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Date: April 27, 2014

I got up very early today as Gale and I were doing the Mount Pinatubo tour. She picked me up from my hotel in a taxi and we then rode to Ortigas where the meeting point for the tour was at a 24-hour McDonalds outlet (at the Shell gas station).

Gale made the booking with a tour company called TRIPinas Adventures. Once at the McDonalds outlet, we met our co-ordinator who assigned us a van and a number for the 4x4s we would be taking up to a certain point. I also paid whatever was the balance I needed to pay for the trek. There were quite a few people who had signed up for this tour, which was a positive sign considering how I struggled to even get a tour organized last year towards the end of May. I only hoped it wouldn’t rain.

Gale and I packed up some McDonalds burgers for lunch, which we would have after reaching the Mt. Pinatubo crater lake. Yes, you have to pack your own lunch as it’s not included in the tour. Once everyone had been assigned their respective tour groups, we made our way to the vans parked outside. From here it was an hour-long drive to the base camp in Tarlac.

Mt. Pinatubo base camp Philippines — This is the base camp in Sta. Juliana, Capas. It’s actually someone’s house and property. But you have restrooms you can use and you can buy bamboo sticks which are helpful for the trek if you have weak legs.

4x4 Mt. Pinatubo trek — After a quick pep talk and instructions from Anna, our co-ordinator, we got in to our assigned 4x4s.

Inside 4x4 Mt. Pinatubo tour — The base camp is very near to a Philippines Army training facility so every jeep has to pass through security and only then enter the valley grounds

Valley Mt. Pinatubo Philippines — This valley is vast, and the army even uses this site for bombing practice. Good thing they tell you when you are safe to pass through 🙂

Jeep splashing through water morning sun — The time was just nearing 7am and I loved the lighting!

Mt. Pinatubo tour by bike — Some people were riding bikes out here… and some even ride the dirt bikes all the way instead of trekking. I can’t imagine how bumpy the ride must be.

4x4 jeep Mt. Pinatubo tour — I took out my GoPro camera to get some interesting angles

Mithun Pinatubo tour GoPro — The ride to the drop off point would take around an hour, and it was very dusty! I also wore a neck pillow to avoid straining my neck during the bumpy ride.

Zamables valley early morning — I was loving the photographs

Mt. Pinatubo lava ash field Zambales — It was challenging to shoot using the DSLR given the bumpy ride, but I persisted

Zambales valley ash Philippines — The geography was amazing — and it would only get more amazing

Carabao Zambales Mt. Pinatubo — A few people even live out here

4x4 jeep Land Rover Mt. Pinatubo tour — The ride would mean crossing more than a few water streams

Morning sun Mt. Pinatubo — The morning sun was up

Vast open hill space Zambales — After nearly 30 minutes on the road, we were stopping up ahead

Mount Pinatubo jeeps — The stop was just a break to stretch our legs and take photos

Mithun Gale Mt. Pinatubo tour — So Gale and I did (I’m barely smiling, I know)

4x4 river Mt. Pinatubo tour — Then we resumed the ride a few minutes later

4x4 jeep river Philippines — This was my first time on a proper 4×4 off-terrain journey

Terrain Zambales Philippines — The terrain kept appearing more awesome and rugged as we drove along

Ash mountain Mount Pinatubo Zambales — This place would make for an excellent location shoot for movies

Mountain terrain Zambales — That said, the ride was *really* bumpy from here on

Kids playing with stones Zambales — And yet, in such a barren landscape, you could find kids playing with stones along the way. They belong to the Aytas, the indigenous community here.

Mt. Pinatubo tour by jeep GoPro — (Shot on the GoPro)

Mount Pinatubo jeep tour — We neared our jeep stop

Mount Pinatubo jeep stop Philippines — From here, we would now begin our trek

Mount Pinatubo trek Zambales — My group set off with our guide leading the way

Rocky trail trekking Philippines — Much of the trail is very rocky

Hut Pinatubo trek rest stop — After a kilometre, we stopped for a few minutes at the first rest hut

Mount Pinatubo trek Philippines — I was always last because I stopped to take photographs — a lot

Sulpher river Pinatubo trek Philippines — The yellow stream? Sulphur deposits

Mount Pinatubo river Philippines — As tiring it did get for sick Mithun, I still enjoyed the scenery

Mount Pinatubo trek Zambales Philippines — We were slowly ascending

River stream Mount Pinatubo — I enjoyed crossing the river streams by NOT hopping over them. The water was so cold and soothing!

Mount Pinatubo trek resting huts — We finally reached the final rest stop before the crater

Trekkers Mount Pinatubo crater Philippines — After nearly an hour of walking, it felt good to know we were near

Trek to Pinatubo crater lake Philippines — But it was quite uphill from here on

Trek to Mount Pinatubo lake — Finally the crater lake was near!

Mount Pinatubo crater — After nearly two attempts to come here…

Mount Pinatubo crater lake park — … I was finally here!

Mt. Pinatubo lake crater trek — First reaction? “Why isn’t the water bright blue like in the photos I saw online”?

