The Cubicle is empty!!!

As one of the Philippines’ most photographed sights, Mt. Mayon (2,462m) rises dramatically from the flat Albay province terrain and can be seen as far away as Naga and Catanduanes to the north.  The volcano’s name derives from the Bicol word magayon, meaning Beauty and the volcano certainly deserves that name.

However beautiful, this volcana is no sleeping beauty.  There is a constant plume of smoke and is carefully monitored by volcanologists stationed near the airport.

Last yr. the volcano gushed lava down it slopes by stopped short of hitting the big city.  Evidence of where the lava flowed can be seen on the pictures by the burned, charred, black shades.

I took a Taxi to my hotel (2-star, less than $20 per night, but adequate) Legazpi Tourist Inn.  Best feature about the room is it’s very efficient air conditioner.  

I then hired the taxi driver to take me around the area for a tour of the Volcano, Cagsawa Ruins, Hoyop-Hoyopan Caves and the Legaspi City Outlook.

Nesthor, my taxi turned guide, first stopped at the Mayon Skyline Hotel at 810m on the northwest side of Mt. Mayon.  The view of the Pacific from this vantage point is spectacular especially on this clear day.  You can find guide to take you to the top from here, but it’s a two day hike.

Then it was to the Hoyop-Hoyopan Caves.  Artifacts of more than 2000 yrs old have been found in these caves and evidence of early “settlers” are found in the walls of the caves in the form of preserved human bones.  The name means “blow-blow” which is a reference to the wind that rushes thru the caves.  It was actually pleasant and cool in the tour.  It had the natural air-conditioning feeling in there.   Also, the locals hid in these caves from the Japanese during WWII.  The Locals also poured a concrete platform to designate as a disco floor.  They regularly met here during the curfew days of Ferdinand Marcos reign.

Then on to Cagsawa Ruins.  About 8km northwest of Legaspi, the remains (basically the bellfry) of the sunken Cagsawa Church.  This site is popular because it gives the tourists a beautifull view of Mt. Mayon.  In 1814, the 1200 people who took refuge in the church during Mt. Mayon’s violent eruption were buried alive.  It gives you an eerie feeling knowing the story, but this is no memorial as there are vendors hawking anything and everything.  So, there is quite a bit of hustle and bustle going around.  There were only about two-hand full of tourists this day, but I could see it during the peak season how loud this place could be.  Also, the typoon Remming’s flood of legaspi river just missed this site by less than 100meters of wiping this site out.

Which reminds me.  This area is recovering from the devastation caused by typhoon Remming of last yr.  December I believe.  A few thousand of people died especially those that settled near the river.  The towns around this area has evidence still of how hide the flood was and how thick the mud were after the water receded.  Schools still missing some of their sheet metal roofs.  The river flowage way is being expanded and construction to do so are ongiong.  Lots of construction equipment around.  Bridge construction are everywhere.  Human remains are still being discovered while debris and mud are cleared.  Utter devastation, but the people here have somewhat recovered and moved on.  There are alot of UN agencies around to help the people. 

The last part of the tour was the Lookout point.  Here you can see the pacific ocean and the city of Legaspi as wall as the Albay province.  You can see how the airport runway and Mt. Mayon dominate the city view and the landscape respectively.

The tour took about 6 hrs and cost about $50 including the ride from the airport. 

I had originally planned to stay here two days, but the whale sharks in Donsol are not around and this being the low season, I did not want to waste my time sitting in a bangka.  So, I left for Cebu the next day.

I glad I had the chance to see this area.  I think this area will see an upsurge of tourism in the near future which bodes well for the local economy.

until next time, bahala na……………………………………  

See My Links E Mayon Volcano for pics

Tags: F 2007 Philippines Trip, Philippines

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