Trekking Mount Pinatubo

Written by: Renante Arcillas

Mount Pinatubo was once declared as a dormant volcano, meaning dead, inactive and something that is not to be feared of because it can be considered harmless.

Crater of Mount Pinatubo

Preluded by numerous Luzon earthquakes in the previous year, Mount Pinatubo erupted in June 1991 like a pretty woman experiencing a mood swing.  

The surrounding provinces of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga were devastated when mixture of water and pyroclastic materials furiously flowed towards towns and villages that led to millions worth of damages and loss of lives.  

In spite of our heroes' effort to recover and put the surroundings to normalcy, two U.S. military bases moved out of the country due to its close proximity to the volcano.  Mount Pinatubo is approximately 14 kilometres west of the former Clark Air Base, and 37 kilometres north of the former US Naval Base Subic Bay.

Mount Pinatubo largely became part of the earth's meteorological history for it changed its rapidly warming weather.  Because of the tons of volcanic ashes it threw into the atmosphere, it blocked the sun's heat from entering our planet and eventually cooled it down.  It is nice to know that after this 'suddenly awakened giant' did something horrible to most Filipinos, it still did something good.

Taking Photos in Mount Pinatubo

In May 2010, I had the opportunity to experience the new Mount Pinatubo. 

After almost two hours travelling by bus from Manila to the province of Tarlac, the 45-minute 4x4 vehicle ride and the 20-minute (or maybe it was 30 minutes for me) trek, we finally reached the mouth of the famous volcano. 

There were plenty of private 4x4 vehicles already parked when we arrived at the starting point of the trek. These vehicles are powerful enough to go up the mountain. The drivers are group of experts and they deal with this almost everyday. Let them drive you up. 

It is absolutely not advisable to use your own vehicle.

Swimming in Mount Pinatubo

I was amazed with the lake's wondrous beauty. 

The water was just perfect, a mixture of blue and green-turquoise-coloured crater lake that made me speechless and gave me the shivers witnessing it at closer view. Our tour guide told us that it could be murky shade of brown at times though. My photos won't lie.  

The view was breathtaking!

You can compare the majestic scenery to the landscape background used in the "Lord of the Rings" movie which was entirely shot in New Zealand, but instead of snow, it was lahar and other volcanic residue covered the mountain.

Carabaos in Mount Pinatubo

The crater-lake is now called Lake Pinatubo and a hot spot in Zambales. Subsequent rainfall cooled and diluted the lake, lowering the temperature and making it safe to dive in the water. We were made aware of its unimaginable depth but did not stop us as we jumped out with our life vests.  

The boats were designed like the ones in Burnham Park in Baguio City but these boats in Mount Pinatubo seem unsinkable.  With the combination of good boats, the best guides and smiling-faced paddlers, truly, the enjoyment of crossing Lake Pinatubo from end to end was on its highest level.  Parts of the landscape can give you the feeling that you are in another planet. It's really worth the trip. This adventure is worth remembering.

Just some piece of advice. 

Wear safe footwear when you go trekking here as there are plenty of sharp rocks and uneven path before you reach your destination.  Other necessities are bottles of drinking water, some energy food, flash light, trekking gear, hike shoes, sunglasses, extra clothes and swim wear.

Please keep in mind that this is not a beach.  It is a lake on the crater of a volcano.  Take precautions. 

 Swim at your own risk.

Author Bio: 

Renante is a writer, director, blogger, municipal councilor and a TV show host based in Santo Tomas, Batangas. He writes and directs events and travel coverages to most part of the Philippine islands. Ante as he is fondly called is the creator of a character "Super Talipa" shown to the public of his hometown.

The Incident in Paris that Touched our Lives

A lot has been said about Paris and what I am sharing about this beautiful place is the good feeling when my aircraft smoothly touches the tarmac of the Charles De Gaulle International Airport. It is a little over an hour flight from Copenhagen Airport (formerly Kastrup Airport) to CDG Airport in Paris.
  

I am not new to travelling when I decided to visit Paris. To my mind, coming here is an accomplishment that I consider a dream come true.  It is my longest stay in a city (next to Rome) on a 17-day tour of Europe.  Understandably, I make sure that I am not missing any of those well publicised famous attractions.

Avenue des Champs-Élysées  and Arc de Triomphe in Paris FRANCE Photo Credit: Freefoto

I already have a good impression of France right at the airport.

My taxi driver is such a humble, polite and patient human being. He is not in a rush on our way to Hotel Harvey close to Palais des Congres and Champs Elysees.

I recommend this hotel to my fellow budget-conscious traveller as it is cheaper than other hotels around with the same class and is a walking distance to Arc de Triomphe and other must-see places.

The Front Desk staff are so helpful and very professional. It doesn't matter how early in the day and late at night that I come to their rescue, there is always one who will make us really feel important. To think that I always make my reservation online, I do not have the slightest idea on how this will go.

Hotel Harvey is not even a 4-star hotel but the services that they are showing are far beyond my expectation. This hotel is just one of the many that offers excellent service. 

It's More Fun In The Philippines!

The new slogan of the Department of Tourism in its campaign to boost the number of foreign visitors to the country, has been met with both acclaim and derision.


The leakage of the slogan, “It’s more fun in the Philippines,” in online social networks way before its official launch was welcomed as free publicity for the country by Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr.
Tourism officials, however, do not have the luxury of having fun lurking on Twitter or Facebook to gauge public reaction to the re-engineered marketing campaign.

They need to work double time to finish the construction of the Philippines’ new tourism portal.

As of last weekend, netizens who logged on to www.itsmorefuninthephilippines.com see on the site’s index page could only see a slideshow of George Tapan’s photographs of climbing the Banawe Rice Terraces(with the text “Getting upstairs. More fun in the Philippines”); swimming with a whale shark (“Status updates. More fun in the Philippines”) and riding a banca (“Commuting. More fun in the Philippines”).

A brief statement in part reads: “Wherever you go in the Philippines, it’s the Filipinos that will make your holiday unforgettable… In fact, Lonely Planet guidebook calls us ‘among the most easygoing and ebullient people anywhere.’ Find out for yourself why it’s more fun in the Philippines. And make the most out of your next vacation.”

The website should be finished soon for it to make the most out of the curiosity-driven frequency of page hits. In the meantime, critics who slam the new slogan as a rip-off of a six-decade-old Swiss tourism advertisement should give their lament a rest and re-channel their energies into bridging the disconnect between the slogan and many of the nation’s realities.

Instead of complaining because of the DOT’s use of a supposedly pre-loved line (we give Jimenez the benefit of the doubt, that the campaign is no copycat), why not accept it as a challenge to prove that it’s indeed more fun here than in Switzerland or any other place on earth?

For a change, some critics might consider refraining from spoiling the fun, which they do by their constant mimicking of the shrew. Then, the rest of the naggers may lighten up and stop flagellating self and neighbor with their sarcastic litany (“Traffic. It’s more fun in the Philippines;” “Pollution. It’s more fun the Philippines;” “Robberies. It’s more fun in the Philippines;” “Bloody drinking and videoke sessions. It’s more fun in the Philippines.”)

Every Filipino knows in their heart of hearts that it takes more than just a slogan to vanquish the poverty and corruption that plague the land. Wasting time and energy fighting over the battle catchphrase does not help.

Source: Inquirer News