Exploring Philippines 115 - Taal Volcano Crater (Post 7 - The Crater)

We were oriented about the water inside the lake’s crater.  There are some parts of the lake where acid is not so strong where one can take a dip.  But the readily available shorelines within the landing area are not the ideal spots for swimming.  In fact, we’d been warned to be careful about touching the water because we might get hurt and it’s no joke.

Our guide then brought us to a higher ground where orange, white, and yellow are the dominant colors.   As usual, we were inquisitive about the composition of that part of the island.  We found out later on that the orange, white, and yellow colors were acid volcanic emissions and they continuously pile up over time.  There are also huge boulders of black rocks in the area that are similar to the ones in Capones island in Zambales which made me think that the island of Capones is a result of a volcanic eruption also. 

A few meters away, a couple of isolated heavy smokes could be seen.  Looking back in retrospect, these smokes are visible on the view deck at the top of the mountain on the other side of this crater.  Right that moment, they were a few steps away.

Since Taal volcano is an active volcano and at that particular time was on alert level 2, we did not imagine that it would become dangerous at any given time.  We did not entertain the thought of its eruption because our guides along with the locals in their community offered some comforting situations why they were not bothered at all.  And standing on the very mouth of the active volcano and watching the smokes rose to the sky was a remarkable moment for all of us.  I never imagined myself to be brave enough and conquering the active volcano this close.

Anyway, there were several open areas where the smokes come from.  The farthest ones were on the steep side of the mountain which is impossible to visit.  The other one that emits a huge volume of smoke is located several meters away and is surrounded by grasses, shrubs, and short trees.  The nearest and most accessible one is several steps away.  As I came near to the smoke emitting part, the smell of sulfur was overpowering which made my eyes watery and it was hard to breath.  One of our guides told me that Korean visitors simply love the smell of sulfur and they are very appreciative of this volcano.  On my end, what’s there to love with the smell of sulfur when it is suffocating in the first place.

As I came nearer to the source of smoke, the smell of sulfur was intense.  Since I was already here, I made use of the opportunity to see what lies beneath the smoke. And right before my eyes is the boiling water of Taal volcano.  It is hard to imagine why on this part of the crater the water is boiling that much and not the rest of the lake.  Could it be that the crack on the ground receives so much heat from the bottom of the volcano which makes the water boil and generate smoke in the process?  If it is boiling 24/7, why is it that the supply of water in this crack never runs dry?  Actually, just like what I watched on tv about volcanoes, I was entertaining the idea of seeing a lava inside this crater.  Most probably, it there’s a lava flow, we will never be allowed nor accompanied to this part of the island volcano.

The immediate area of the crack where the smoke is passing through reveals a heavy build up of sulfur.  Some parts of the ground are actually made up of rocks that withstand the passing of time as well as being tolerant to the effect of sulfur.  The natural discoloration of the environment could further reveal the different activities that took place since the last time this volcano had erupted.

By 10am, under an hour of scouting the place, we made our way back to our waiting boat.  But the agony of climbing the mountain, given the condition of the trail and the heat of the sun, was really a tough job.  Adding to the difficulty of the situation was my poor stamina condition which made me run out of air given a climb like this one.  It was good that one of our guides has a horse and I gave in to a ride up to the top of the mountain. It was a total relief reaching the view deck at the top of the mountain without experiencing so much hardship in climbing up.  The moment I got off from the horse, our guide had to go back for several times in order to give a ride to my already exhausted friends.

We took our sweet time on the view deck before going down the mountain.  Since we were already out of drinking water, we were offered fresh buko by our guide for 20 pesos each.  It felt like heaven when your thirst is quenched and the perspective around you is spectacular.  And being tired but happy under the shades of the shed along with the coolness of the mountain air, we were laughing on the idea about lying down on the bench and doze off for a while. 

After the much needed rest, we went back to our waiting boat guide.  Going down the mountain was already easy for all of us and in a short span of time, we were already on the base of the mountain and a couple of meters away from our waiting boat.  We thought that our boat guide got already tired of waiting for our return. But we were wrong.  In fact, he was enjoying every minute of it since we were gone.  He was enjoying a morning of drinking spree alongside with his old time buddies as well as the rest of the locals. 

Upon our return to the holding area, we were actually expecting that we will be leaving right away.  Our boat guide told us that there was some sort of a celebration because the daughter of the barangay captain graduated from high school as a valedictorian and that day was the celebration for her achievement.  Even though we were strangers to the place, our boat guide told his peers that one of our colleagues is the godmother of his son.  Since there was a celebration, we were obliged to join and we had our free quick lunch with the celebrant’s family.  In fact, we were amused because the family was so apologetic of their rice for it was brown and not white.  Actually, it was their produce on the slopes of this volcano island.  Little did they know that the price of brown rice is much more expensive compared with that of the white one.

We were thankful for the food and the experience with the folks in this community.  Maybe because of our boat guide, we were treated nicely.  And most likely, they are nice to tourists because tourists contribute a lot to their income.  And by 12pm, we left the place.

The moment we boarded the boat and about to set sail, the engine died suddenly.  A rope got tangled with the propeller and luckily, no damage had been done to the propeller.  Unlike our experience the first time we visit the island volcano, the ride home was smooth and there were no alarming waves to worry about.  When we were nearing the floating fish cages, the engine stopped for the second time around.  We were alarmed because we were still far from the shore.  Our boat guide has to get off from the boat and swim under it to find out what caused the problem.  He told us afterwards that a water hyacinth was the cause of the problem.

We arrived safely on the same spot where we boarded the boat that morning.  We were directed to the main road which is not far the shoreline and from there, we took a jeepney ride back to the town of Lemery.  We had our late lunch by 2pm and took another ride towards Mahogany market to buy some fresh fruits before going home.