The Philippines located in the western edge of the Pacific Ocean is an archipelago made up of over 7,100 islands with a combined population of more than 92 million. Manila is the capital with more than 12 million people. Manila's skyline reminded us of many big American metropolitan skylines.
As with most of the places we have been so far one of the first things I notice is the traffic and types of vehicles. Narrow over crowded streets are the norm in Manila.
Colorful local buses or "jeepneys" are a common mode of public transportation with a fare of 8 to 10 Philipino Pesos (about 20 cents).
Motorcycles with colorful covered sidecars are also very popular for short individual transport.
We stayed at the Taal Vista Hotel in the community of Tagaytay about 30 miles south of Manila.
Tagaytay is a resort area located along the northern ridge of the Taal Volcano basin. Taal Volcano is considered an active volcano located along the "Pacific Ring of Fire". It was originally formed during four major eruptions occurring 150,000 to 500,000 years ago. There have been 33 recorded eruptions since 1572 resulting in a death toll of from 5,000 to 6,000 people. The last major eruption was in 1911 claiming over 1,400 lives. The most recent eruptive activity occurred between 1965 to 1977 killing about 100. Ongoing seismic unrest has been occurring since 1991. We did not feel anything while we were there. View from our hotel, a bit hazy.
Stock aerial photo of Taal Volcano.
We decided to take a closer look, along with hundreds of other curious tourists. That first required descending from the ridge down a steep windy road to the lake.
We passed dozens of these signs.
Fortunately the rainy season is June through August.
The views along the way were great. The structures in the water are fish farming operations.
Once to the lake we boarded a motorized outrigger.
Once reaching the volcanic island we boarded horses.
They were small Philipino horses.
It was a rough dusty ride up to the crater ridge.
But we had a good time. Can't say the same for the poor little horses or guides who walked the whole way.
The view from the top was great.
Looking into the Taal Volcano crater you see an instance of an island in a lake on and island in a lake on an island in the ocean.
We had a great time in the Philippines.
Our next stop is Singapore
