When a typhoon went directly across the diving resort where we had planned a weekend getaway, it was time for a change of plan. the typhoon produced large waves along the coast, so any sea voyage was out of the question. Instead we drove almost directly south to a fascinating landscape around Taal Lake (pronounced with two distinct "ah" sounds: tah-ahl.)
If you haven't tried it already, you should really visit Google Earth. You can zoom in on a picture like this and see the satellite view of Taal Lake in detail. Then fly around the world to anywhere else you've always wanted to visit. Isn't modern technology wonderful!
We took advantage of our new car (a 2001 Honda Accord) and convoyed with some friends from the Canadian Embassy.
After passing briefly through the outskirts of Tagatay City, which is built on the lip of the main volcanic caldera, we continued towards the lake. There is a VERY steep road down into the caldera, with hairpin bends requiring careful use of lower gears and the brakes. But the views are phenomenal!
Following the recommendation of The Rough Guide to the Philippines, we looked for the Taal Lake Yacht Club near the village of Talisay. Our friends were a bit nervous about taking their two-year-old on a banca ride, so some of them stayed behind while the rest of us hired a banca to the volcanic island in the middle of the lake.
On arriving at the island, we were offered a "special deal" on hiring horses to take us up the volcano. So next thing you know, we're clutching pommesl, wrapping our legs around tiny horses and hoofing it up the trail - along with several hundred other tourists, each one with a personal guide to keep the horse in line.
Amazingly, this volcano within a volcano has a lake within the island within the lake. And the whole thing is still active. Smell of sulfur in the air, puffs of smoke from various cracks, and bubbles of volcanic gas erupting continuously within the inner lake.
The trip back down the volcano was even more nerve-racking than going up. The poor horses kept stumbling in the heavily eroded gullies and Frances' guide in particular became rather tired and whiny (he couldn't have been more than about 10 years old.) They do seem to get the kids involved in the local business at a very early age. Here's another kid practicing for his career as a banca captain:
By the time we got back to the Yacht Club, we were all very hungry, so we drove back up into Tagaytay and had our lunch in two different places: burgers at Mushroom Burger and dessert at Taal Vista Lodge Hotel. The view from the hotel was worth the higher dessert prices. By the way, the volcano we climbed, and that has the lake inside it, is NOT the perfect little cone in the foreground; it is the flattened area in front of the second peak. We climbed to the top of the ridge that you can see on the far left in this picture and looked across to the second peak that is behind the conical hill with crater.
