MT. MAYON: Her Volcanic Majesty
YOU ARE NOT GONNA BELIEVE THIS! The chopper came at 9am, brought us to an airbase and took a 6-seater plane to Legazpi City in Albay province -- all because I’m a sucker for volcanoes! Woohoo! I think our hosts are enjoying watching me and my friends -- jump up and down like little kids upon seeing what appears to be a quiet mountain that could explode anytime. LOL!
Mayon Volcano is one of the most picturesque of all the volcanoes in the world. Its perfect cone-shape appears menacing since it really looks like a volcano (unlike the ones in Camiguin) -- And at the same time almost hypnotic as you stare at its powerful presence. Akihiro was like: “It kinda looks like Mt. Fuji without the ice caps” and I was like: “Are you kidding?” Pffft!Mayon is the Philippines’ most active volcano -- It erupts every 8 years or so! The last time was just last year in July! *whoa! We missed it!* The deadliest eruption was in 1814 when more than 1,000 people died.
Legend has it that once there was a beautiful girl named “Magayon” – meaning “beautiful” in local dialect. She fell in love with a handsome man from a rival tribe. *don’t we all?* Their families did everything to separate the lovers so the 2 made a run for it. As a result, a bloody war broke between the rival tribes; Magayon and her lover felt guilty about it – *oh you betcha!* so they chose to kill themselves to be together for all eternity. When their families found their bodies, they were buried in separate places. After a few months, a volcano grew on the same spot where Magayon was buried. And it was named “Mayon” after Magayon. *Awww, Filipinos do love their love stories, don’t they?* WAIT, I thought “magayon” means “that’s swollen”? Nah! Forget it.
We spent most of our time in the air hovering around the volcano because this is what we came here for anyway – not to mention the time constraint of this unscheduled trip. This region is called Bicol – known for its distinct spicy food and nuts. We landed briefly on an airfield around 3pm and after 15 minutes -- we were in the air again heading back to the base. The chopper was waiting for us when we arrived to take us back to Tagaytay City.****
9 Comments:
I'm just proud to be Pinoy! :) Mayon is really an imposing natural wonder in this part of d world! Sayang, i think d butanding (whale shark, d largest known fish is in dat region also! But u had to jump from d chopper to skinny deep in d sea to see it! Errr, is it whale shark season??? :)
I'm speechless. Your host family must be within the 20-30 richest families in the Philippines to be able to afford a chopper. :) I'm jealous, I haven't been to Mayon yet, it used to rival Mt Fuji as the Volcano with the most perfect cone, unfortunately, the frequent eruptions started deteriorating the perfect cone.
Call it the "most perfect" volcano in history. A true gem of the Philippines, which we are sharing for the ASEAN.
@q: Mayon is still the most perfect, Fiji's reputation is still debated - thanks to its icy cone :p
And we're not going to give up the title so easily... hehe... ASEAN must hold the title!!
... actually, their host is one of the Top 10 prominent clans.
Anyway, Im really sleepy, just finished a new blog theme for b2evolution (http://ASEAN.gameshogun.ws for the live demo).
Now to choose the next skin design :D
- XIE, Shixi / JC John SESE Cuneta
aka Laibcoms / Laibeus Lord
http://gameshogun.ws (my Blognetwork)
only to tell you, beautifull site, and very interesting
She still looks as beautiful as ever. Since you've got the plane, why not tour the northern Philippines eh?!?! Your hosts are very very generous.
awww! such very generous hosts! great to know that the mayon trip pushed through. mt. mayon is really a wonderful sight that everyone should see!
hope to hear more stories on wonders of the ASEAN!
Legazpi! My 'sister' is from there!
Actually, Mayon really does kinda look like Fujiyama without the ice caps. haha.. but of course, Mayon has a more perfect cone.
My family has nice story about Mayon Volcano. My family (sans me) took a road trip from our province of Leyte to Manila and they passed by Bicol. It was late at night and they drove around trying to find a good enough hotel to stay for the night. They took one that was the first available, got three rooms (they were 3 cars traveling) and went to sleep. Morning came, my uncle was the first one to wake up, he went out of his room to the terrace and right in front of him was the Mayon Volcano. He was so awestruck by it and said that it was the most beautiful thing he has ever seen in his life. He then woke up everyone to be able to see its beauty. I forgot the name of the place they stayed in.
Post a Comment