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Don’t go if you’re expecting a run-of-the-mill tourist experience. Don’t go if you don’t want your endurance and patience tested with muscle cramps during the long hard trek. Don’t go if you think it isn’t going to take you at least half a day to actually get to your destination. But hey, here’s another don’t: don’t knock it until you try it. It’s been almost 20 years since the most significant geological event of the 20th century, Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption. See full story: goo.gl/9I0sEQ
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Journey to the Crater Story by Karen
Bolilia Photography: Filbert Kung & Glenn Peter Perez of Blackfox Photography Styling: Mike de Guzman & George Palmiano (MGP) Hair & Makeup: Nanan Villaba Model: Carlo Ian Adorador Source: Illustrado Magazine
DON’T GO TO PINATUBO. Don’t go if you’re expecting a runofthemill tourist experience. Don’t go if you don’t want your endurance and patience tested with muscle cramps during the long hard trek. Don’t go if you think it isn’t going to take you at least half a day to actually get to your destination. But hey, here’s another don’t: don’t knock it until you try it. It’s been almost 20 years since the most significant geological event of the 20th century, Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption, and along with it came a decade’s worth of substantial environmental collateral damage. But perhaps, what nature has taken away, it gives back through breathtaking landscapes, covered in Mt. Pinatubo’s ashes – majestic, postcardperfect deserted lands clawing their way back to life, rugged, raw, and determined. Under the heat of the summer sun, the scenery is bursting with the hopeful hues of ‘feastyoureyesonthis’ kind of promise. If you were to explore this promise, you might as well do it the right way.
On all fours We were ushered into the first leg of our Pinatubo adventure by rugged 4×4 trucks. Travel Factor’s use of the hardwearing vehicle provided an intimidating yet accessible ride. The 4×4, a master of all terrains that seemed to recognize the topography like an old friend. Once you get over the mandatory jolt, thump and crash, it’s unlike any other terrestrial transportation you’ve ever been on. It’s the ultimate compromise between the tourist and the adrenaline junkie, which appeases both the sightseeing and the thrillseeking requisites of the trip.
Sheer printed top and harem pants, both by Gerry Katigbak; leopardprinted shawl by Tango; silver chain necklace, dried waterlily sandals and striped blue shawl used as waist wrap, all by AC+632; silver cuff and red Ifugao band, both by Tesoro’s
At our truck stop midway, we were able to admire the beauty on standstill; untapped and wild. Here, one can’t help but be in awe. Some of the locals may have already pegged us as peculiar, for taking photos in a place they consider merely as home. Halfway through our journey, we encountered an incline, a treacherously steep one, and even before we could weigh in on the odds that our trucks won’t plummet downwards, we were back on our seats, moving towards the aptly named route, the Skyway. It was a oneway alley that could only fit one truck, sandwiched between elevated plateaus. The repetitive uphilldownhill movement makes one think that the excavated road is limitless or maybe a result of some paranormal activity where you just keep going back to where you came from. It could be that the ashes had obstructed a portion of our vision, but doubt inevitably creeps in when, for over 25 minutes, there was you, your companions, and your truckagainst the vast territories of nature, impeded by the limits of the human senses. Thankfully, the endlessness did have an end.
See full story: http://goo.gl/9I0sEQ
