Just a couple of overdue photographs from my trip to Mt. Pinatubo with six of my college friends a few months back.
Okay just a little FYI for the uninitiated, Mt. Pinatubo, according to the all knowing Wikipedia, is “an active stratovolcano located on the island of Luzon, at the intersection of the borders of the Philippine provinces of Zambales, Tarlac, and Pampanga. It is located in the Tri-Cabusilan Mountain range separating the west coast of Luzon from the central plains, and is 42 km (26 mi) west of the dormant and more prominent Mount Arayat[3], occasionally mistaken for Pinatubo. Ancestral Pinatubo was a stratovolcano made of andesite and dacite. Before 1991, the mountain was inconspicuous and heavily eroded. It was covered in dense forest which supported a population of several thousand indigenous people, the Aeta, who had fled to the mountains from the lowlands during the protracted Spanish conquest of the Philippines which first commenced in 1565.”
We left the bus terminal, in Cubao, at around 5:30 / 6:00 AM. I was pretty much asleep during the whole bus ride so I wasn’t really able to take photos during that time. I think we reached Capas, Tarlac at around 7:30 AM. First stop was McDonalds for breakfast.
After breakfast, it was another 1 1/2 hour jeepney ride to Sta. Juliana, Tarlac, where we will meet our tour guide and pick up rented 4×4 jeepney.
Took a few snaps during the jeepney ride.
So we eventually got to Sta. Juliana to meet our tour guide and driver. We had to rent to 4×4 jeeps, since they would only allow 3-4 people per jeep.
Stop over for picture taking and what not.
The Pinatubo Experience Crew! From left to right: Lee, Gian, Gino, Sam and Josh…ow, the guy on top of the jeeps is the tour guide.
After another 2 hour ride, we finally reached Mt. Pinatubo. Take note of the estimated time of trekking to the crater.
A very nice sentiment…I’ll try to keep this one in mind.
After a…. um…. 30 minute trek, we reached the crater. And I must say, the view is really something. Too bad I had B&W film loaded in my camera, oh well.
The Pinatubo Experience Crew resting and taking a few photos of the crater after the 30 minute trek.
Heading down the crater of Pinatubo…
One of the things you could do when you reach the crater is you could take a boat ride through the whole area. Unfortunately, the small boats were smashed by the typhoon Ondoy which struck the country a few weeks back. I took some photos of the boat men repairing and repainting them.
Our tour guide…never got his name though.
The P.E.C resting before heading back .
It was another 2-hour ride going back to Sta. Juliana. We stopped to take photos of the Aeta community living near that area.
After reaching Sta. Juliana, of course we had to take a jeepney back to the city proper.
We stayed over Lee’s place in Tarlac, pretty cozy house and his parents we’re really accomodating. We had a good dinner that night. We didn’t want to stay up late, since everyone was pretty exhausted from the trip and all.
So the following morning…
The last frame I took of our Pinatubo Experience.
I guess that’s about it. I’ve been quite lazy in taking photos during the last quarter of last year. Crap. I’m a bit out of shape, photography wise. I promise myself to take more photographs this year. Anyway, I hope you like this set. Sorry for the crappy write ups and all. Thanks for stopping by!
