Tag: volcano

Mount Mayon Volcano

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Mount Mayon Volcano

When we visited the Philippines in 2013, we travelled around some of the northern provinces of  this wonderful scenic nation. We did not have time to visit the southern provinces; we did not get to visit Albay in the Bicol region, home of the magnificent Mount Mayon volcano.

Mount Mayon is an active stratovolcano which dominates the surrounding countryside. It is 2,463m (8,081ft) high.
Mayon paintingAt a street market in Manila, around Quiapo, we bought a painting souvenir of the volcano. I liked the vivid blue sky in the painting, which now hangs proudly on our bedroom wall. We looked at the painting and resolved to visit the real volcano on our next visit to the Philippines.

 

We returned in February 2016, and based at the family home, we travelled extensively around the northern & south of the  Philippines and one such trip was to Bicol.

We hired a SUV and a friendly helpful driver/guide for a day’s tour  and travelled up a steep twisting road to just above halfway of Mount Mayon.

On each corner of the long winding road, there was a sculpted Catholic Cross to ensure safety whilst driving.

We stopped off for a nice lunch at a friendly deserted restaurant, the weather had closed in and it was quiet, misty and rainy. The top of the volcano not far above us was a shrouded with cloud. The view of the surrounding countryside was amazing then the mist cleared occasionally.

We looked at the observatory and museum which had a slide & movie show about the volcano.

Mayon hid her glory in a cloud cloth for the rest of the day

The next day from our hotel room, nearby Mayon unveiled and we saw the awesome symmetrical cone at its summit shining in the morning sun.

I grabbed my camera and took some photos. Later we did a tour of the countryside and visited the

Cagsawa ruin.

Mayon was a superb backdrop.

DSCN1294

Mayon is active and last erupted in 2006 and the next eruption could come anytime.

With the excellent zoom on my camera, I managed to photograph the cone and vapour gassing out, which looked like steam mixing with passing clouds.

Mayon cone

Mayon with its renowned perfect cone, photo by PH Morton

As we boarded the domestic flight plane back to Manilla, we took our last look at Mount Mayon and had realised our wish to see one of nature’s wonders.

Mount Mayon

 

Philippines: An Englishman in Tagaytay

Blogs Holidays & Travels Philippines

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!