A clear view of Mt. Isarog was denied to us when we arrived in Naga last week. Clouds usually covered the volcano. So we were glad to see the volcano revealed while we were en route to the airport for our return flight.
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| View of Mt. Isarog from the highway |
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| View of Mt. Isarog from the tarmac as we walked towards our plane |
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Our last morning in our recent trip to Naga City, we had to wait for the rains to stop before we went out for a walk. As I looked out the small window of my hotel room, I was surprised to learn I actually had a nice view of Mt. Isarog.
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| Mt. Isarog at 6:00 AM as seen from Centro Square |
Perhaps the rains allowed for a good view of Mt. Isarog? It's usually shrouded during the day so it's difficult to get a photo of the full profile of the volcano.
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Traveling from Naga to Legazpi, one eventually reaches a section of the highway where you have a view of Mayon Volcano in the horizon. Here are some snapshots while we were traveling along the highway en route to the airport.
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| We were slowed down by a motorized trike |
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| The volcano was shrouded by clouds. |
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| The 'most perfect' cone can be discerned despite the clouds. |
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I just recently arrived from a trip to Davao City. But before I post something about the Davao trip, I might as well post this one about our travel to Legazpi last February. I still have a lot of material on that trip but the following photos taken at Cagsawa are
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| Souvenir shops greet the arriving visitors |
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| A view of the cone of Mayon Volcano was elusive the whole time we were in Bicol. Here is our first view of the ruins of the church. |
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| This was supposed to be the spot where you can get an excellent postcard shot of Mayon Volcano. |
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| There are many covered seating areas for visitors. This is good to have areas that provide shade from the sun or protection from rain. Bicol, after all, is usually rainy so covered areas benefit visitors. |
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| A closer look at the remaining bell tower of an old church. Recently, there have been posts clarifying that this church was abandoned rather than buried by lava from the volcano. We were taught as schoolchildren about these being the ruins of a church damaged by volcanic eruption. |
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| What is still on the plaque should now be revised rather than maintain the myth of being buried by lava from the volcano. |
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| The rocks around the area are probably authentic in that they may have been from one of the eruptions of the volcano. Yes, the volcano can throw up rocks with enough force to cover this distance from the volcano. |
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| Behind the tower are other ruins of what was probably the main church building. |
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| You don't usually see these photos |
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| There seems to be several places for photo ops that they built in the area. There is this large statue of sili (chili) that you can use as part of the background with the volcano. Bicol food is famous for using chili and coconut. |
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| Elusive Mt. Mayon - we could only imagine the cone that made this volcano famous |
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| Another view of the ruins |
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| Another view of the ruins of the bell tower from the back (facing the entrance to the area) |
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| Another view of Mayon Volcano a few minutes after that previous photo - note some of the clouds had moved. Unfortunately for us, this remained even until our plane took off from the airport. |
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| One underrated souvenir are volcanic rocks that you can use for exfoliation (pang hilod). |
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We headed to Cagsawa where you probably have the most touristy spot for seeing the volcano. Along the way, we had nice views of the Busay River and glimpses of the volcano that was mostly covered by clouds.
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| The volcano as seen from the Duterte Highway along the Busay River |
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| Another view of the cloud covered volcano from the highway |
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| On the foreground are riverbanks protection. |
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| A glimpse of the countryside as we traveled to the Cagsawa ruins. |
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When we arrived at Daraga Airport, we knew that we could not get a view of Mayon Volcano. There was supposed to be an excellent view at Daraga Airport (Bicol International Airport) but the inclement weather meant clouds everywhere and covering the volcano.
After having a late lunch, our friend drove us to one of the vantage points for the volcano. Somewhere in the middle of vast rice fields was an unfinished road project where we could have had a nice view of Mayon. Unfortunately, Mayon didn't show itself that afternoon.
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| A friend described this project as a road to nowhere. There is a roundabout with the image of Our Lady and nothing else. Mayon Volcano was supposed to be a backdrop for this photo if it were visible. |
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| You can only see the base of the volcano in this photo. The inclement weather made sure the volcano is covered by clouds. |
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I love taking snapshots of the landscape or cityscape from our place in Antipolo. There are at least 3 places where you can still get a free view of the surrounding areas including cityscapes of Metro Manila. On a clear day, you can see Laguna de Bai and all the way to Tagaytay. Beyond Metro Manila would be the mountains of Bataan including Mt. Natib and Mt. Samat. A somewhat rare siting for us these days is Mt. Arayat. So one afternoon I was pleasantly surprised to catch this extinct volcano in Pampanga province.
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| Distant Mt. Arayat during the sunset - the white obelisk-shaped object in the middle of the photo is actually a bell-tower of a nearby convent. |
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| Mt. Arayat is somewhat a lonely mountain. I have been to Arayat town and there are many cultivated lands on the slopes of the volcano itself. It is probably due to the rich soils that people here have benefited from their crops that include many vegetable and fruit varieties. |
There used to be another, even nicer view of Mt. Arayat but then a house was built that had something like an observation deck that now blocks the view. I will try to find an old photo of that view and share it here.
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