Hi, Pinmapple Community! In 2013, my friends and I decided to go to Manila as the other two friends had never been there. We stayed at my aunt's place in Pasig so we had free accommodation for 4 days and 3 nights, and food. Thank you so much to my aunt and her husband as they were so generous.
One of the itineraries to cross on our bucket list was to go and witness the beauty of Taal Volcano.
According to Wikipedia:
Taal Volcano (IPA: [taʔal]; Tagalog: Bulkang Taal) is a large caldera filled by Taal Lake in the Philippines.[1] Located in the province of Batangas about 50 kilometers (31 mi) south of Manila, the volcano is the second most active volcano in the country with 38 recorded historical eruptions, all of which were concentrated on Volcano Island, near the middle of Taal Lake.[3] The caldera was formed by prehistoric eruptions between 140,000 and 5,380 BP.[4][5]
Taal Volcano has had several violent eruptions in the past, causing deaths on the island and the populated areas surrounding the lake, with an overall death toll of about 6,000. Because of its proximity to populated areas and its eruptive history, the volcano was designated a Decade Volcano, worthy of close study to prevent future natural disasters.
Source: here
Bus ride from Manila to Batangas
Tata was eager to see the Taal Volcano so she did her research on how to get to Taal Volcano from Manila. Tata is good with her negotiation skills so I let her do her own thing.
I forgot the exact address of my aunt. From her house, we took a tricycle to the LRT station and changed to another LRT until we reached Cubao.
From Cubao, we went to a bus station and took a bus going to Batangas City via Lipa or Tanauan. We got off at Tanauan Bayan.
Took a tricycle ride from the Tanauan to Talisay - the jump-off point
Tata negotiated with a tricycle driver to bring us to Talisay. It was about 30 minutes. It felt like we were going down from Tanauan to Talisay because we were going to the lake.
Took a boat ride from the jump-off point to the Taal Volcano island
Tata managed to talk to the boat owner and brought us to the island. It was about 25 minutes to go there by boat.
Jane, Joan, and me on the boat while Tata took photos of us.
A boat ride on the take and some sceneries you see while on the boat.
We have no idea what's in there.
A few residences near the lake or maybe some coffee shops and other businesses we don't know.
Paying the fee for Taal Volcano Hiking
We were approaching the reception area.
When we arrived, we had to pay PHP 50 for tourists. Students, children, and those below 7 years old got a discount for the price of PHP 30.
And here is the fee for the boat ride PHP 1,500.
We could not afford to pay for horseback riding and a tour guide so we preferred going up to hike to see the crater.
A nice info on Taal Volcano from PhiVolcs.
The Start of our Hiking
The funny thing about this trip is that our outfits were not hike-ready. We were not hiking-experienced and we were not that adventurous. Just look at me, I was wearing a skirt, a T-shirt, and a pair of sandals.
Here was Joan wearing a dress, a pair of slippers, and her shoulder bag.
It seemed like Jane was 80% prepared as she was wearing hiking shoes. At least, she was covered.
Tata was taking photos of us. As a first timer in hiking, we were complaining already. Haha! Jane and I were bringing our laptop with us because we were serious about being a digital nomad, working in the crater of a volcano. LOL
Then, we saw rich tourists who could afford horseback riding.
It was nice to see people on our quest to go to the crater.
Along the way, we met another hiker from Israel and we asked a lot of questions how was his trip to the Philippines. Haha!
Ugh, the horses were taking a rest. Meaning, these stairs could bring us to see the Taal Volcano Crater.
We reached the Taal Volcano Crater
Gosh! We were so happy to see the Taal Volcano Crater. Of course, we love taking photos.
Tata was happy to have her photos finally taken.
Oh, rich people can enjoy golfing here. Hahaha!
And here was a cat enjoying her view of the Taal Crater.
And our rich friend could afford coconut fruit juice or buko juice at the Taal Volcano crater. I think it was expensive. We forgot to bring some bottled water. Haha!
My T-shirt is a souvenir from Bohol with a Tarsier. You can also buy a souvenir T-shirt from Taal Volcano.
I took a photo of Tata and this photo has one of the best views.
Of course, I wanted to have the same photo of the same spot.
The Beautiful View of Taal Volcano
Please enjoy these photos without words. <3
Time to go down
While going down, we saw a cloud of smoke and we smelled sulfur. We took our chance to have photos here.
We were just so fascinated that we stepped foot on an active volcano. Wow!
Having fun with the sunset.
We got our boat back to the town. It was a fun experience.
Ending this trip with this photo. It was blurred but the experience was so worth it. The memories of this trip were so clear.
Although I've shared with you about 20 photos here, I still have a hundred photos. I will share it in another blog. I hope you enjoyed our hiking experience at Taal Volcano Crater.
Taal Volcano Eruption happened on March 26, 2022
Alert Level 3 (Magmatic Unrest) was raised over Taal Volcano at 8:00 AM today due to phreatomagmatic eruption of the Main Crater between 07:22 AM and 08:59 AM that generated up to 3,000 m-tall eruption plumes.
Source: here
Welcome to iTravelRox! Roxanne Tamayo is a Cebuana who is a traveler. Now a mom of 2 kids and a wife. She is a travel blogger and a digital nomad. As a Virtual Assistant, she does a lot of things like content writing, WordPress web design, WP updates and maintenance, graphic design, and photo editing. She is into wedding photography, as well.
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