Northern Exposure: Side-Trip to Callao Caves, Cagayan, Philippines
I always look forward to the December holidays, Christmas being a big thing for us Filipinos, and also because it gives me a chance to visit relatives and hometowns. I come from the Northern part, Cagayan Valley, where without a doubt there are some interesting attractions, but which I practically take for granted having grown up in that milieu. This time, encouraged by my brother, I agreed to get off my mother's reclining chair/butaca (my favorite holiday activity is sitting back on this chair and sipping my coffee ever so slowly) and went on a two-hour drive to Penablanca, Cagayan - home to Callao Caves, one of the bigger cave complexes in the Philippines. I have been to the caves a few times before, but this trip was more special because we took along my 6-year old daughter for the first time. She gamely went all the way up past the 184 steps to the main chamber, and had all the energy to go further up to the fifth chamber (along with the guide and my relatives), wh