Pangagawan Caves

Useful Information

Location:	(16.734377, 121.127478)
Open:
Fee:
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:	full day hiking and cave trekking
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Pangagawan Caves, Tourism Officer, Barangay Bolog, Kiangan, Ifugao, Tel: +63-920-467-1020. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

2007	Pangagawan Caves opened to the public.

Description

Pangagawan Caves is a cave trekking tour, and as it requires a 2 h walk to the cave, the whole trip is actually a full-day tour and requires some physical fitness. In this case the plural is well-earned, there are actually two different caves, named Labyrinth Cave and Bat Cave. Both caves have a 20 m deep entrance shaft, which is equipped with an iron ladder. The visit to Labyrinth Cave takes 2-3 h and includes walking in a cave river, stooping, and crawling. Bat Cave is easier to visit and the visit takes 1 h. In other words, the visit does not require climbing skills, still it requires surefootedness, a head for heights, and physical fitness. For the 20 m descent visitors are equipped with a safety line. Also, helmets and other gear are provided. We strongly recommend bringing good walking shoes, headlamp, gloves and don’t forget toilet paper.

Pangagawan is also spelled Pangaggawan, and according to the local Ayangan folk Pan-ar-ar-gawan means "a place for sun bathing". According to local lore, Japanese soldiers went there to warm themselves during the Japanese occupation.

The site was developed with the ladder and opened to the public in 2007. By 2020 the trail was developed with hand-railings. At some point the cave was obviously closed, as a result of Corona we guess. It is still listed as closed on some websites, but it’s hard to tell if this is true. There is one website which offers a form to contact the Tourism Officer, so it is more or less official. It does not give any facts though and was last updated more than a decade ago.