Trekking @ Mount Pinatubo and What Not

I heard a lot good reviews about trekking in Mount Pinatubo. Luke and JC went there last year and was jealous seeing them riding those 4 x 4 trucks, err and the crater of Moutn Pinatubo din pala. Luckily Dom organized a trip for Pinatubo a couple of weeks and as soon as I read his announcement I immediately texted him and ask for a reservation. Was suprised also that Rosa

and her AG are joining the trip. Ang saya! The more the mannier! Jejejeje

Meeting time is 4:14 AM @ Shell McKinley. Shucks! Ang aga! Went home from PM around 11:00PM na then eat (i asked my nanay to cooked porkchop bbq even on a friday!) and watch a movie pa till 12:30AM. Then woke up before 3:00AM for Rosa to pick me up and Che then go to Kuya Ef house for our service to Makati.

The trip to Dau took us 1 hour then spend a couple of minute to buy pack lunch and then rode the 4 x 4 trucks (yes!) all the way to Capas Tarlac! 

Nasagap ko ata lahat ng usok along the highway! Jejeje

On the way to Pinatubo

After 2 hours we arrive to this Pinatubo Spa Town where Dom need to register us trekkers and gave us some time to go to the bathroom and freshen up before our trek.

Welcome powh!

4 x 4 All line-up

After making chikka with other people and putting our protective gears for the dust (errr..sila lang pala kasi wala akong dalang pangprotekta) we start our drive to Pinatubo. The first pit stop is a very wide space na puro buhangin and small streams of water. The place looks like this...



According to our guide this place used to be a vast sugarcane fields but it vanished after the eruption. Then I remember the proposal project that I made 2 years ago for Capas Ethanol project, and i was like "where the hell are they going to get the sugarcane to use for this Ethanol plant". And yesterday I sit down corrected. The thing is tarlac has sugarcane sources pala! Now I know jejeje.

The walls of lahar

Sabi ni guide, the place is the location shoot for those GMA-7's sci-fi telenovela a few years ago. (Forgot to ask what's the name though). The place reminds me of the sand dunes of Saudi, minus the water streams of course =D

Che inspecting her camera

After a couple of hours driving we finally start our trek to Pinatubo crater. This is the part i've been waiting for. Good choice I wore a trekking shoes instead of a sandals coz konti lang naman ang mga streams of water we've encountered (plus i dont have sandals! waaaa!).

The lahar wall and me

Parking lot of 4 x 4

During the trek it's hard to find a place to sit down and take a rest, unlike in Batulao where there is a shack after 15 minutes of walk. And it came as a suprised to find a Kubo in the middle of the mountain. Yehey!!! Pahinga galore!

After 20 minutes of trekking again, we've finally arrived at the crater! Wohoo!! And this thing greeted us a the entrance..

God's reminds us on how he can create and destroy life with just one snap

Welcome po sa crater!

In fairness, daming tao sa crater! Met a whole family, a balikbayan, a retires US servicemen (from Clark i suppose) and a lot of young professionals. It's like a pasiklaban ng mga DSLR! Did the DSLR convention moved to Pinatubo? Jejejeje

Thank you Lord for the good weather=D

After eating our lunch and made some acquaintance we descend to the crater lake for the boating. According to our guide its a 170 steps daw. It was easy going down but it was hell going up!!!!

Kuya Ef made it to the other boat coz puno na boat namin. Good thing coz at least we have picture from other the other side. Dom was with him as well. And Josh ,the nice kid we've met (i say kid coz he relly looks so young, eventhough he's working na as a accountant) at the trip.

At the other side of the crater we descend, Faith tried to feel if the water is really hot, and indeed it was true. Nope i didn't tried to touch the waters coz paranoid ako sa mga acid thingy things. LoL! Crazy me noh?

I have to admit the place is awesome! It's like your in the magical world of LOTR. Winner!!! Would love to go to that area where there is sandlike slopes kaso it's on the other side of the crater. So far from where we deck. =(. But still it's nice to view them from afar.

KE, ang huma-hardcore photographer!


That's the area i want to explore sana!
River (lake deep) Mountain high!

A lot of vegetation flourished on the crater lake, wonder how this plants live on this type of water.

Fact: Walang isda sa crater, di ata kaya ang sulfuric acidity level ni Pinatubo.
False: Hindi puedeng maligo sa Pinatubo.
Fiction: Kaya kong languyin to the other side of the lake.

Bato sa buhanginan


Yay! Uwian na!!

All in all the trip is awesome. Btw, before we went to the crater we had a small outreach for the Aeta's living in Pinatubo. We brought clothes, books, school things and some small snacks for the kids. It was heartwarming to see the smiles in their faces upon receiving the gifts. Didn't took photos during the event coz i was handling out the clothes to the adults. I hope they appreciate the little gifts that we've gave them.

Special Thanks to Dong Ho for oganizing the trip, to Shy's AG for the food and kwento, for KE for the service, to our guide Rennan for helping Shy and Dory make it to the top, to the mamang bangkero (pic below) for the safe trip on the other side of the crater, and most specially to all the trekkers who joined us thank you for being a sport. Thanks so much!

Naks! Si Kuya all smiles (kasi puro chicks kasama nia sa bangka)

Thank you and godbless you all!