Date: 29th May, 2013

Today I woke up to the sad sight of morning rains. Sad because I hoped for clear skies. Today I would focus entirely on Mt. Mayon (also known as Magayon volcano) — the main reason I came to Legazpi, and quite literally, the region’s biggest attraction.

I took two jeepneys (cost me ₱10+₱8) to get to Lignon Hill, which I was told is a great view point to see Mt. Mayon.

I moved to the car park area for another view.

I sat there disappointed. After not being able to do the Mt. Pinatubo trek, not getting to see whale sharks in Donsol, I was upset over the thought of another potential disappointment today.

I had enough of Lignon Hill and decided to go to Cagsawa Ruins for some better luck.

I was dropped at the entrance

Eventually I mustered up enough courage to just walk past the boundary and entered the fields.

And so I climbed the mound…

Besides shooing away cows, I really felt at ease being here. It was so pleasant, and cool, and beautiful! Green grass, water streams, very few bugs, clean air, no noise and a majestic Mt. Mayon in front of me. Somehow my frustrations just went away.

The jeepney did pass by Albay and I could have gotten down. But I figured I’d go and have dinner from the city. That turned out to be a bad idea. I could see grey skies in the distance by around 6pm, but when some of the passengers decided to get out of the jeepney, leaving only me in the back, I took it as a bad sign.

After the rains subsided, I walked around Legazpi city because I read online there was a small concentration of Indians who have been in Legazpi for some time.

It was dark, most of the shops were shut or shutting down. I gave up trying to find the area and decided to head back. I bought some meds from a pharmacy, picked up some Dunkin Donuts for tomorrow’s breakfast and took a jeepney back to Albay.

Although I was disappointed I couldn’t shoot Mt. Mayon perfectly without the clouds, I still felt calm and at ease today. All thanks to the unspoiled beauty and serenity that I experienced out in the grasslands. It’s no wonder the people of Bicol named the volcano “magayon” — which mean ‘beautiful’ in the local dialect — when it’s not erupting and damaging property that is.

If you want to know what Mt. Mayon looks like without the clouds, see yesterday’s post — and the next. Yup, luck is never on my side when I most need it!

P.S: The timelapse video of Mount Mayon will come a bit later. I shot over 2,000 photos and I haven’t got the resources to make the video yet.

Update: Here’s the video, pieced together in Adobe After Effects with music by my younger brother

Next post in this series:

Philippines 2013: Aerial view of Mount Mayon; arriving at Coron

Previous posts in this series:

Philippines 2013: Arriving at Legazpi; going to Donsol to see whale sharks

Philippines 2013: Leaving Boracay; Kalibo to Angeles City

Beachfront hotels and resorts on White Beach, Boracay

Philippines 2013: Bulabog beach, Mount Luho viewpoint and sunset at White Beach

Philippines 2013: Boracay island tour, Puka beach and snorkelling

Philippines 2013: Flying from Manila to Boracay, White Beach

Philippines 2013: Taal Lake Volcano and Peoples Park, Tagaytay

The crap I went through to get my Philippines tourist visa this time