Mt. Pinatubo

Mt. Pinatubo has one of the most outstanding statistical record in its history of the past century. Arguably, the lack of life in its surroundings is one appeal of its beauty, which will continue to disappear in the next decade or so as flora slowly as it does now reappear. Mounds of ashes from the world-renowned devastating explosion in the early 90's hardened by rain over the years form the walls of the track as small rivers, often in brown mud, green algae or yellow-orange sulfur (i'm assuming) ceaslessly flow and most occassionally change the path of trekkers. At one point, we commented that all the gray and barren land made it seem like we were in Lord of the Rings! :-)

It is a sin for the healthy able-bodied Filipino not to try this one. It is easy to reach from Metro Manila, cheap to take the trip, and very safe as the military and tourism office do their share of protecting the environment and its visitors. It one of the easiest trek I've done because it is mostly just walking under the sun with its share of crossing small rivers now and then that adds to the difficulty. The trek is 18k long with very very very few climbs so it doesn't take awefully long; it took us 3 hours with photo-taking. As you'll be crossing waters against the currents, slippers are not advised even for seasoned trekkers, just because it becomes hassle. Although because I don't like the feeling of wet socks, I used flipflops for the most part, and unexpectedly enough, they didn't break. The sharp rocks were a bit painful for thin footwear and twice rocks fell on my feet, once for each foot. The Php650 I paid was worth the view of the crater lake but the trek up and down were not worth the few minutes we stayed on top as our tour guide bugged us to make ouw way back down immediately.
For interested parties, contact Mr. Wendell Mercado at +639196084313 from whom you can rent a 4x4 good for 5 persons. From Manila, you can take a bus en route Baguio and have the driver/conductor drop you at the Capas Junction from where you can ask Wendell to pick you up for an extra charge; otherwise, you can drive your private car all the way following the precise directions he can give you. He's very easy to talk to and he's very kind (even texted me farewell after we got back to Manila) - highly recommened!
We made the trip last Sunday, 2008 September 7, just right before another typhoon came. There was perfect weather on that day! Lucky!