The Philippines! Tagaytay and the Taal Volcano
The journey begins
We woke up fairly early the next day to drive out to Tagaytay, a resort area southwest of Manila that developed around the idyllic view of the Taal Volcano and its somewhat cooler climate. Our uncle kept remarking that it is so cold in Tagaytay (it is about 2,000 feet/610 meters) above sea level. So the day we visited the high temperature in Manila was about 85F/29C, and in Tagaytay it was a bit cloudy and about 75F/23C. FRIGID.
Enjoying taho in a Jollibee… the Filipinx breakfast dream
If one were to drive straight from the front door of our hotel to Tagaytay, the trip would have taken about 2 hours. But this is Manila, and this is our family. We drove to the south side of Manila to pick up our aunt but made a stop at a gas station to move people into different cars for some reason. My sister remarked that there was someone selling taho in front of the Jollibee and our aunt sprung into action. My sister’s face fell as she realized what she had done, and now what could have been a 2-minute exercise turned into a 45-minute pit stop because our aunt bought us taho, and then because we were in front of a Jollibee everybody realized they wanted breakfast. I had never had taho but I have to say it was not my favorite Filipino treat I have tried; I am not that into sweets and the textures were not appealing to me. Our uncle told us to be careful because taho can make you, in his words, poo poo. My sister and her boyfriend enjoyed the stuff, and luckily they helped me finish the taho so my aunt was not offended.
Volcanic activity
Once we got onto the expressway outside Manila things went a bit faster as the urban sprawl gave way to lush and bright green jungle and savannah. We got off the highway and turned down a smaller road that was lined with vacation homes, furniture stores, and fresh fruit stalls. I could see why this would be such an appealing place to escape from the poor air quality and noise of Manila. Our aunts’ car in front of us pulled over at one point and they both got out. They were gesturing and speaking quickly in Tagalog and it seemed like they were upset. Our uncle told us that they had just heard on the news that the volcano was somewhat active and they were nervous about visiting. The Taal volcano is one of the most active in the world, having confirmed evidence of about 35 eruptions over the last 400 years. The last time it erupted was in 1977 and our relatives are old enough to remember.
Our uncle asked us if we felt alright about visiting the volcano, and since we did not see any smoke plumes or smell anything weird, we thought it seemed fine. We drove up the ridge of Tagaytay, and then back down a really windy road to the shore of the lake where there were numerous tourist boat outfits waiting to take us to the volcano. We had assumed that our aunts and uncle would be going with us, but they informed us that they would be taking a long seafood lunch and the driver would be going with us as a chaperone — the driver who chain-smoked when he was not driving, and was wearing leather dress shoes. I got the sense that he was as surprised as we were. Our uncle arranged the boat transport and sent us on our way with the encouraging sentiment that he hoped Godzilla did not find us and molest us.
The boat ride from Tagaytay to the volcano takes about half an hour, and it was so amazing to see the landscape from that perspective. The lake is full of tilapia and other kinds of wildlife. When we landed we were guided to a tourist office where our chaperone paid for a guide. She told us we would be hiking about 5 kilometers (a little over 3 miles) and our chaperone groaned. I got the sense that he did not do much physical activity. The hike was pretty mellow, winding up through farms with little shacks along the way with benches, and snacks and drinks for sale. It was the low season, so many of the snack proprietors were napping in hammocks and only poked their heads up to see if we were coming towards them, and then ducked away when it was clear we were not going to be spending money with them.
As we got closer to the top, the trail became much steeper and it did not appear to be maintained in any real capacity so it was eroded in odd ways in certain spots. There were places in the trail that were steaming which gave it all a very spooky atmosphere. At the top there were shacks and shelters built into the side of the volcano, as well as boardwalks and a viewing platform to look into the caldera from the top. It was so interesting to see the steam rising up from the sides of the caldera and how much was alive around this potentially lethal feature.
The hike and journey were beautiful, and unfortunately our chaperone busted one of his shoes scrambling up the trail. He had to buy rubber flip flops and walk back down very carefully. I felt like we had really ruined his day but he seemed to have a good attitude about it all. We schlepped back down the hillside, and as we were walking dark clouds started to form overhead. By the time we were halfway across the lake we were in the middle of a violent storm and soaked from the big waves and sideways rain. It was both hilarious and terrifying, but we made it back safe and inhaled burritos at some tourist restaurant before driving back to Manila.
Not sure why Will looks so uncomfortable…