Pinatubo volcano crater lake

Two weeks ago, I was invited by some friends to visit Pinatubo crater lake. I immediately agreed to join them as I've seen a lot of interesting photos on the Internet. And who would not want to visit the crater lake created by one of the powerful volcanic eruptions during the last 100 years?

So we hop on a bus bound for Capas town in Tarlac, a province in Central Luzon, Philippines.  The aircon bus we boarded was at the Cubao terminal of Victory Terminal, which is right smack in the middle of Metro Manila.  We left rat 3AM, so as to arrive at our destination really early to avoid trekking under the harsh summer sun.

After around 2 hours of dawn travel on the North Luzon expressway, we arrive at McDonald's Capas, where a jeepney picked us up and took us to the place for renting 4x4s.

Forty five minutes later, we arrive at the offroad vehicle pickup  point in Capas town,  There is a sign from Phivolcs (the government agency  Philippine Institute of Volcanology) which warns tourists of the dangers of swimming in the crater lake.

This is where you will also rent the offroad vehicles, which will take you to different jump-off points for trekking to Pinatubo crater lake.  Note that you cannot choose 4x4s and drivers; there is a queue like most Philippine public transport terminals.

the 1980's Landcruiser assigned to our group

After filling up a 1 page registration form, the tourists board their respective 4x4 vehicles like the one pictured above during the hour long offroading part of the trek.

The first few minutes of the ride was a smooth one as it was mostly through level plains.  After about 20 minutes, the vehicles stopped at  a makeshift rest area, which also offered good scenic views.

Alrighty, after the brief pit stop which allowed us to take more stable shots of the unique landscape leading to the crater, our vehicles started their engines again and off we go!

Just to give you an idea of how bumpy the ride was

I can't really find words to describe how bumpy the ride was during the second stage of the offroading.  But we were so enjoying the awesome views that none in our group complained. (or perhaps they were too shaken) You will definitely enjoy the unique landscape altered drastically by a catastrophic combination of violent volcanic forces and tropic storms.

photo ops abound even before you reach the crater

There were a few instances wherein we felt our vehicle or someone else's vehicle was close to tipping over due to the extremely rugged terrain.  But hey, if you are an adventurous thrill seeker, that actually enhances the experience even more.

Some tourists will disembark from the 7 km marker and continue on foot to truly enjoy the volcano trek.  But some vehicles will continue to push on for another 6 kilometers, leaving only the last 1 km for tourists who wish to save time (and obviously effort)

Pinatubo also has non-human inhabitants. (Pinapaitan Kaldereta)

Arriving at the final rest area

the final rest area which just 1 km from the crater lake

in case you didn't believe my previous caption. :)

After disembarking from the vehicles, all tourists will have to make the final 1km segment on foot as no vehicles cannot continue past this point.  You shouldn't really complain as prior to the creation of the 7km vehicular trail leading to Pinatubo crater lake, mountaineers had to hike for a much greater distance on foot.

age stereotyping?

The last 1 km will involve crossing streams, so wear the appropriate hiking shoes or sandals. When we visited in May, it was the peak of the Philippine summer so the streams did not have much water flowing.

You have arrived

It took us a little longer than the posted benchmark for our age group.  (But we had to make a few stops and take photos! Excuses, excuses)

Anyway, to be continued in my next blog post....