Conel – JEPOI's Adventures

OCTOCLIVE (October Climb and Dive 2010- 10/16-17/2010)
the Caving…

Talking about War Hospital seemed creepy but, it’s still exciting… We went down in a Cave Hospital. After preparing our mountain breakfast we headed up to what was known by Amsikong locals to be the Japanese Hospital during the World War II. Conel is famous about the Japanese tunnels or man-made caves at the surrounding area. History says, those tunnels served as bunkers, watchtowers, and first line command centers during the Japanese invasion.

Okay, let’s go back to the cave hospital… The path going to it was quite challenging, although it was just half a mile away from the Ecopark Campsite. It was steep and slippery… You have to cling on some roots to be able to get on to the next step. After minutes of root gripping, my team already reached the opening.

The cave has three openings, but unfortunately, there was a blunt-headed tree snake guarding the first opening. It took us awhile to pass on because our tour guide had to blow the snake away- a good snake shoo-er dude!!!

Anyway, we were able to enter in the 3rd opening. Well, it was a small cave with spaces which, according to our guide, served as the patients’ rooms or the wards. There were also small compartments where medicines and reagent bottles were once found.

We came across a deep hollow portion of the cave that is believed to be the morgue because, when this cave was first discovered, explorers found human skeletons buried in there. We didn’t proceed to explore that due to uncertainties… there might be cave snakes along the way, huh…

Just like the typical cave, there are also bats flying around. We also found Swift Bird’s nests, famous as an ingredient for the Bird’s Nests soup.

Aside from this hospital cave, there’s also a smaller cave on the other side of the river. I wasn’t able to enter in it again but I’d like to share to you some photos of our caving experience the first time I explored Conel Ecopark.

OCTOCLIVE (October Climb and Dive 2010- 10/16-17/2010)
the CAMPSITE and the OUTDOOR Cooking…

We pitched our tents to stay overnight at Conel Ecopark (home of Kalilangan Eco-Carrera Activity). Water is not a problem at the campsite since it is just beside Amsikong River. There are a lot of springs safe for drinking, likewise.

Amsikong River

Mukam Gal-nam (B’laan Settler)

We’re lucky to have met one of the B’laan settlers, Mukam Gal-nam. He taught us how to cook rice in a bamboo. I’ve learned there is another variety of plant, other than bananas, which has leaves more recommended to be used as wrap- the Agik-ik plant. The Ecopark is surrounded with bamboos, as well as Agik-iks, so all you need to have is a bolo and of course the raw rice.