Day 4 - Mount Mayon Trek

Drrriiinggggg! 4:20 am. Frenchguy and I jumped off the bed and quickly dressed up and brushed our teeth. Our rendez-vous with the guide was at 4:30 am, there was no time to lose. We hurriedly took the stairs and met the other Frenchies at the reception area.

4:35 am. Byron, the guide was still not there (Filipino time?). He promised he would arrive earlier. The Frenchies started to ask me questions on how sure it was that we paid 50% of the fee the night before.

4:40 am. I started to call him up but nobody was answering. Ok, alright. Keep cool, Ana. He must still be cooking our chicken adobo for lunch.

4:45 am. Byron called me up to inform me that he'll arrive in 3 minutes.

He arrived after 5 minutes. It's been almost 9 years that I live here in France. I almost forgot what Filipino time is, lol.

Well enough with the rant. The 4 Frenchies and I cramped ourselves inside the tricycle with the driver and our beloved guide. The joyride up to the jump off point was around 15 minutes. It was drizzling when we arrived there, must be the morning dew. 2 other guys met us on our way to Camp 1 - Byron's brother who is a guide himself and a younger one who carried our food.

It was still dark when we started the trek so head lamps and flashlights were more than necessary. I was wearing a short and it was actually a bad idea since the trail was quite narrow and dense with tall weeds, I had a lot of wounds and cuts after the trek.

Byron explained that the trek to Camp 1 should take us around 2 hours, but it would all depend on our pace. From there, we would then decide on whether we continue the hike or not to Camp 2. Few minutes after the start of the trek, the morning dew started to get higher intensity - it somewhat reminds me of rain. A what? A RAIN?

No. That's not the Hunchback of Notre Dame. That's me trying to protect my camera in my backpack.

Yes. It was rain. We hiked Mayon Volcano under the rain! But that didn't stop us from tracing the trail and arrive at Camp 1 an hour and 20 minutes after the start. It was even too early to take our morning coffee but since it was raining and we had nothing else to do, we decided to take our coffee in this half-finished shelter in Camp 1 while waiting for our shirts to dry.

The youngest guy carrying a big backpack was actually carrying everything! Even a thermos full of hot water for our breakfast!
The carpenters who apparently stayed there for the night told us that it won't be prudent to hike up to Camp 2 since it had been raining up there for 2 consecutive nights. The trail was slippery. And anyway, with a weather like that, we won't be able to appreciate the beauty of Mount Mayon.

I explained to the Frenchies and hardheaded as they were, we decided to wait a bit for the rain to cease. The rain of course continued and even increased its intensity (sino kaya sa mga to ang may balat sa p*wet?).

Byron, concerned about satisfying our quest for adventure asked us if it would be appreciated if instead of hiking up to Camp 2, we would rather take another route and approach the lava from the last eruption barely 2 months ago (December 2009!). The answer was of course unanimous.

It looks so close but it was in fact far and almost inaccessible. Byron said that they couldn't go that close just a month ago since it was still hot and fuming.

The trail going in that direction wasn't really a "trail". At some point, it was us who did the trail with the help of a bolo knife.

That's me and our guide on top of the lava. Nakukulitan na sa kin, lol. As you can see, the weather wasn't at all cooperating!But we patiently waited.. (we had our lunch up there!)

And the wait was all worth it! The tip of the cone.. at last!

The group was of course happy and satisfied with the hike. We stayed more than an hour on top of the lava to get a closer look of the tip. We never looked at the clouds that close all our life, lol.

We started our descent around 1pm. We decided that the day wasn't over yet so a quick shower at the hotel and off we went to the Cagsawa Ruins. Again, clouds were there to hide Mt Mayon but no worries, we're patient ;).
There were some kids in the area advicing picture tricks to tourists and even explaining to us the history of Mt Mayon.. and even what type of rocks Cagsawa Church was built! Wow! Saludo po ako sa inyo.

Even if we haven't had enough of Mt Mayon yet, it was already time to take the jeepney back to Legazpi. And since it was our last day together with the Frenchies, it has been decided that we all take the ultimate challenge - eat BALUT !

After 4 bottles each of Red Horse beer and a bit of local delicacies here and there, the Frenchies were still hesitant to take the challenge. But a challenge is a challenge. So on our way back to the hotel, we stopped a balut vendor and ta-dan.. yes people, Frenchguy ate his first balut of his life, lol. After that experience, all agreed it was good to rinse off that irky taste (for them only of course) with another bottle of Red Horse beer.

We agreed to take breakfast together the next day.. I could already feel the mighty Red Horse kicking me off to bed...ZZzzzzzzzzz.

Next: Day 5-8 Bohol