Last week several of us were in Tagaytay, 50 km south of Manila, for a Project Design Management conference with our supervisors. When it ended, Abby, Owen, and I decided to stay for a couple days to check out Lake Taal, which is in Tagaytay, close to where we had been staying for the conference. Taal is an active volcano within Lake Taal, and within the volcano there is another lake. All this is on the island of Luzon. SO, its a lake within a volcano within a lake within an island. Kinda cool. You take a boat across Lake Taal to get to the volcano. Once there, we were attacked left and right by locals hawking various things we could not live without for this hike to the top, where you could look in and see the other lake. Sumbreros, surgical masks, water, and horses were all for sale to us stupid foreigners that looked like easy targets. But we've been here for almost a year, so we knew better. They tried to convince us several times that we wouldnt be able to make it to the top without riding a horse ("malayo!") or purchasing snacks and a hat ("mainit!"). We werent sure about the surgical masks. They were making this sound like a Mt. Everest expedition, when, in fact, it is about a 45 minute hike at a leisurely pace. We thought we could probably handle it.
As it turns out, we were three of only a very few that were actually walking to the top. Most people were on horses, many of them Korean businessmen with suits, nice leather shoes, and laptop bags (?). Turns out the surgical masks would have been a wise investment, as there is only one very narrow dirt trail, and there is a constant stream of people going past you, in both directions on horses. Lots of dust. Lots of nearly getting run off the trail by fat tourists on horses, not knowing what they were doing. It was hilarious. But once you get to the top, the sight of it all is quite worth it. It's magnificent. Just try to ignore all the stalls of snacks, drinks, and cheap souvenirs, and don't be alarmed at the idiot tourists leaving their trash all over this natural wonder.
Last week several of us were in Tagaytay, 50 km south of Manila, for a Project Design Management conference with our supervisors. When it ended, Abby, Owen, and I decided to stay for a couple days to check out Lake Taal, which is in Tagaytay, close to where we had been staying for the conference. Taal is an active volcano within Lake Taal, and within the volcano there is another lake. All this is on the island of Luzon. SO, its a lake within a volcano within a lake within an island. Kinda cool. You take a boat across Lake Taal to get to the volcano. Once there, we were attacked left and right by locals hawking various things we could not live without for this hike to the top, where you could look in and see the other lake. Sumbreros, surgical masks, water, and horses were all for sale to us stupid foreigners that looked like easy targets. But we've been here for almost a year, so we knew better. They tried to convince us several times that we wouldnt be able to make it to the top without riding a horse ("malayo!") or purchasing snacks and a hat ("mainit!"). We werent sure about the surgical masks. They were making this sound like a Mt. Everest expedition, when, in fact, it is about a 45 minute hike at a leisurely pace. We thought we could probably handle it. 
As it turns out, we were three of only a very few that were actually walking to the top. Most people were on horses, many of them Korean businessmen with suits, nice leather shoes, and laptop bags (?). Turns out the surgical masks would have been a wise investment, as there is only one very narrow dirt trail, and there is a constant stream of people going past you, in both directions on horses. Lots of dust. Lots of nearly getting run off the trail by fat tourists on horses, not knowing what they were doing. It was hilarious. But once you get to the top, the sight of it all is quite worth it. It's magnificent. Just try to ignore all the stalls of snacks, drinks, and cheap souvenirs, and don't be alarmed at the idiot tourists leaving their trash all over this natural wonder.
