Mt. Pinatubo

Hello my dormant space in the web! Let me share photos from our Mt. Pinatubo trek last February. Sorry I haven't been updating. I've been lazy and busy at the same time with work and outside work. I wish I am one of those travel bloggers but I'm always in a hurry to be too detailed in my posts and second, I don't travel that much! Wala akong K. Huhuhuhu.

Anyway, my friends entertained MY idea of trekking several months back because we were all brokenhearted that time (uy, joke lang hehehehe). Pinagbigyan lang nila ako. This year, my highschool friends and I agreed that we should travel more and this was our first project. So we researched on Google, the go-to of everyone in the planet (with internet) and there were lots of blogs about Pinatubo already!! Yaaaay! This volcano in Luzon (which covers Tarlac, Zambales and Pampanga) erupted in 1991 and is said to be the second largest eruption in 20th century.

I've seen Pinatubo before but that was only when we rode the Sokol choppers of the Air Force. It was beautiful then but I also wanted to see it closer. I wanted to do the trek.

To get to the trek's jump off point, we rode a 4x4 truck for two hours somewhere in Tarlac very early(near Camp O'Donnell). Sorry if I will not go into details about this because this has been months ago and I have a poor memory. Ask me in person and I will ask my friends for our contacts. It was a bumpy ride but was a lot of fun!! The lahar from the eruption was a beautiful sight, though I don't think it's pretty when it rains as I imagine that it would be muddy. This is the very same lahar that killed thousands during the 1991 eruption.

Along the way, we met Aetas, the indigenous people living there. I've read in a blog that we will see Aetas on our way to Pinatubo so I brought them candies! When I was in college, I had a student Aeta for our National Service Training Program in Pampanga that's why I have a soft heart for Aetas. Naks, soft daw. Seeing them, I wish I had brought more than candies. I observed they needed slippers because most of them were barefoot. Huhuhuhu. So if you plan of going there, please bring slippers for the children. Bring as much as you can for these kids. Hehehehe.

This was my first time to trek and I didn't have any preparation except for my twice a week jog at Camp Aguinaldo for less than a month prior the trip. We had to walk for the next two hours under the scorching heat of the sun. It was only February but it was sooo hot and my bag, despite my efforts to travel light, was still heavy. My being 'lampa' also revealed itself at a few moments during the trek. Hahahahahaha.  I think my water bottles made my bag heavy. Bring your happy food!!! Thank you to our tourist guide, who is also an Aeta, for carrying some of our loads so it won't be that hard for us.

The view up there was BREATHTAKING. I was running out of breath when we reached the top of the volcano (hahahahaha). But I swear it was really worth it! But then we had to go down (not an easy trek again) to the crater. In the blogs that I've read, nobody mentioned that it would be this tiring. Ako lang napagod?! Bwahahahaha. This trip really tested my stamina huh. Not bad for a first time though.

This is my photo of the crater view before we went down to go closer. This was taken by about lunch time. No photoshop, filter whatever. Diba, ang ganda ganda? #itsmorefuninthephilippines! :)

By the time we were at the crater side, we were so hungry and we finally had our lunch. Grabeee ang sarap sarap ng adobong dala namin!! :)

While it was honestly tiring for my part, it was really worth it. When I saw this view I was reminded of God's greatness. Heaven on earth. Majestic. Magical. Who would have thought that this place is also capable of destruction?

There were many tourists at Pinatubo --both foreigners and locals. I think the best time to go is January to early March when it doesn't rain too often and there is still the northeast monsoon which brings the cold winds. It was cool near the crater but at the same time it was also hot because it was lunch time. I can imagine it would even be warmer during dry season. Of course you wouldn't wanna go when it's rainy season because from what I heard it's not allowed and also I heard that waters rise and it will be muddy. It is good that the place is well-maintained. Those who are more adventurous can also go overnight. There is no Globe signal, by the way. I'm not sure about other networks.

Too bad swimming and boating are no longer allowed because the depth of this crater is unknown it could be unsafe. So we had to be happy with splashing on the edge. Tampisaw lang eh ano magagawa natin?! It is said that the water on the lake is accumulated from the rains. My overactive imagination says it could have healing powers. Hehehehe. :)

Our way back to the jump off point was a breeze unlike when we were on our way up. But man my legs were swollen after but it's really, really worth it. The experience was even better because I was with my highschool friends. Here's to more travels, my girlies! So you think Pinatubo is for you? Go plan your trip now!! :)