night drive
For a daytrip to Mt. Pinatubo, we decided to go with a tour agency named “Tripinas” as they seemed to have the most affordable rates at 2,999 PHP (53 USD) per person, this included a roundtrip private transfer and a guide.We actually did a second trip with them to the Hundred Islands in Pangasinan which was also a very good experience. The only thing difficult was for us was the early pick up around 3:00AM, that meant we weren’t getting much sleep.
The meeting spot was in San Juan. Since it was in the wee hours, the roads were pretty open and there wasn’t any traffic at all. Normally, it would have taken more than an hour to reach that place knowing Manila’s traffic, but this time it only took less than 20 minutes.
We got to the meet-up place and paid the fee and we transferred to another van that took us all the way to Zambales. I tried my best to sleep and I did enter this state of restfulness but it still wasn’t good enough to be considered as sleep.
The ride seemed both long and short at the same time but we eventually emerged out of the van and found ourselves at the hiking trail registration area. We submitted the required documents and started to eat some breakfast while watching the sunrise. At a nearby store, it cost 10 pesos to use the bathroom. We had to wait for an hour or something because we arrived a bit too early but soon we found ourselves on the 4×4 jeep with our guide, Domeng, and we were off to the famous lahar fields.
sunrise in the lahar fields
After the second half of the ride, we were finally ready to begin our hike. After just a couple of meters, it was time to cross a river, one of the dozens that we have to go through so at this point, I just took off my shoes and wore my slippers.
The hike itself was predominantly flat so it was very easy, what was suprising for me is that it was a very wide and open field hike. The only time I had a trek like this was during the Salkantay trek in Peru so it was definitely cool. We were technically still hiking on the lahar fields, except this time the remnant structures were much larger and more intense. Just how strong was the explosion? I can’t even imagine.
Seeing this huge expanse of land stretching all the way while being surrounded by mountains, it just made all the fatigue from this morning disappear. It was a 2 hour hike up. We had some brief stops every now and then, there were more native Aetas here washing their clothes, and kids playing around. This mountain was their home.
We also saw some carabaos resting by the stream. Shannon was getting quite tired while Jake and Janelle seemed to be enjoying themselves. I do tend to get too excited and go off on my own which irks Janelle sometimes, I was doing the same thing to her in Sanya so I tried my best to control my pace.
We got our reward when we reached the top as the summit’s crater lake made every step worth it, though Tagaytay’s Taal Volcano and Cebu’s Osmena Peak could also give it a run for it’s money. We hanged around here for a bit, eating brunch and recharging, enjoying the breeze and watching the clouds go by.
descent into rain
After getting our fill of food and photos, it was time to head back down. The skies looked a bit darker than it did when we arrived and it looked like it was going to rain soon. The trek back to our ride was another 2 hours, so the hike all in all amounts to around 4 hours.
The way back down was significantly easier, Janelle was having a hard time with a blister from wearing her flipflops so she switched to using shoes instead. Domeng knew the land pretty well and was able to guide her across each river without getting her feet wet.
The weather was much more calm and cooler as the clouds rolled in and we were going at a pretty smooth pace though my stomach was acting up quite a bit the whole day from getting food poisoning in El Nido.
It started to rain pretty hard just as we reached our 4×4 so everything turned out pretty fine in the end. The bumpy ride back was different from this morning’s. Everyone was tired and were knocked out cold and this ride seemed to take forever.
integrity & honesty
We transferred to the same van that took us here from Manila and were on our way back but not until Jake realized he had lost his wallet. His best guess was that it fell from his pocket during the 4×4 ride back as he remembered he still had it on him when he got on.
We told the driver and he drove back and had to do a lot of calls to try and reach the right driver. After some anxious waiting, the kind driver actually came back and delivered Jake his wallet.
Everyone got some handsome tips that day for being so cooperative and honorable. Big thanks to everyone at Tripinas for the amazing response and for showing us amazing Filipino culture. The ride back had terrible traffic so it took way longer to reach Manila so it was the perfect time to catch up on some much needed sleep.
