Day 10

March 15, day 10
We set out early for Tagaytay. It is a large volcanic crater which is also a lake. Within the lake there are many volcanic islands. We hired a boat in the town at the top of the hill and followed a guy on a motorbike down to the Taal lake. The road was steep and very winding for about 30 minutes. When we got to the lake and boarded an outrigger called “Baby Ashley” to the island. The ride took about 30 minutes and the lake was very choppy with white caps so we got nicely sprayed upon. At the base of the volcano was a village with many peddlers who tried to sell us T-shirts, masks for the dusty road, hats for the sun, water for the climb, and horses to take us up to the top. There were also goats (with lots of cute baby goats), chickens, cows, horses, dogs…We turned down the offer for horses to ride up the volcano and started the 1 mile hike. We were being followed by guys on 4 horses (just in case we changed our mind). Shortly Wojtek and Phoebe did and enlisted horses for the remaining hike up the mountain. Three quarters of the way up we passed volcanic steam emanating from rock along the path (very hot). At that point the path became quite steep and Bo took Wojtek’s offer to get on his horse to get to the top. The view from the top was spectacular. The volcano crater was filled with water. A small lake in an island in a huge lake. The hike down was much easier but the outrigger ride back to the mainland was very rough and Al and Wojtek got completely soaked. Bo and Phoebe were sitting in the back and had a plastic cover so they didn’t get as wet.
Next stop was lunch. Leslie’s was a great restaurant overlooking the lake. The food was very tasty -- a huge bowl of beef soup, crispy pork and a local tilapia steamed in a banana leaf and stuffed with vegetables. From there we started home but first stopped at the People’s Park. It had lots of picnic tables, souvenir stalls and other attractions. One of the other attractions was a zip line over a deep canyon. Bo was reluctant but summoned the courage to join Al in a round trip. We literally flew over the tropical forest 50-70 meters below and have pictures to prove it. Then we stopped to get more fruit from a roadside stall and drove back to Manila. We are flying home tomorrow but hopefully will be back here again to explore some more of the 7000 islands that make up this lovely and friendly country.