many landmarks to

bring me to the cave so I asked him lead the way.

Manong Ben, my guide, pointing to where we were going

The least number of people you should go trekking with is three. If one falls, one can ask for help and one can watch the other die. Division of labor, it’s

called.

The drop-off is beside a tiny store along the highway. No matter how small a store is or how empty its shelves may seem, trust me, you can still find a

bottle of Tanduay there. And some bitsin, perhaps.

So Manong Ben and I started our short walk to the cave. Some muddy climbs, I had to take my slippers off and use my toes to claw my way up. (I love those

slippers, got them for 30 pesos at Dalaguete six months ago when we went to Antig Tingko.)

He's a retard, don't mind him

Some slimy stones, tiny waterfalls, and not-so-friendly climbs on the way to the cave. And the cave it is. It is called Binuthan because it is quite “treey”

where it is located and you do not expect water to explode from out of nowhere.

Swim or climb, the two ways to get to the other side of the came. Swim: you just swim, is all. But its quite deep and dark where you are heading so you

better bring some rope where you can hold on to. And your lead swimmer, the guy who’ll tie the rope to the other end, better be good because it is real

deep.

Vampire rocks

I would not suggest climbing. It is quite difficult to get to there and you still risk the chance of falling to the pool, which can drown you if that’s what

you want to know.


As we went down from the cave, we saw a crab skeleton (or what remains of it, a claw that grades from white to orange). Ben said it is a “piyo” or mountain

crab. He dug up one for me. If I were the piyo, I’d be mad at him. I was just having some fine time under the rocks and there is goes digging me up only to

put me back there.

"Piyo" aka bukid crab

I twisted my pinkie opposite the bend of its joint. We reached the easy part on our way down and I resumed to my chill2x walk, the kind of walk that you do

at Ayala when you don’t have anything to buy. I slipped, landed on the poor thing.

There is this thing that you should be mindful of. Nipay, it is called. I asked Ben what it is for, he says it’s only there to make people itch. Yeah, there

are things that are just “there” to make you itch.

The fruit that makes you itch

There’s another fruit I found, what my sister describes as a fake strawberry. It is tungaw-tungaw and indeed it looks like a tropical strawberry. (I never

saw a strawberry, much more tropical one. But there’s this thing called imagination. In Cebuano, I’d say it’s mugna-mugna.)

Tropical strawberries

Just to make it clear, the cave I went to is called Binuthan. It is located in Bonbon and is not the same with Santohan, which is at Brgy. (you guessed it)

Santohan. Another cave along the mountain line of Binuthan is called Pangasag. There aren’t too many things that you can photograph there, not a Facebook

kind of cave. But it is where you go to if, for some reasons, you want life to be difficult. And if you want to make your suicide look like a trekking

accident by all means go there.
Pangasag, the cave where you can eat all the bats that you want

Pics ahoy here!

Binuthan Cave, Bonbon, Cebu