Mount Pinatubo Day Hike

Mount Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano in the Cabusilan Mountains on the island of Luzon, near the tripoint of the Philippine Provinces of Zambales, Tarlac, and Pampanga with 1486 summit elevation. It has been dormant for 400 years until it erupted on June 15, 1991 and created the largest mushroom cloud in the world. The area was the home of the Aetas people – the descendants of the original inhabitants of the Philippines.

Mount Pinatubo is one of the best tourist spot in my country. A lot of travel agencies are offering a day hike and helicopter rides and I was able to visit this amazing place. We booked our day hike with TripPinas Travel and Tour Ventures. Prior on booking this trip, we tried to visit the place using an SUV however; we were not allowed to get in since we need to accomplished a lot of permits and so.

Want to go on a day hike? So here’s the drill. Contact the agency; wait for their reply with their bank account on it. You need to deposit half of the payment to them and then pay the final on the day of the hike and viola!!!

After depositing the partial payment (2,050.00 php per head), an itinerary was sent (read below) and we were advised to religiously follow (If you are late, the van will leave without you and your payment will be forfeited), oh my gee. We arrived at the meeting place at 0300, good thing it was a fast food chain because food was off the deal and I was literally came from a shift so I need to eat. I initially thought that it would be a small tour group but I was wrong - It was massive with a lot of Koreans (as usual).  The itinerary said that we will reach the base camp at 0600 but we left the city around 0530.. 

After an hour and a half, we reached the base camp. They gave our group a number and were advised to look for our 4x4 with the same number on it. There were a lot of 4x4’s on queue waiting for their respective tourist to approach. The 4x4 as stated was open and no seat belts and we were given a local, minor guide. The sun was blazingly hot when we started our travel and it was a 2 hour super - duper bumpy and dusty ride before reaching the jump off and started trekking.

As stated on the IT, we took the old way since the short cut or the sky way was closed that time.

After 2 hours with a few river crossings, we reached the Crater Lake. It was the most beautiful and amazing Crater Lake I have ever been to but I almost faint – really, because I was so hungry and exhausted. We were not ready with our camping equipment so we looked for a perfect spot, grassy and shady to dine.. We were given 2 hours to enjoy the Crater Lake so after our lunch, we went straight to the lake and swim. The water was freezing and sulfuric plus algae were present but since sulfur is good for the skin – we don’t mind. 

The site that time had 2 restrooms but there was no water source so I didn’t bother to change my clothes and stared the trek back. It was past 1500 when we reached the base camp and quickly hopped in to our 4x4 then after that I don't know what happened because I fell asleep, yeah,  an open 4x4 with no seat belt and seated in the front - i fell asleep.. Our driver woke me up when we reached the base camp and told me how worried he was for I was knocked-out dead sleeping and he was afraid I'll fall off the jeep ( I had some lumps on my head though)  We then head straight to the public shower room ( i think it was a 10 php for the shower, yes, its not free). It was 1700 when we stared to head back to Manila. I was so exhausted I just literally dropped my bag as soon as I reached home and planked in our sofa but the experience was all worth it and I'll definitely will go back, I'm thinking of an overnight camping next time.. 

TripPinas IT as of 2012

Good day,

We have received your down payment, thank you.

Please see attached travel voucher. Kindly refer to the itinerary, as well as the list of things to bring.

For any questions, please feel free to ask.

Tour inclusions:

Round trip a/c van transfer (Manila-Pinatubo base camp-Manila)

Round trip 4x4 vehicle

Local guide

Conservation fee

Certificate of conquest

Service of a tour coordinator

ITINERARY (old way)

0230 Meet up time. (McDonalds Panay, EDSA corner Quezon Ave. close to the MRT Quezon Ave. station)

·  Meet the tour coordinator - Sign the waiver form - Pay your balance

·  Make sure to have your breakfast and buy your lunch/water

·  Orientation.

0600 ETA Brgy. Sta. Juliana (base camp) to finalize prior arrangements.

0630 Board 4×4 vehicles.

0730 Start trekking (around 2 hours walking)

0930 ETA at the crater of Mt. Pinatubo.

Swimming, picnic lunch (at clients' account), siesta, taking photos, boat ride (at client’s account)

1200 Start return trek (around 2 hours walking)

1430 Back to the 4x4s.

1530 Back at base camp. Freshen up.

1600 Departure from the base camp to Manila.

1900 ETA Manila (or 2100 in case of Balikatan exercise)

MEET-UP POINT

·  Meet-up point is at 2:30am inside McDonalds Panay,in Quezon City on EDSA corner Quezon Avenue near the MRT Quezon Avenue Station.

·  You will meet the tour coordinator, Mr. Tee (09272429479) inside McDonalds and all the participants will sign the waiver form and pay their remaining balance there. 

   

·  There is a cutoff at the base camp, it's very important to be on time at the meet-up point. If you are late, the van will leave without you and your payment will be forfeited.

·  The meet up point is the last place where you can have your breakfast, buy your packed lunch and water as there is no shop/restaurant at Mt. Pinatubo. We will go straight to the base camp.

·  This is also the last place where you can change (if you want to wear your swim suit)

4x4 VEHICLE

The dispatch of the 4x4 vehicles is based on a queue which means that we can't choose the 4x4 vehicle you will ride. Some are open and some are close, there are no seatbelts.

Each 4x4 vehicle can seat 5 people, so it means you will have one 4x4 vehicle for your group.

TREK

You will use the "old way" to trek Mt. Pinatubo meaning you will walk 2 to 2:30 hours, one way and 4 to 5 hours round trip. There is also a shortcut (called the skyway) that is currently closed.

BOAT RIDE

Rate for the boat ride on the crater lake is Php350/person. You can pay directly the boatmen at the crater lake. The whole boat trip takes around 1 hour and allows you to see the whole crater lake and explore other parts of the lakeshore.

CHANGE OF YOUR GROUP'S HEADCOUNT

Registration at the tourism office is mandatory, which means you can't change the lineup of your group without advising us.

·  If you want to add more participants kindly send us an email before-hand to check if we still have some slots available.

·  If some of you can't join, keep in mind that, no show = forfeiture of your down payment (you can, however, transfer the slot(s) to a new participant provided that it is for the same travel date). Furthermore, if you don't advise us before-hand, the remaining balance of the no-shows will be paid by the other participants of your group.