I’m a regular visitor of Baguio for two years now. My boyfriend is from Baguio, and whenever there’s a holiday, him and I would go there to just…sleep. hehe. We never have really toured Baguio, except for the occasional visit to the biggest mall there, SM Baguio. Though this time, me and two friends, catnap and xty, went there to tour Baguio. It was a two-day fun filled activity, where our first stop was the Balatoc Mine cave.
Balatoc man made cave
How to go there
If commuting from the town proper, take a jeepney going to Itogon located near the Petron Station and beside the Chinese Patriotic School a few walks in front of Burnham park. The jeepney fare is **P15 per pax.
The Tour Detail
The tour costs 250 pesos each person. Some folks told us that the tour guides there would not accommodate us since there were only three of us, Some said they would allow us. We never really asked as just the time we went there, our usual “mrs. luck” visitor came to our side. There were a group of college students scheduled to have a trip during that day, that same time, so we went along with them.
Bataan University students we ran into at Balatoc mines
They were all students of University of Bataan, and they were celebrating their last days as students with a tour of Baguio. The kids there was fun to hang out with, though majority boys, we had a blast joking around with them. In fact during the lecture, our tour guide asked what ‘mining’ means. And one of the clever boys that we were with said “Mining means selfishness”. 
The First Part of the Tour
The first part of the tour was a lecture on the evolution of mining in Benguet, particularly Balatoc. It was kind of boring and loooong. The only fun thing about it is that our lecturer, would always finish his sentence by making us guess what’s gonna happen to his long story. Which of course none of us took seriously. It was really like a classroom and everyone else is a class clown.
The Actual Tour
After an hour or so of lecture, we then went to the actual tour. Yey! But hold your horses. hehe. We actually had to wait for another 15 minutes. Our group was divided into two, cause there were like 40 of us there, and a single tour guide cannot handle that many people.
And so we waited, until it was our time (Group 2′s) turn to go. We were sort of dissapointed, because we thought we were gonna ride the mine’s train to tour, but turned out it was actually a walking tour. “ate” our tour guide toured us to the machines and stuff they use to mine, including their portable waste drum.
gold ores sample from Balatoc
After the machinery tour, the next part was actually getting in the cave. Ate is the only one who has a flashlight during the tour, though the mine itself is well lit there were some parts that was really dark. So we went about our tour looking on some rocks, some dynamites and demo’s on some of the things a miner does inside the mine. The absolute best part of the tour, was an actual blasting while were still inside the mine. (We ere safely hidden in the miner’s lounge though)
Though short it was amazing, we really felt the pressure of the blasting. We all screamed and celebrated after that amazing blast show.
The last part of the tour was a tour on how the mining people process the gold ores found inside the mine. We even took some gold ores as remembrance. And the most awaited part came on the last leg of the tour. We rode the mine train. Yey!
Fares and Fees of the tour in Balatoc Mines Cave
Tour cost: P250.00
Fare from town to Balatoc Mines : (P15/pax)
Summary of the Tour
- Lecture on History of Mining in Balatoc
- Machinery Tour
- Blasting Demo
- Train ride
- Manufacturing of gold tour/demo
More pictures of Balatoc mines here:
Click on the picture to view the album
