When: Jan 25, 2009
I was drained and stressed from work and some personal matters the past weeks. So when Tricia (my kaladkaring amiga) mentioned about the trip to Mt. Pinatubo, I signed up with Travel Factor right away.
We met up at McDo El Pueblo at 2AM. It was a big group of 40 people. Our "Pretty Girls plus 1" group was composed of yours truly, Trica, Anielle, Gina, Di and her fiance Emman. We were supposed to leave at 3AM but we had to wait for the others.
The trip was covered by Sports 37 of UnTV cable channel. We got to Capas, Tarlac (our jump-off point) at around 6AM. It was freezing cold when we got out of the bus. I tried to pack light so I only brought a windbreaker which really didn't work. After the registration, we got to our assigned 4x4 vehicle with Manong Marvin behind the wheels. He drove like a crazy race car driver but made sure we had ourselves seen on the Sports 39 camera ...LOL
It was an easy one hour trek to the crater. I would suggest though that you wear your most worn-out (but still comfortable) rubber/trek shoes. No matter how hard you try not to soak your feet in the water there will be one time that you'll get them wet. I had to say goodbye to my ever reliable 6-year old Nike ACG on our way back from the crater. It was painful for me to let go of it as it has been part of all my adventures the past six years. I guess it just goes to show that there really is nothing permanent in this world....opps, wait, I guess it's for another blog..ahahaha.
The view was magnificent. It seemed like I was in the "Lord of the Rings" set. It's a photographer's paradise. I've got to learn to maximize my camera functions next time. We swam a bit and the water was really cold. We had to deal with stiff hair after though. It must be the mineral content of the water.
Kudos to Travel Factor for organizing this trip. Thanks Tricia for the company. I was tired from the day trip and tons of work waited for me the day after but it was all worth it. Will really try to do it again.
click for more photos: http://angelfish5877.multiply.com/photos/album/65/Trip_to_Laharlandia_25_Jan_2009_
For some interesting trips: http://thetravelfactor.multiply.com/
