Tagaytay and Nasugbu (The Philippines, Part 3)

I picked up Andrew from the airport in the late afternoon on Thursday. From there we took a taxi to the bus terminal at the abandoned Costal Mall to catch a bus heading for Tagaytay. We arrived there around 9 pm and checked into Our Melting Pot Hostel. This was a clean, spacious and adorable house with what we would soon realize was the most kind and helpful staff ever.

We spent the entire morning of our first day in Tagaytay sitting around the hostel and planning the details of the rest of our trip with the help of the staff. Then they gave us some instructions on our trip to the volcano and a recommendation for a restaurant for lunch.

The restaurant we went to, called RSM, was a gorgeous and fancy Philippine restaurant with an incredible view of the lake.

We got a ton of food and rice to treat ourselves to our most expensive and fancy meal in the Philippines, and it still only came out to 750 pesos (about $17). The food was delicious, accompanied by some Philippine brand beer, and there was even live music playing.

We got a seat on the balcony, and the view was incredible. For our day trip, we were planning to go to Taal Volcano. This volcano has an island, inside of a lake, inside of the crater of a volcano, on an island, in a lake, inside another crater that is hundreds of thousands of years old.

To get to see the smaller crater lake, you first have to take a trike to the base of the cliff that Tagaytay sits on. This takes about 30 minutes. Next you have to pay to take a boat across the lake, which takes another 30 minutes.

Going out to the volcano midday, it was very windy and cloudy. The spray from the waves made us very cold. However, coming back the weather was much better and it was nice to watch the sun was setting.

   

We didn't realize until coming back, but it would have been a good idea to turn around and memorize what our boat looked like before leaving it because all of the boats parked on the shore look the same. Thankfully our guide spotted us on the beach looking for it and waved us over.

It only costs 50 pesos (as many national park like things in the Philippines do) to hike up the mountain, but all of the locals that live there will try to get you to pay them to take you buy horse up the mountain. They try to tell you that its too steep and too far, or that it's impossible to climb to the top without one. We knew from talking to people at the hostel that this was nowhere near true.

By horse, I mean pony, and there were so many of them. Everywhere you looked there was a pony tied up next to a house or just roaming loose next to the basketball court.

Andrew was dying to join in on a basketball game every time we came across a court. He just wanted to shoot hoops with some locals, but every time we came across one, they were playing a full on game that wasn't exactly able to be interrupted.

Unlike what the locals told us, the climb was barely steep. It was nothing compared to the mountains I had climbed at the rice terraces, and it only took us about 30 minutes to get to the top.

The air was very dusty on the slope of the volcano. They try to sell you overpriced dusk masks for it at the base too, but we just decided to use our headbands instead.

The top provided for a great view of the volcano as well as the lake surrounding the island. There were many vendors set up on top offering us beer and snacks. Being late in the day, we were one of the only tourists left on the mountain, so it was like having giant targets painted on our foreheads.

This is the crater lake in the volcano, in the center at the back, you can see Eagle Point Island. Making the inception of an island in a lake in a volcano crater on an island in a lake in a volcano crater. Taal Volcano is the world's smallest active volcano and is also a Decade volcano, which is a list of volcanoes with a history of violent and destructive eruptions that are studied with the intention of reducing the severity of natural disasters.

Besides taking pictures, there isn't much to do at the top of the volcano, so we went back to our boat after a few minutes. Normally, tourists have the opportunity to walk all the way around the rim of the crater, but we didn't have enough time to do so before sunset.

We watched the sunset as we boated back across the lake and drove back up the mountain to our hostel. We stayed a second night at Our Melting Pot and got a bunch of instructions on how to get to get to a beach for the next day.

The following day (Saturday), we packed up all our stuff and got on a bus after breakfast to go an hour west to the coast town of Nasugbu. After getting off the bus, we took a trike to the pier and then a 50 pesos boat across the water to the nearby public beach.

When we arrived, there were only a few kids playing in the water, but after a half hour or so, lots of people started showing up. A few young couples came for a picnic and brought several more children that started to run around and play in the sand. Then a group of college students came and sat at the picnic table taking pictures.

We drew the kids attention immediately and many came to talk to us or simply sit silently next to us. Soon enough, Andrew collected some rocks and started juggling for them.

The kids asked our names and drew a giant heart in the sand to write them inside. When told them that we were only friends, Andrew had them write things like "Andrew loves chocolate" instead. They thought it was hilarious. After a while, they made faces from the heart and told them it was us, so I taught one of the girls how to use my camera and we took a picture with it.

The college students, from the Batagas State University a couple hours away, asked us to take a picture with them. Shortly after, we were ready to leave and they offered to walk back with us so they could show us a cheaper way of getting back across the water to the pier.

One of the little girls from the beach tagged along and told Andrew she wanted to show him her house.

She led us through the maze of house in the small town built along the bank of the river. With all the stares we got, I'm not sure they've ever had foreigners walking through there before. On the way, the college students had us stop with them to pick up their things from a small blue building labeled "Literacy School." They explained to us that during the week they attend classes at the university, but on the weekends they volunteer to come to the poor area of Nasugbu to teach the children how to read and write.

After picking up their things, Andrew and I walked with the students to the boats that the villagers use to get back and forth across the river. It only costs 2 pesos (about 5 cents) per person to cross, here.

After picking up their things, Andrew and I walked with the students to the boats that the villagers use to get back and forth across the river. It only costs 2 pesos (about 5 cents) per person to cross, here.

After a quick and late lunch in town, we got on a bus headed for Manila. There we stayed overnight at the Lions Den Hostel. We only chose it because of its location near the airport, but it turned out to be a really cool place! It was located in a rich, suburban area of the city that was actually a guarded community. The houses were giant and gorgeous, and it was pretty neat to see a totally different side of the Philippines than what we had seen up to that point.