A Trip to the Taal Valcano

Several weeks ago we took a journey to Taal [ta-ALL] Volcano. This is south of Manila bout two hours (by bus). We got up early in the morning, got on the bus we had arranged for and joined six or eight other senior missionary couples for the trip. We made q quick breakfast stop at McDonald's. (Yes! a real McDonalds's, but yet, not quite the same.)

After about two hours (some of it mighty slow traffic) we came to the top of row of low mountains. We climbed aboard a Jeepney because the road was too steep for the bus – well, for the bus to come back out. Likely it would have gone down okay. The Jeepney descended down to the big lake.

We're all decked out in our American tourist outfits, ready to see the world, or at least this small island and its famous active valcano. It last errupted in the 1960s, but who knows? . . . we may see something spectular.

This shows the hill we had to descend in the Jeepney to get to the lake. It doesn't look at that steep from here, but it was.

[This picture is out of order. I've still not figured out how to get the pictures in the order of the story; usually I get them backwards. But enjoy!]

Off across the way you could see the volcano poking its cone-shaped top out of the water. We climbed onto a catamaran motorboat and set off across the lake, water spraying all over us. It took about a half hour to cross the lake, and we docked on the shore at the base of the volcano, completely surrounded by the lake.

The trail up to the volcano front was about seven kilometers (2.75 miles), too far to climb. But, they were well prepared for us and had a caravan of horses waiting. We each climbed onto one of these critters (rather small they were). A handler led each horse. He, or she in some cases, walked along the side as the horse carried us up the hillside, around the bends, through the gorges, along the ledges. In half-hour or so we reached the top. We somewhat joggled and tossed, the handlers out of breath, the horses glad to have us off their backs.

The volcano, as do most volcanoes, had a lake in the crater. In Taal there was a small island in that lake. So, there you have it . . . an island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island in lake (well, an ocean). Clever! Down in the bottom of the cater along the lake shore you could see steam geysers puffing and boiling, preparing to explode without warning.

The view was beautiful and refreshing. Someone had constructed a tower of sticks onto which several of the ladies climbed to get a better view. Some Filipinos had trucked soft drinks and coconuts, watermelon, and bottled water, all to sell to the tourists.

Gail’s handler apparently was experienced, but Owen’s handler said this was his first trip. He told us he was 19 years old and apparently had never been very far from the villages around there. He spoke fairly good English. He was interested that we were religious missionaries. He said he knew an important religious person . . . the archbishop. He asked if we prayed each day and said he did. He said his boss paid him P50 ($1.25) and that he would only make one trip that day. He got a generous tip.
Back across the lake, up the hill in a Jeepney, onto the bus for a ride to lunch. Along the way we stopped at a hotel just to see the view of Taal from across this side of the lake. We had lunch at a place called “Sonja’s.” Fairly nice food, almost American. She had a large flower garden, so the sister missionaries all enjoyed a stroll along her blossomed paths.

The bus took the long way home, down, around Taal Lake, and up the other side of Laguna Lake. That put us on the east side of Manila in the hills. This took several hours longer, but was an interesting drive. However, the CRs (“comfort rooms”) were too many hours between. We went through the small village where we first were assigned to attend a branch – Tanay [ta-NIGH]. It was dark, so we didn’t really notice anything familiar. Down the mountain, back into Manila, and on to Quezon City and the Temple. We got home about 9:00 p.m.