The "OK" Taal Volcano

Having a whole day to spare, I was thinking of an exciting place to go to that is nearby Manila. Since it is Vlad's first time in the Philippines, I want to make sure his vacation will not be thrown into waste. Actually, I also wanna boast how rich, beautiful, and spectacular my home country is :P 

Since we both love looking at landscapes, walking/trekking, and nature-tripping, I thought why not hike Taal? Taal volcano is quite complicated. Imagine an active volcano within a lake within a volcano that is surrounded by mountains. It was said that Taal volcano is one of the smallest active volcano in the world, a little over 1,300 feet above sea level. And by just driving for 2 hours from Manila, you'll be able to take a glimpse of this "geological wonder".

After researching and looking for a best deal over the net, I booked a Taal hiking day tour from Filipino Travel Center. You might notice in most of my posts that I always always ALWAYS book tours. Some say that it's expensive and it's wayyy cheaper putting up your own itinerary (like DIY kinda trip) - well, I agree if you have loads of time to spare. Being a "Balikbayan" doesn't mean I have lots of cash to burn. Honestly, it is the effort, hassle, and mostly time that I am putting up as priorities whenever I tour (not only in the Philippines but anywhere in the world). For me, paying extra saves me dineros even more because I don't need to think about those little nuisance. Besides, I am going for a tour to relax and not to worry about what or where or how!

So it was a day before the 2014 new year when we were picked up from Manila by a private air-conditioned mini bus to Tagaytay. From Tagaytay there is some sort of a ridge where a small motorized boat is waiting. Yes, before you can even reach this small village called Talisay where the volcano island is, you have to cross the lake for about 30 minutes. At the volcano island, a local tour guide is there waiting who eventually lead us the way up towards the rim and to the summit. Took us about 25 minutes to hike Talisay island.

View from the top of volcano island

The view from the top was neither breathtaking nor beautiful. It was actually uhmmm... errr... OK. Btw, there are some horses you can hire (if you aren't physically fit to hike) that will help you reach the top. Those horses are skinny though and looked like they haven't eaten for days not to mention they're stinky. These horses were the culprit of ruining the entire hiking experience because not only they cause a dusty surroundings, there's a poopy trap literally everywhere! Yikes! Better watch your steps! Also, it was a bit scary as we saw some steam that has a sulfuric odor in some areas.

Anyway, t'was still a nice experience mainly because while panting, we had a fresh coconut juice while on top of a volcano surrounded by a lake overlooking another volcano also surrounded by a lake. Go figure. Toodles!

Where did my money go? A total of Php 10,800 for two which includes private pick up and drop off in Manila by an air-conditioned minibus, snacks, entrance and toll fees, local Filipino guide to crater lake, and a Filipino tourist boat for island crossing