Mount Pinatubo lake crater Philippines — I waited for the sun to come out a bit more and hoped the lake would appear neon blue

Mount Pinatubo crater lake Philippines — There are steps taking you down to the lake, so I kept taking photos while going down

Mount Pinatubo lake crater tent — They have a big hut here if you want some respite from the heat

Mount Pinatubo crater tour group — You can camp out here and have lunch

Mt. Pinatubo lake panorama — The water may look nice for a swim…

No swimming Mount Pinatubo crater lake — But you can’t. If something happens, there is no way medical help can come to the crater in time.

Pinatubo volcano mountain Philippines — Seeing landscape like this….

Mountains Pinatubo crater Zambales Philippines — … you wonder if you are in Iceland, not somewhere in tropical Asia!

But what you see above is what Mount Pinatubo looks like now. Believe it or not, the lake was formed after a volcanic eruption. Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991, and that eruption was so big that it became the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century! The lake was formed after monsoon rains. The water was extremely unsafe for swimming soon after and many still don’t recommend getting in.

Mithun Gale Pinatubo hut Philippines — I took out the GoPro to take some more photos

Inside mount Pinatubo volcano crater — It was only 10am

Pinatubo crater lake panorama — Took this panorama on my phone

Pinatubo crater lake beach Philippines — Gale and I ate our McDonalds ‘lunch’ by the ‘beach’

Mithun Divakaran Pinatubo crater lake — I took a selfie before leaving

Pinatubo volcano steps — Back up we went

Mt.Pinatubo crater lake — I took this photo from my phone (Sony Xperia Z1) from halfway up the stairs

Mt. Pinatubo crater lake beach — Come to think of it, that’s a beach in the crater of a volcano!

Pinatubo crater peak garden Philippines — You have a small park/garden up here where you can rest under the shade of the trees

Mount Pinatubo Tarlac Philippines — I took a final few shots

Mount Pinatubo crater lake park Tarlac — It was time to say goodbye to this amazing place

Mount Pinatubo trek tourists Philippines — We walked back down

Mountain bikes mount Pinatubo — We would stop at the same rest stops along the way (three in total)

Rocks stones Pinatubo trek trail Tarlac — The trek back seemed to take less time as we were descending

Trek mount Pinatubo Philippines — It was getting hotter though

Pinatubo trek Zambales Philippines — That said…

Tarlac hills Pinatubo trek Philippines — I loved the geography! I had seen similar geography in photos my friends took from their treks up in Ladakh (North India) — but this was just 2 hours from Manila!

Pinatubo trek rest hut — Even though I was pretty tired, we didn’t stop for long at the huts

Mount Pinatubo trek end Philippines — We could see the jeeps, and it felt good!

Tarlac hills Pinatubo drive Philippines — The ride back was just as bumpy and dusty

Tarlac barren land Philippines — I highly recommend this trek for the geography!

Tarlac fields Philippines — It got even sunnier once we were back in the fields, but there were a few tour groups who were only now just beginning their trek!

By the time we got back to the base camp it was 1:30pm. We were all tired, sleepy and dusty! I washed up and if you pay, you can even take a shower there. After an hour of waiting for everyone in our van to re-group, we finally left the base camp and headed back to Manila.

I slept through much of the journey and by the time I woke up around 4pm, we were already in Manila. Gale asked the van to drop us at Cubao, from where she could get to her place quick and I could just walk to my hotel room.

At ₱2090 (Rs. 2800/$47/€35), the Mount Pinatubo trek it is one of the more expensive tours I have done. That said, it’s hard to get anything cheaper than this as the few other companies offering such tours charge about the same or more. The only way you’ll get it cheaper is if you are a laaarge group making a group booking. Regardless, I highly recommend TRIPinas Adventures. As per the itinerary they sent, this is how it was supposed to go:

03:30 Meet up (McDonalds in Ortigas area)
· Make sure to have your breakfast and buy your packed lunch and water
· Meet the tour coordinator – Pay your balance – Orientation – Sign the waiver form
06:30 ETA Brgy. Sta. Juliana (base camp)
06:45 to 07:15 Board 4×4 vehicles.
08:30 Start trekking (around 2 hours walking using the old way)
10:30 ETA at the crater of Mt. Pinatubo.
· Relax, photos, lecture, lunch (at clients’ account)
12:00 Start return trek (around 2 hours walking using the old way)
14:00 Back to the 4x4s.
15:00 Back at base camp. Freshen up
16:00 Departure from the base camp to Manila.
18:00-19:00 (depending traffic) ETA Manila

But we reached the crater at 9:30am and it was a relief to get there before many others. Trust me, the heat gets progressively worse later in the day and I don’t know how those who were only beginning their trek by the time we came back managed to do it! Who knows if the lake turns bright blue when the sun is at its hottest, but if you are more concerned about enjoying the trek — then beginning very early is what you should do. It’s also a lot cooler early in the morning. And had we re-grouped earlier, our van would have left the base camp and arrived back in Manila much earlier than 4pm. Oh, and those who wish to do the trek, better do it before May 31. May 31st is the last tour of season for many tour operators as treks are not allowed during rainy season — and that’s from June to October!

