Climb: Taal

I went trekking yesterday (Saturday) with Geland at Taal Volcano Island. It wasn't really a planned climb, but since I had to meet up with my parents this weekend and they were going to Talisay anyway, I recruited Gel to go trekking.

It's been 14 years since I last climbed Taal Volcano (back in my boy scout days). I remember it to be a dusty (volcanic ash blown around by the wind), hot and a thirsty adventure back then. It still is.

We arrived at Taal's shores at noontime. Donning on bandanas to prevent "dush" (dust+ash) inhalation, we hiked along the tourist trail. There were a lot of Koreans that day, but all of them were on horseback. The tourist trail is an easy trek of about an hour at a moderate pace. It would have been shorter by about 15 minutes if we didn't need to avoid the horses now and then.

We had a 10-minute break at the rim of the volcano's crest and drank from chilled coconuts to refresh ourselves.

Now starts the adventure part.

Going down the crater to reach the crater lake will cost us 2500 pesos if we availed of a guide. Since Geland is the adventurous-type, we decided to gung-ho it sans guide. We searched around for a probable trail, found one and followed it. We had to manage a couple of steep slopes, walk along a portion of the rim (a steep drop both sides) and soon found ourselves in another reststop. Took us about 25-minutes, but the loose ash+soil made the trek a bit tiring.

Catching our breath at the reststop and planning our next route, a group of people were approaching us from another trail. And lo: there was Billy Joe Crawford. Boka talaga ni Geland, and he was quickly engaged in a casual conversation with him. Look for their picture at my smugmug (Geland: "Stippy, picture please!"). Click.

There's a bamboo gate at the reststop which is chained and locked. Apparently, it's the shortest route to get down to the lake. Luckily, Billy Joe and his companion were planning on going down to the lake and so the gate was opened. Yahooo!

The descent to the crater lake is 400 STEEP STEPS. Going down was manageable.

At the lake, we rested a bit, took pictures, waded in the sulfur-smelling water and chatted a bit with Billy Joe. Soon, we had to climb up back to the rest-station.

Climbing up was physically demanding. I take pride in being a physically fit person, and I think that Geland is in a better shape than me if not at par, but we had to stop four times to catch our breaths. When we got back to the reststop on top, we were more than glad to rest and raise our legs on the bamboo benches.

We took a different trail to return to our starting point. We passed by a barrio and appreciated it's idyllic ambiance.

Back at Talisay, we had lunch (time: 430 pm) and wolfed down inihaw na tilapia and sinigang na hipon. Busog!

Every step of the trek was worth it. Despite the muscle fatigue (guess what time I woke up the following day), I had fun, felt proud and enjoyed everything.

Pictures here.

Thanks to Tito Carlito and Tita Virgie for hosting us. Lunch was superb!

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Getting to Taal

From South Luzon Expressway, take Batangas exit and go towards STAR (Southern Tagalog Arterial Road). At STAR, exit at Sambat going towards Talisay/Tagaytay.

After Barangay Quiling, you'll come across a fork in the road with plenty of "Boat Rentals" signs and billboards (the path at the right will bring you to Tagaytay). Just stop there and wait for one of the barkers to approach you, hehehe. Or if you want referrals to my Tito Carlito (who runs a boat service to Taal volcano island), send me a message.

Boat ride to Taal volcano island from Talisay is about 20 minutes. Cost is 1500-3500 pesos, depending on your nationality.

At the island, the registration fee (sanctioned by Department of Tourism) is 50 pesos per head.

Horses are available for rental at 500-800 pesos each. Or you can be cheap and adventurous like us and just go hiking.

At the crater rim (top of the tourist trail), fresh chilled coconuts are for sale at 30 pesos each (or 1 USD).