CAPAS, Tarlac – The tourism officer of Mabalacat, Pampanga has a specific instruction to our group: Leave Angeles City by 5 a.m. so that you can stay at the crater of Mount Pinatubo for at least three hours.
This reporter and four others, including Camille Lazatin and her mother Bella, left the city a little past 5 and arrived at about 6:30 in Barangay Sta. Juliana, here.
There was no traffic along the way as expected. But notable were the improved roads from the Capas Public Market up to Sta. Juliana, a well-known village since 2001 when people began treks to Mt. Pinatubo.
Mt. Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano at the borders of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga. The volcano’s ultra-Plinian eruption in June 1991 produced the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century and the largest eruption in living memory.
Our driver parked our vehicle in a vacant lot in front of a Korean spa and the office of the municipal government where visitors register and pay the necessary fees.
They ask P50 each from those who want to see Mt. Pinatubo. You pay as much as P500 for a single tourist guide and it is required to get one for a small group like ours.
Locals rent 4X4 vehicles for about P3,000 each per day. They can accommodate five persons, excluding the driver and the guide.
You can bring your own vehicle but you have to pay P250 as a “road tax.” But think twice before you bring your own vehicle – the ride is quite challenging as you have to pass by a dry river, big rocks and hills before reaching the nearest point to Mt. Pinatubo.
From Sta. Juliana, it will take about an hour to reach the so-called “skyway,” one of two staging points to Pinatubo where people start walking to reach the crater.
The other staging point is called the “old way.” It will take at least three hours of walking before you reach Mt. Pinatubo via this old route. Naturally, we have chosen to be taken to the skyway where you cut the average trekking time by as much as two hours. Thanks to the Department of Tourism (DOT) in Central Luzon for developing the “easier route” about two years ago.
“But many tourists, most of whom foreigners, prefer to use the old way,’ said our guide in the dialect. “They want more fun.”
Walking for one hour might be quite easy to think about. Doing it to reach Mt. Pinatubo is really easier thought than done. You pass by rocks of different sizes, river beds and water coming from the mountains. We had to rest twice before making the final push to reach our destination.
But the trip was fun because there were plants to cover the rays of the sun and the surroundings was clean. Best of all, there were no snakes or wild animals along the way.
“Five minutes more and we will be there already,” said the guide, who could report for work only once a week because there are more than 200 other tourist guides waiting to be dispatched.
“It’s just above that cut mountain,” he added.
A few minutes later I saw man-made stairs and I had a hunch Mt. Pinatubo was just within reach. Ergo, after a few steps, I finally saw it, raw, natural, beautiful.
That was a Saturday and we were not the first ones to see the majestic view surrounding Mt. Pinatubo. Those ahead of us were busy taking souvenir photos and serving as a backdrop was the crater. Of course, we did the same.
We thought of just staying on top of the mountain overlooking the crater. There were stairs leading to the crater’s green colored waters. Camille said it’s blue-green to be precise.
There was no funny smell near the waters of the majestic crater. Our guide disclosed that at the portion of the crater was a body of hot water – no wonder the volcano is still active.
They allow visitors to swim and have boating in the crater with the help of boatmen. Don’t forget to first pay P250 per person at the Sta. Juliana office for boating.
We wanted to have a boat ride but we didn’t know the rule. We were contended in seeing the sights, though many Caucasians and some Korean enjoyed swimming. The rest of the tourists were Filipinos who were mostly from Metro Manila.
Our group didn’t stay at the crater for three hours as told. More than an hour was enough to see the sight to behold – Mt. Pinatubo which made the areas around it very popular all over the world following its devasting eruption.
Hey, we had to walk for an hour again before we reached the skyway where the rented vehicle was waiting to ferry us back to Sta. Juliana. So glad I was not with “white men” who preferred the old, long way.
This reporter and four others, including Camille Lazatin and her mother Bella, left the city a little past 5 and arrived at about 6:30 in Barangay Sta. Juliana, here.
There was no traffic along the way as expected. But notable were the improved roads from the Capas Public Market up to Sta. Juliana, a well-known village since 2001 when people began treks to Mt. Pinatubo.
Mt. Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano at the borders of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga. The volcano’s ultra-Plinian eruption in June 1991 produced the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century and the largest eruption in living memory.
Our driver parked our vehicle in a vacant lot in front of a Korean spa and the office of the municipal government where visitors register and pay the necessary fees.
They ask P50 each from those who want to see Mt. Pinatubo. You pay as much as P500 for a single tourist guide and it is required to get one for a small group like ours.
Locals rent 4X4 vehicles for about P3,000 each per day. They can accommodate five persons, excluding the driver and the guide.
You can bring your own vehicle but you have to pay P250 as a “road tax.” But think twice before you bring your own vehicle – the ride is quite challenging as you have to pass by a dry river, big rocks and hills before reaching the nearest point to Mt. Pinatubo.
From Sta. Juliana, it will take about an hour to reach the so-called “skyway,” one of two staging points to Pinatubo where people start walking to reach the crater.
The other staging point is called the “old way.” It will take at least three hours of walking before you reach Mt. Pinatubo via this old route. Naturally, we have chosen to be taken to the skyway where you cut the average trekking time by as much as two hours. Thanks to the Department of Tourism (DOT) in Central Luzon for developing the “easier route” about two years ago.
“But many tourists, most of whom foreigners, prefer to use the old way,’ said our guide in the dialect. “They want more fun.”
Walking for one hour might be quite easy to think about. Doing it to reach Mt. Pinatubo is really easier thought than done. You pass by rocks of different sizes, river beds and water coming from the mountains. We had to rest twice before making the final push to reach our destination.
But the trip was fun because there were plants to cover the rays of the sun and the surroundings was clean. Best of all, there were no snakes or wild animals along the way.
“Five minutes more and we will be there already,” said the guide, who could report for work only once a week because there are more than 200 other tourist guides waiting to be dispatched.
“It’s just above that cut mountain,” he added.
A few minutes later I saw man-made stairs and I had a hunch Mt. Pinatubo was just within reach. Ergo, after a few steps, I finally saw it, raw, natural, beautiful.
That was a Saturday and we were not the first ones to see the majestic view surrounding Mt. Pinatubo. Those ahead of us were busy taking souvenir photos and serving as a backdrop was the crater. Of course, we did the same.
We thought of just staying on top of the mountain overlooking the crater. There were stairs leading to the crater’s green colored waters. Camille said it’s blue-green to be precise.
There was no funny smell near the waters of the majestic crater. Our guide disclosed that at the portion of the crater was a body of hot water – no wonder the volcano is still active.
They allow visitors to swim and have boating in the crater with the help of boatmen. Don’t forget to first pay P250 per person at the Sta. Juliana office for boating.
We wanted to have a boat ride but we didn’t know the rule. We were contended in seeing the sights, though many Caucasians and some Korean enjoyed swimming. The rest of the tourists were Filipinos who were mostly from Metro Manila.
Our group didn’t stay at the crater for three hours as told. More than an hour was enough to see the sight to behold – Mt. Pinatubo which made the areas around it very popular all over the world following its devasting eruption.
Hey, we had to walk for an hour again before we reached the skyway where the rented vehicle was waiting to ferry us back to Sta. Juliana. So glad I was not with “white men” who preferred the old, long way.
