Quite Possibly The Coolest Day of My Life

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Trip Start Jan 06, 2010 Previous
Entry Trip End Feb 17, 2010 Next
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  Tagaytay, Luzon, Philippines
Saturday, January 9, 2010

Rain, rain, stayed away and Topsy and Robyn and I on a whim went out to play in truly Mother Nature's playground. We drove an hour and a half south of Manila to Tagaytay - a tiny and vibrant town of bright flowers, fruit stands, custom hand carved furniture, pineapple fields(!), animals, and more. I love, love, love this place.

We road a bangka (part motorboat/sailboat/catamaran) through a lush, tropical, lake-filled CRATER to not only hike an active volcano all the way to very top, but then down INSIDE to the lip of the opening where water boiled and bubbled and steam and sulphur abounded. This was truly an experience so remarkable that I have chills as I write about it.

These views of Taal volcano were so breathtaking that photos do no justice. The hiking path treated us to sights like a yam crop, fields of wild flowers, and tiny bright yellow and white butterflies that were so delicate they looked like the petals of a vinca flower.

The hike itself started easy but grew harder and slippery as we made our way into the volcano, but our patient guides (who climbed effortlessly in flip-flops) patiently held our hands and kept an eye on us.

At the top we were treated to freshly cut and ice cold Buko (coconut) to drink the very filling juice. I would safely say that Robyn and I easily scorched a good 2000 calories on this three hour expedition. Robyn and I started this trip not knowing each other too well and we're both thrilled that we have similar energy levels and interests.

The lake was filled with milkfish farms and huts on the water. The farmers live there to protect their crops and we saw them standing on their tiny docs tossing feed to their crops.

We rewarded our tough hike with heaps of classic Filipino food (yay!) that was delicious and satisfying and we also stopped by a local stand for yummy buko pie. I heart Topsy for taking us to this amazing place and shame on any guidebook who doesn't wholeheartedly recommend this incredible location.

I'm feeling hugely blessed today and a party of a gigantic world with SO much to see.

xoxoxoxo, Andrea

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Boarding our boat	Taal Lake	The shore	Travel mates
Topsy	More shore	Front of the boat   Comments!	This lake covers a crater!
Heading to the volcano	Milkfish farms   Comments!	SO interesting	Fish farmers live in these huts
Animals everywhere	Guide's kids	Flip flops are the best	Home at the base of the volcano
Ready to hike!	Yam crops	Our posse	Beautiful views
Horses on hand if we need a ride	Stunning	The mouth of the volcano   Comments!	At the top, but now we climb down inside
Delish Buko juice	View from the top	Nothing can live in this water	Our patient guides
More beauty	Clear skies   Comments!	Geyser!	Paths of wildflowers
Rumbling water	Made it inside!   Comments!	Careful to avoid the blast of steam	Shack measures volcanic activity
The ground was hot	Yellow ground	At the end	This tree blooms smelly flowers
Sweaty messes	Animals on the volcano	If I had to hunt my food I'd be a vegetarian	Volcano life
More fish farmer homes	View to the volcano   Comments!	Back to shore	Pineapple fields
More pineapple fields	More pineapple fields	Cute baby chickens and their momma

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