Travelogue
Philippines: An Englishman in Tagaytay
Today the 21 December my Lovely wife and her friendly family/relatives (11 in all!) with me travelled from Manila to Tagaytay.
Tagaytay is about 33 miles south from Manila, we travelled by minibus and the journey took about two hours.
Tagaytay is one of the Philippines most popular tourist destinations as it has wonderful scenery and a cooler climate provided by its high altitude. It has a high standard of living.
The most famous and iconic landmark is Taal Volcano Island in Lake Taal. The lake and island are overlooked by Tagaytay and can be viewed from several vantage points in the city. After the heat of Manila, it was a welcome coolness and occasional light rain showers, which greeted us in the park also overlooking the lake.
As it was lunchtime, we went to a local restaurant, where I sampled some more yummy Filipino cuisine. We each had a young coconut still partly green, with the top removed so we could drink the refreshing coconut juice and scoop out & eat the fleshy part. We then shared seafood platters of squid, prawn and tuna with my favourite bagoong (salted and fermented bonnet fish) used a condiment. After lunch, we walked to advantage points to view the amazing volcanic island and smaller islands and headlands in the lake. A fine mist over the lake made the view almost grey and monochrome, but bursts of sunlight through the clouds brought a splash of colour and relief to the outstanding scenery. I took many photos as eager tourists do!
There have been 33 recorded eruptions at Taal since 1572, with much damage and devastation to surrounding towns and areas. The most recent period of activity lasted from 1965 to 1977.
Fortunately, today the volcano remained on good behaviour, specifically with today’s date being auspicious due to the so-called doomsday scenario as interpreted by some of the ancient Mayan calendar!
My sister-in-law and her husband asked (well challenged!) me to ride with them on the zip /cable line ride over part of Lake Taal and the surrounding forest. We were supported only by straps and travelled 250 metres at 6o km, over 300 feet above the lake and forest, I managed to retain my lunch and enjoyed an exhilarating experience!