elle_kape and tj1777 enjoying breakfast

Rain, Lightning and Thunder ��" what a way to end our volcano visit J

Since it was late in the afternoon already and the sky had somewhat darkened - a sure signal that it might rain anytime, we decided to head back and descend the trail.

Rochelle, Dennie and I stayed with our horses (I was too tired to walk) while Nickey and Mickey opted to take a hike. Going down I guess was easier and so reaching the foot was faster than climbing the top. We gave tips to our guide - they did a great job after all. We went back to our boat (where Ed our guide was waiting) and head back to Talisay.

Mickey and Nickey taking a hike

It was perfect timing ��" when we were on our boat already, the rain poured really hard. We arrived in the resort just in time to take shelter. But we were not spared from the lightning and thunder. The weather now was so different than it was in the morning. We needed to wait for an hour for the rain, lightning and thunder to stop. Nickey recorded everything.

waiting for the rain to stop

I was kind of worried when the rain would stop.

TB names: nomaden, bestblog, moonvera, minx2812, elle_kape and tj1777

checking photos while waiting

Thankfully, after an hour or so, the rain slowed down and so we were able to go back to the metro in time for dinner J

heading home

It was a fun-filled amazing day.

a happy Nickey :)

real names (not in particular order tho) : Mickey and Nickey, Rochelle and Raquel, Dennie and Yhelee? hehehe...

Reaching the volcano J

Finally, we reached the top and the view on the crater was awesome. It was worth the wait, the ride, my leave - everything. I’m soooooo glad we decided to travel here. And with travbuddies!!! Ah, this is the good life J

the crater :)

Taal volcano is known to be as a ‘volcano inside a volcano’ because many believed that the lake that circles the volcano was once a crater or mouth of a volcano.  It is still an active volcano and had last erupted last 1977.  Well, thanks to Raquel’s agreement with the volcano gods, it didn’t erupt the day we went there LOL.  

it must be hot down there

Some info from Wiki:

The Volcano Island contains a lake about 2 km across, called Crater Lake. Within Crater Lake is another small volcanic island, called Vulcan Point. Vulcan Point is the world's largest island within a lake on an island within a lake on an island.

island within a lake on an island....

We stayed on top overlooking the crater for a an hour or so (maybe two). It was a good spot to relax and to enjoy the view.

Just enjoying the view

a buko treat

what's wrong Mickey? you don't like your bus seat? hehe.. :)

Horseback riding with TravBuddies J

We were lucky - the weather was great when we arrived in the island. We paid 50 pesos for entrance fee and discussed among ourselves whether to hike to the crater or to ride the horses. Well, Mickey wanted to hike but since the girls wanted to ride the horses, he politely obliged J very kind of you Mickey.

TB's cowgirls.. er horsegirls? LOL

Each horse cost us 300 pesos and each of us had a guide for our ride. Mine was Glenda and my horse was named Seven. It was weird however for Mickey whose guide was a 9-month-old pregnant woman who insisted it was okay for her to have some walk as exercise before her husband would meet us and took over her role. Well, it’s not everyday you see a pregnant woman walking alongside a horse whose rider was a 6.4 feet tall man, hehe.

enjoying the ride

So we rode for 30 minutes or so meeting other tourists along the way (Filipinos and foreigners alike, some of them riding and others hiking). There were also many Koreans hiking to the crater and one particular Korean woman got our attention. She was hiking the trail with high-heeled sandals. That must have been a torture for her. But she made it and she even hiked the trail back in the same sandals. What a woman! :) 

Boat ride to the volcano with TravBuddies J

After a full lunch, we set off to cross the lake and to climb the crater. Ed who had been so patient led us to the Villa Manalo Beach Resort where his boat was waiting. The five of us had fun squeezing ourselves to fit Ed’s tricycle going to the shore. For the boat ride, we paid Ed 1, 500 pesos (300 for each of us) and it was well worth it.

squeezing ourselves to fit in the tricyle 

our boat ride

all set for the ride :)

i love taal

nickey and mickey enjoying the jeepney ride :)

Getting our energies ready to climb the volcano J

By the time we arrived Talisay, we were already starving.

