Province of Albay
30 November 2012
30 November 2012
Revisiting places after you've seen the results from your first attempt, is one of the best ways to improve your photographs. - Richard I'anson, Professional Travel Photographer.
Aside from photograph, I was so eager and been dreaming to see Mayon's crater so for the second time, I climbed the majestic volcano via the new trail.
Day 0: 30 November 2012
Travel to Albay
On the 30th of November 2012, I took a late afternoon flight to Legazpi. I landed at Legazpi Airport in Albay past 5PM and then checked in at Magayon Hotel located at the center of the City of Legazpi. After checking in, I went around for some last minute shopping of supplies that I will be needing at the climb the following day. I had a nice dinner at the Embarcadero de Legazpi. Bani, our trek team leader and few other mountaineers were on their way to Legazpi from Manila on board a bus bound for Legazpi City.
Day 1: 01 December 2012
Trek to Camp Site
I woke up early on the 1st day of December 2012, repacked my things, took a light breakfast and then proceeded to our meeting place at Tabaco City. I arrived at Tabaco and stayed inside Jollibee store while waiting for Bani and the team. Tabaco church is just nearby the food store so I had a chance to visit it.
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| Jump-Off Point |
We left Tabaco at 10AM and proceeded to Bani's place (his grand parents' place) near Tabaco to leave our things that we will not be needing for the climb. We reached Bani's place at 11AM. We met his father who works for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources at Albay and he gave us few advice about Mt. Mayon.
From Bani's place, we took a heavy duty jeep going to the Jump-off point. It was a 45 minute jeepney drive. There were 10 of us. We started the trek 20 minutes before 1PM. From the jump-off point, we passed through an open field and then a forest. The trail was clean and well maintained.
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| Camp Site |
We were so lucky about the weather. The sky was clear and no sign of rain. Mayon's slope was very visible. The trek going to Camp Site is generally an easy climb.
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| Mt. Mayon at Sunset |
At 5PM, we reached the Camp site. It's a flat clean and open field and perfect for camping. The left side of the camp site faces the sea while the opposite side faces the volcano. We had a very nice view of Mayon as the sun sets. At night, the sky was filled with stars and the moon was bright. We had our dinner at 7PM. Lights out at 9PM.
Day 02: 02 December 2012
Crater Assault
We started our crater assault the following day at 7AM. We passed through a short covered trail and then the rest is an open trail with constant inclination. The sky was blue and the weather was hot and humid. Two of us lead the climb. Our cut-off time for descent was 12Noon. Wherever we are on the trail, we had to descend at 12Noon.
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| New Trail |
I was so determined to climb up to crater. This was the most challenging part of the climb. As we ascended, the trail gets steeper. Some parts of the trail was slippery. I had to crawl barefooted going up the trail as I started to loose the grip of my trekking shoes.
The view of the landscape below was awesome from the top. The trail was quite risky as there are loose volcanic rocks. 15 minutes before our cut-off time, we reached the crater rim and behind it is the crater of Mt. Mayon.
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| Landscape View along the Trail |
We decided not to get inside the crater anymore because of the risk considering that we didn't have a professional guide with us at that time. We stayed at the crater rim instead, enjoyed the view below and took some photos.
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| Steep Trail |
At 12Noon, two of us started our descent. We met the rest of the team 300 meters below the crater rim and then we all descended to our Camp site. We reached the camp site 3PM, packed our things and then descended to the Jump-off point.
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| Mt. Mayon Crater Rim |
At 6PM, we were all the the jump-off point safely where our vehicle was waiting for us. We left the jump-off point past 7PM. We had a dinner at Tabaco City and then traveled to Bani's place. It was 9PM when we reached Bani's grand parents house.
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Day 03: 03 December 2012
Day Tour
The following day was a free day. We had a nice tour at nearby tourist places in Albay. On board a van, we visited the famous Cagsawa Church ruins. We had nice photo sessions at the site and bought few souvenir items.
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| Cagsawa Ruins |
From Cagsawa, we traveled to Lignon Hill and had a nice view of the volcano with the green rice fields below.
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| Mayon View from Lignon Hill |
From the Lignon hill, we traveled for an hour to the "Hoyop-Hoyopan" cave. It's a well known tourist destination in Albay. We wandered inside the cave and something that caught my attention was the round platform inside. Our guide said that the platform was intended for parties inside the cave.
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| Hoyop-Hoyopan Cave |
From Hoyop-Hoyopan, we went back to Legazpi City to taste Bicol delicacies. We visited the "Colonial Ice Cream" store. This was where I first tasted a "Sili" flavored ice cream.
From the city, we went back to Bani's place to pick-up our things and then went straight to the bus terminal. We left Albay on board a bus bound to Manila from Ligao at 6PM.
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