Still… I did it! I finally did the Mount Pinatubo trek and I’m so glad I did! This was definitely one of the biggest highlights of this trip (the other is Oslob, next post) and I couldn’t have started this journey on a better note (minus the cold I still had).

I ended my day by meeting Gale in the evening and treating her to dinner at Maginhawa street. I just wanted to thank her for making calls and doing all the tour bookings.

Mexican Express nachos shawarma Maginhawa — We first ate at Mexican Express and then I had a beef shawarma from Kazam’s next door (I was hungry)

Kazam restaurants Maginhawa street Philippines — A lot of nice, moderately-priced eateries on this block

If you enjoyed this post, then wait until you see the photos from my day swimming with whale sharks (butanding) in Oslob, Cebu! 🙂

Next posts in this series:

Philippines 2014: Oslob – Swimming with whale sharks

Philippines 2014: Tumalog Falls; Oslob church, Cuartel

Philippines 2014: Leaving Cebu for Davao; Davao City sights

Philippines 2014: Sky Cycle at Eden Nature Park, Davao

Philippines 2014: Attractions at Eden Nature Park… and getting lost

Philippines 2014: Philippine Eagle Center, Davao

Philippines 2014: Scuba diving for the first time, at Samal Island (Davao)

Philippines 2014: Japanese tunnel; leaving Davao for Manila

Philippines 2014: Bargain shopping in Manila; Paseo de Santa Rosa & Solenad

Philippines 2014: Corregidor Island tour

Philippines 2014: Manila Chinese Cemetery

Philippines 2014: Pahiyas Festival in Lucban; Kamay Ni Hesus

Previous post in this series:

Philippines 2014: The itinerary this time around; UP Diliman and Maginhawa

My Philippines journeys: 2011 series | 2013 series

Well, I did it. I visited Philippines a third time. Why? Well, truth be told, I was supposed to visit Japan in March. I have been longing to visit Japan since childhood, and I was dreaming about visiting Japan around the sakura (cherry-blossom) season for over a year now. But for reasons too long to mention (mostly related to income tax paper work for visa processing) I missed the cherry-blossom season. So I decided to visit Philippines instead, a country that always rewards me traffic-wise more than any other nation I have visited.

This time I would most certainly do the Mt. Pinatubo trek, visit Oslob and finally see whalesharks, fly down to Davao and visit places in and around Manila. Unlike last year, I didn’t face any harrowing experience getting my tourist visa. Although, it did cost me a dear Rs. 7k to get it done quick using Thomas Cook as an agent. I could have gone and applied for it myself, but I’m still scarred by the Chennai Philippines Consulate experience of last year.

Anyway, the trip was planned for 25 days. Mostly because now tourist visas are granted for up to 30 days of stay for Indians, not 21 like before. I also decided I wouldn’t rush around this time. I wanted to relax and take it easy for once. It’s okay if I didn’t go anywhere on a particular day. Plus I still had my freelance work to do while travelling.

April 26, 2014

Like last year, I was going to be flying Dragon Air from Bangalore to Hong Kong, and then catch a connecting Cathay Pacific flight to Manila. Even though the flight was slightly delayed, I was kind of impressed by the fact Dragon Air had remarkably improved its service on this sector.

Dragon Air interior Bangalore flight — Last year, the plane I flew was old, the in-flight entertainment sucked and the food was mediocre at best. This year, Dragon Air made flight depart earlier, every seat had a video screen with great entertainment choice and plane was very new!

Dragon Air Bangalore flight breakfast meal — I slept through much of the flight, only to wake up when it was time to eat breakfast

The stop-over at Hong Kong airport was around 5 hours and I used the opportunity to get some work done. I was feeling unwell, so the freezing cold inside the airport wasn’t helping. The flight from Hong Kong to Manila was Cathay Pacific, and all we were served on the flight was a chicken cheese wrap, of which I asked for one more as they had extras — and I was hungry.

I landed in Manila around 5pm and made my way to Cubao by bus. It was a mistake to take the bus — the journey took over two hours due to evening traffic. I finally made my way to the hotel I would be staying at. I decided to stay at Fersal Hotel on Annapolis Street in Cubao. It’s a budget hotel and I chose to stay here because it was close to where I could meet reader/friend Gale, who lived and worked near University of the Philippines, which wasn’t too far away. Also, most good hostels in Manila are all in Makati and Malate.

Fersal Annapolis hotel room Manila — It cost me PHP 1020 per night inclusive of breakfast

Spanish mushroom omlette breakfast Fersal hotel — And the breakfast options weren’t bad

The next day, I met up with my friend Gale, who offered to show me around University of the Philippines, Diliman campus — or UP Diliman as the locals call it. It’s also where she works as a researcher. Continue reading “Philippines: The itinerary this time around; UP Diliman and Maginhawa” »

Mithun Divakaran

Philippines: Trek to Mount Pinatubo crater lake

Philippines: The itinerary this time around; UP Diliman and Maginhawa

Day trip to Pyramid Valley meditation center

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