We asked Ed, our guide where we can have our lunch and he brought us to a simple restaurant, which surprisingly cooks very delicious food. There was nothing fancy on how the place looks. It was so simple, almost like a home with long tables but the food was just superbly done. I love it. The name of the place was not visible outside but it looked like RNA? Am not sure. Arg, I have bad memory - places as wonderful as this need to be remembered. L

Anyway, the food was great and very affordable, like each of us spent more or less a hundred pesos for our lunch.

chicken adobo  

lumpia shanghai

beef and potato - now who can ever forget the cow's sacrifice? hahaha...

dennie and mickey

And we’re ready to conquer the active Taal volcano… yippee!!! J

 

Finally… we’re ready to go see a volcano within a volcano…

 

 

We agreed to meet at the hotel at 7 am and to have breakfast together. And since the memory of the evening’s meet-up is still fresh, we had fun talking about it at the hotel café and finished breakfast by 8:30. Then we bade Raquel goodbye. It was just sad that she can’t go with us and it was also sweet of her to send us a message that she had already asked the volcano gods to be nice to us and make sure that the volcano won’t erupt today. LOL

 

 

 

Breakfast at the hotel with nomaden, bestblog, moonvera, minx2812, elle_kape and tj1777

 

And so we rode the bus going to Tagaytay City (from the bus terminal in Pasay near MRT Taft).

Talisay port

Oh my, I forgot the exact fare but I’m sure it was less than a hundred. Then we got off after an hour or so and rode the jeepney to ride the jeepney going to Talisay, hahaha. For that we paid 50 pesos each.

jeepney ride: Nickey and Mickey :-)

It took us the whole morning to reach the municipality of Talisay where we have to ride a boat to the volcano. Poor Mickey - he was stuck with us ladies who ‘hated to wake up early, hehe’. Originally he planned to leave Manila for Taal at 5 AM. We left at 9 AM. Sorry Mickey J

arriving at Talisay

arriving at Talisay

Visiting Taal Volcano with TravBuddies

it's my 3rd month in travbuddy :) and i'm with travbuddies!!! life is sooo great...

and what an experience!

we traveled by bus, by jeep, by tricycle, by boat and yes, by horse and by foot :)

PLUS we have lightnings and thunders too, haha :)           

Nickey (minx2812), Raquel (moonvera), Rochelle (elle_kape) and Dennie (nomaden) confirmed in the forums that they are joining the manila meet-up and so I thought why not invite them to go to Tagaytay and visit the volcano? Fortunately, they agreed (except for Raquel who needs to be with her family for a wedding).

will we all fit in one tricycle?

However, nobody in the group really knew how to get there. I've been to Tagaytay but not in the crater itself. Rochelle had been there but she was with a group and can't exactly remember how to get there. Dennie is from Cebu and not familiar with Luzon as well. And Nickey, well of course, she would not know a thing on the area since it's her first time in the country.

Oh no.. how to go there?

We asked fellow travbuddies who were in the dinner meet-up for some tips and Foyan, Irah, Josh and the others had been very helpful but still the information is not enough.

After some talks with travbuddies, we found out that Mickey (tj1777) is also planning to go there on the 18th - alone. Hahaha, here I was, a Filipina myself who had been around in the area worried to death how to go to the area and here's Mickey with no worries at all intending to go to the same volcano and  alone.

Dennie: i love life :)

So, we invited Mickey to join us and we were glad he accepted our invitation and so I started to relax. Yeah, maybe we don't need grand plans - just go with the flow and enjoy :)

Just the same, Rochelle and I discussed whether to rent a van for the group from Manila to Batangas or not. That would cost us more or less 3 thousand I guess. And before the meet-up ended, we decided to go by public transport - which turned out to be a good idea.

We left Harbor Square and our fellow travbuddies around midnight on the 17th and since I organized the whole Taal thing, I believed it was my responsibility to know more information of the place. Good thing Kabayan Hotel had free wifi in the rooms so before sleeping, I searched for travel blogs in TravBuddy hoping to learn more info about going to Taal and I was super-super glad that I read Jan-na's (travelinabudget) blog "Experiencing Taal Charm" and found there contact numbers for possible tour guides. It was that night that I truly appreciated TravBuddy - the site is really, really helpful :)

Thank you! :)