Today is my first time to trek. It's purely exciting for me and I honestly don't mind if I'd get sore, bruises or sunburn from it. We're climbing Mt. Pinatubo, an active volcano in the Philippines. It's last eruption was during 1991 preceded by rainfall. It was a lethal mix, they say. The eruption left great damage in the place leaving ashes, formations of lahar and at the mouth of the mountain, a beautiful lake.
We left Victory Liner Pasay at 3:20AM, the first bus bound for Dagupan. It was roughly a 2-hour ride until the bus conductor woke us up and dropped us in Capas, Tarlac. We ate breakfast first and then we rode the tricycle to Sta. Juliana to meet with our coordinator. (We were actually running late by then because we should've left Manila by 3:00am. Yikes!) There was a short briefing from the coordinator before we go. Reminders such as, "Always watch where you step. No shouting. Don't touch the mountains", etc. And of course my every travel reminder to self, "Take nothing but pictures, Leave nothing but memories." We were the last group deployed. And as soon as we rode the 4x4 jeep, I started to feel the excitement. :)
The road via the 4x4 ride was called Skyway. It's quite a long and dusty road but oddly, I did not care to cover my hair. lol! Halfway the road was the toblerone-shaped lahar. Who could have thought a great disaster would leave a pretty sight, right?
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| A panoramic shot of the "toblerone" lahar. |
We started the trek at around 9:30am. As excited as I am, I was walking a little faster but not until half the first kilometer -- I started to feel tired! There were small huts where we stopped over to rest and eat snacks. The guide told us that there are three huts or stop overs during the trek.
Until finally, we reached the last stop over! :)
From this spot, the path started to get steep and narrow. A few steps later, we came across a natural drinking water. I was so amazed because it was cold so I washed my face with it. (Yung totoo, nakikigaya lang ako sa guide namen. lol!) The guide also told us that it's safe to drink so I did. Pardon my amusement but I find it really amazing. Honestly, I did not expect that it would take an enormously long walk to get there. I kept thinking at back of my mind, 'Are we there yet? How many minutes more?' Especially when we were at the ultimate stairs going up the crater. I went for every step non-stop that I have actually left the rest of the gang behind. Everybody was gasping for air. Hahaha! And yep! We're here!! :D
Upon reaching the lake, we took a little bit of rest at the provided kubos for all the hikers. We first took our lunch, a little bit of a nap and then we went down to see the whole view of the lake. Was it worth it? Of course! The view was indeed surreal. Sadly, swimming in the lake is prohibited on the lake so we took the chance to take lots of pictures there.
At 1:50pm, we started the trek down. The sky started to get dim – it was going to rain. We trekked down without stops. I was honestly getting scared so I walked fast (again! haha). The river was small but when it rains, the water gets as deep as 5 feet plus the strong water current. I don't think our 4x4 ride can pass through that! (You see, I can get really paranoid. hahaha!) But luckily, we were able to reach our ride just as it has started to rain hard. But despite the weather, our drive back got even more exciting because of the challenge and manong drove faster too. It's like were chased by a giant monster from the mountain hahaha! As soon as we get farther, the rain slowly to subsided. We immediately took a bath as soon as we got back to the town. And the trike we rode to get there was waiting for us outside by then. Super hassle-free. :)
It is said that it takes 14 kilometers to and from the crater! Whew! Not bad for a first timer, 'no? :) It was indeed a fun thing to do. You also get a lot of thinking while appreciating the environment too. How about you? Where did you first trek?
