One of the big tourist attractions near Manila is Taal, an active little volcano about 3 hours from my house. (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taal_Volcano). I've driven by it and seen the view from nearby ridges, but had never been on the adventure to climb to the top. The whole concept of Taal is a bit funny...there's a lake in the volcano, which is IN a lake, on an island, in the ocean.
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| The view from the top! |
In June, my friend Mark and some of the young adults from his church in Ohio came back to Manila on their 5th annual Pour Out Love mission trip. Daniel and I were invited to join them for their team day, which included a trip up the aforementioned volcano. I figured Daniel would be old enough this year to make the climb, so we hopped in the car early on a Friday morning and headed south!
After a bit of a drive, we headed down the mountain, heading for the boats that would take us across for the climb. The boat ride across was pretty quick, and then we payed our fees, borrowed some hats (the climb is in FULL sun most of the way) and started our journey up.
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| Boys in hats |
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For the first 45 minutes, things were going ok. The guys took the lead, charging their way up and out of sight. A few of the girls hung back with me and the kiddo, as his short legs and my physical state meant we would not be the ones winning this race! All along the way were two youngish Filipino guys behind us on horses, trying to get us to ride a horse (for a significant fee, of course!). Every two minutes, the one kept repeating, "Very steep, very far.". It was VERY annoying, to the point that after saying no thank you a number of times, I finally turned around and told him to leave us alone.
Of course, then the path actually DID get very steep, and I realized how far we were actually meant to walk. I sent the team on ahead, as Daniel was having a bit of a meltdown and I wasn't sure we would make the whole trek. After a bit we decided to push on, and then we met Raul (or Ruel...can't remember which!). He had two horses that were carrying some recycle-ables (sp?) down the mountain, and I convinced him to take us UP the mountain on one of the horses for a small fee (less than the annoying guys from before). He was super sweet, and we chatted in broken English for the next ten minutes on our way up.
Once we made it to the top and reunited with our friends, I discovered why people bother to hike up there. The view is stunning!
After some coconut juice and lots of photo opportunities we headed back down. Definitely a much easier way to go, though my knees were a bit sore afterwards. Once we were back at the car, we continued our adventure by going snorkeling and cooling down in the ocean.
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| Daniel's buddies: Evan, Kurt, & Kiel |
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| The snorkelers |
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| Contemplating life as a fish |
The day involved something like 8-10 hours of driving (with a bit of getting lost on the way home), but it was definitely fun with some really great people! I'm a pretty big fan of Team Ohio - they are always a blessing to me and
other missionaries, but especially to the various ministries they work
with while they are here.
Of course, then the path actually DID get very steep, and I realized how far we were actually meant to walk. I sent the team on ahead, as Daniel was having a bit of a meltdown and I wasn't sure we would make the whole trek. After a bit we decided to push on, and then we met Raul (or Ruel...can't remember which!). He had two horses that were carrying some recycle-ables (sp?) down the mountain, and I convinced him to take us UP the mountain on one of the horses for a small fee (less than the annoying guys from before). He was super sweet, and we chatted in broken English for the next ten minutes on our way up.
