Surreal.
"O Lord, how many are Your works! In wisdom, You made it all. The earth is full of your creatures" Psalm 104:24
Many would probably remember waking up to an unusually gloomy morning in 1991 with snow like droplets started to appear from the sky. I was a young kid then, gullible and innocent as I was, I really thought it was snow, minus the cold breeze. It was uncanny. Of course it was not snowing in the Philippines! The sky turned gray and white ashes started to fall from the sky not because of global warming or because a nature elemental was getting married, but simply because of the world-renowned eruption of Mt. Pinatubo.
That eruption changed everything. People say, there is always two view points in every story, you either view it as a misfortune or as a blissful occurrence. They also say, when God closes a door, He opens a window, doesn’t He? Though the eruption destroyed a lot of lives both here and abroad, it brought forth a haven that is surreal.
Could I still be in my homeland?
First impressions last. I fell in love with the place even before I got there. It was love at first sight thanks to social networking sites and pictures of friends who got there. Instantly, Pinatubo became part of my bucket list.
As summer was fast approaching, I contacted e-philippines* for a tour package. Upon learning that it would be better and cheaper to get to Pinatubo if we were a large group (the more the merrier!), I immediately invited a lot of people. By God’s grace, I got 12 friends to join me. Each of us spent Php 2,000 for round-trip air-conditioned transfers (From Metro Manila to Tarlac and back), 4x4 ride with driver, all permits and fees, and local mountain guide.
We left Manila at 4:00am (you can choose the best pick-up location for your group). We had breakfast in McDonald’s in Capas, Tarlac on our personal account. When we got to the registration hall, everything was fixed, so we just registered and off we go. We had the liberty to choose the 4x4 cars we wanted to use. It was a long, bumpy and dusty ride and thank God for sunglasses that protected our eyes from the dirt and everything else. An hour of traveling with the view of the ashes and mountain ranges made everything worthwhile. It was a splendid view and itself is majestic enough. Hard to believe we were walking and moving on volcanic ashes.
After roughly an hours travel in the 4x4 ride, we could almost smell and feel the mountain. The 4x4 ride ended up at the foot of the volcano and we had to trek up the mountain to get to the crater. Rubber shoes and obedience to the rule “pack light” saved us in this obstacle. It was not a steep climb except in the part where cement steps were already built, which is really near the crater already. It took us about 45 minutes to reach the top.
We were greeted by the signage “Welcome to Mount Pinatubo.” I could not explain the feeling. I was so excited. Some of my friends already went to the viewpoint to see the landscape of the crater, while I stayed in front of the signage to take snapshots. I had to prepare myself for the view that I was going to see. It was another dream come true. I could hear all their reactions— full of praise, and I could also see their faces in awe. As moved forward to get a glimpse of the view, I could not utter a single word. My jaw dropped open, blood started to rush all over my body, goose bumps started to raise up.. it was unimaginable. It was surreal. I could not believe what’s right in front of me. I could not believe I was standing in the crater of the very volcano that destroyed a lot of things.
After awhile, we started to go down to get to the lake to swim. It was a pretty scary experience because with just a few steps from the shallow part is an abrupt drop to the immeasurable depth of the lake. This is the reason why it is not recommended to swim, just at your own risk. Water was really cold. But on the other side of the crater, which cannot be seen from where we were, is a different story. You have to ride a paddleboat going there for Php250 pesos and since we were on a limited budget, we opted to stay right where we were. They said that on the other side, one could see water from the lake bubbling up cause of the heat from the volcano. It was already breathtaking from where we were. By lunchtime, we were introduced to mountaineering food that our guides had. :) We were scheduled to trek down at 12noon but we left the crater at about 3pm. The only thing that was missing in the lake was a good bathroom. :p But otherwise, everything was awesome.
We had ample time to really look around and see the view. It surely did not seem that we are still in the Philippines. Lake is clear and blue, surrounded by trees and enclosed in an array of mountain made of ashes, I think, which looked like it was covered in snow too. Simply marvelous.
In Awe
It was really amazing to be the only group to be at the crater the whole time. We had it all to ourselves. We had freedom. Freedom to shout and make noise. Freedom to be ourselves. But above all, freedom to just experience the majesty of God’s creation.
As I always say, you never see the beauty of a place until you experience it.
Majestic Mount Pinatubo, check. You are amazing.
Til the next trip,
Kookie
Happy Christmas everyone! :)
* e-philippines is the cheapest and best amongst all I saw :) highly recommended. like them on facebook too.
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