Mount Pinatubo: The Crater and The Bagets

Mount Pinatubo Crater Lake

It is a trip like no other with twenty-nine travel youngsters and hundreds more in tow proceeding in a mecca-like fashion to one of the most beautiful spot created by a disaster.

"Welcome Pinatubo Crater Lake" reads the wooden sign. After a sweltering two hour hike amidst ash, streams and stones, one will be rewarded with the stark beauty of the crater with its cyan lake. And after the sight has refreshed you, you need to take the hundred-steps concrete stairs down the beach to have a first-hand experience of the waters. The 2.5 kilometer lake sits inside the crater with a shore occasionally gentle, sometimes rough. Take a plunge in the deep blue waters of the Mt. Pinatubo Crater Lake. Swimming is allowed so long as one avoids going near the middle.

Also, for a fee (Php 350), you can take a boat to the other side of the lake where there are hot springs that can cook an egg in minutes.

Here are some shots of the place and the bagets whom I had fun with:

Welcome Sign

Ashed Beach

Simply Picturesque

Cyan Crater

King of the Crater

Tattoed Kaiz

The Hike

PTB Bagets

PTB Itinerary

03:00 am – ETD Manila to Brgy Sta. Juliana, Capaz, Tarlac
06:00 am – ETA at Tourism Office, Capaz, Tarlac for Registration
06:30 am – 4×4 skyway ride to jump-off point
07:30 am – Trek from jump-off point to crater
08:00 am – ETA at the crater, explore, photo ops
11:30 am – Lunch (packed lunch)
02:30 pm – ETD from crater to jump off point
03:00 pm – ETA at jump off point, 4 x 4 ride back to Tourism Office
04:00 pm – ETA at Tourism Office
06:00 pm – ETD Capaz
07:00 pm - Dinner at Isdaan/Tacsiyapo
08:00 pm - ETD Isdaan to Manila