The following took place on Saturday, 18th October 2008:-
We left F.A.B. at about 4am so when we reached our room we immediately bathed and went to bed in our today clothes. After napping for about 3 hours or less, we left for the day’s activity – Tagatay(pronounced Ta-gai-tai). 
Now, Tagatay is a 2 hours’ drive away from our hotel in Malate. Our van driver the previous day fetched us at the hotel and we were on our way. The lack of sleep meant we slept during most of the journey. Hehe. But nearing our destination, that is Taal in Tagatay, the road was steep (going downhill), long and winding and needless to say the rollercoaster-like ride woke us all up! We girls kept giggling whilst the driver went downhill in free-gear and at one point the van keys actually FELL OUT of the ignition and onto the floor of the van! Strangely, the van’s engine was still running!!! That really made everyone laugh in wonder. Haha…
Anyways, when we reached the bottom of the mountainous area, we stopped at the San Rogue Resort and from there took a boat out into Lake Taal.
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| Backdrop: The boat is immediately behind us, the water is Lake Taal and in the horizon is NO mountain! |
In the horizon was actually 3 volcanoes on an island - the center one is still ACTIVE, and that was where we were headed!
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| Leaving the resort behind us… |
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| It was a half-hour boat ride to the volcano island from the mainland… |
After we landed on the island, this was the sight that immediately greeted us – a HORSE RANCH! And that was just ONE of MANY on the island.
Apparently, we could choose to either WALK or go on HORSEBACK up to the volcano!
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From this picture, what did you think we chose? Hehe…Awesome…  |
So, half-an-hour later, ON HORSEBACK, we reached the volcano…
The view there was just BREATHTAKING!!!
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| This is the mouth of the volcano. A crater lake. We could see steam rising from it! |
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| Cowgirls on the loose? Hehehe… |
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| And here is a group picture of us and 2 Korean tourists! Even they thought we were locals. LOL! |
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| Behind me is the view of the mainland from the volcano island. |
Soon it was time to return to the mainland, so we were back on the horse…
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| And this young lad is my horseboy! Young, but quite capable of handling my ride. |
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Time to get off the horse…  |
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| Back on the boat to return to the mainland… |
Did I mention that the resort was simply BEAUTIFUL?!!! Lovely…
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| Meet Tito & Tita (Uncle & Auntie) – the owners of the San Rogue Resort. |
Tito is a Holland-er and married to Tita who is a local. Sweet couple…and they were VERY hospitable.
We had lunch at the resort before we left and we got to try local dishes like the Sinilang(?) which is a sour soup (very nice!!!). Also, on the resort there was a chapel and a beautiful garden and parked there is a pedicab…
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| Or is it a trishaw? A motorcycle attached to a sidecar to carry passengers. |
After several photo-taking sessions at the resort then only did we leave…Would love to return to the Resort again next time…really lovely…
Anyways, then we went back to Malate, changed our backup RM reserves to pesos and called it a day…
The others complaint of back (and butt) aches after our 1 hour horseride up-and-down the volcano’s side…hehe…
The Road Once Taken (to be continued)...
Next: Day 4 (Walking The Streets)
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