From the office, we rode a jeep bound to Antipolo Church and alighted at USA 88 Gas Station. Then, we walked to our first destination.
The Via Dolorosa White Cross in Antipolo. They have a life-size Station of the Cross. I personally like it because the area is surrounded by trees. It's hiking while praying. :D
Cameras and disposable bottled drinks are not allowed. But since we are PASAWAYs, we managed to get some pictures of the place. It is also better to have a prayer booklet handy since there were no tablets yet where the prayers are engraved, unlike in Novaliches Grotto.
After the Station of the Cross, were supposed to go to the Mystical Cave. But the tricycle drivers are charging us too much, P200 for 4 people. Another one even said P400, C'mon!
We then decided to just walk and head to The Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. We just prayed a bit. We went up the church for the kissing of the mantle. They are allowing people in between 0600-1800 every Sundays. On weekdays, they are open at 0600-1000 and 1500-1800, I think.
We proceeded to find a ride to the Mystical Cave, we haggled with the tricycle drivers but only got the price down to P150. The tricycle drivers are kind enough to tell us how to go to place. We rode a jeep to Antipolo Hills. The fare is P9.50. We got off near La Salle Antipolo. When I saw where we are going, I understood why they are charging us that much.
We walked our way downhill then uphill to the entrance of the cave. It was long and tiring, plus the sun is so hot.
The entrance to the cave is P40. It will be up to you if you'd like a guide or not. They don't charge but it will be better to get one so you'll be able to see the images of the saints, Mary, Jesus and even God. They were also able to capture other images like the Noah's Arc and some of its animals.
It was cold inside. The stalactites and the stalagmites were amazing. I was able to recognize images with the help of Raine, our guide. She explained the images to us, from the actual rocks or its reflection. The coolest thing for me was the bell sound. She guided us to column of rock and hit it. The sound was more of a gong than of a bell. It was surprising and I liked it.
As per Raine, the cave was discovered by Inday Nelly, from Iloilo. She has been dreaming about it, came to Antipolo, found the Mystical Cave and the images, therein. The cave was opened to public in 1985.
Beside the cave, there was a trail going up the summit. We climbed up to check out the area. There stood the 3 crosses. They were like the ones in Calvary. It's full of trees except for the 2 hills destroyed by the quarries. :(
