Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mount Pinatubo
All visits include a conservation fee (P500) and Aeta passway fee (P150) • Boat rental P350/hr
Nothing has quite been the same around
Mount Pinatubo
(1485m), 25km east of
Clark, since 1991, when the volcano exploded in one of the largest eruptions of the
twentieth century worldwide (see box below). Today, visits to the resultant moon-like
lahar landscape and lake is one of the country's top activities, though independent
hikes to the top are not permitted. The local tribe, the
Aetas
, though devastated by the
eruption, have legal ownership over the mountain.
At the time of writing, organized trips to the volcano leave from the small town of
Santa Juliana
, about 40km from Clark, where you register. From here, a 4WD takes
you for an hour or so across flat lahar beds and over dusty foothills to the start of a
gentle hike to
Lake Pinatubo
(around 5.5km, with a height gain of 300m; 2-3hr);
some tour companies will take you closer (via the Korean-built “Skyway”), within ten
minutes of the crater. The lake itself is stunning, with emerald-green waters and
spectacular surrounding views. Bring a picnic; swimming is banned as the lake is now
mildly toxic, but you can rent boats.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
2
MOUNT PINATUBO
By bus and jeepney
The North Luzon and SCTEX express-
ways make getting to Pinatubo easy enough, and it's
feasible to visit as a day-trip from Manila. Coming from
Manila or Clark on any Tarlac or Baguio bus, ask to be let
off in Capas, where you can catch a jeepney or tricycle to
Paitlin (P20), and then a tricycle to the barangay of
Santa Juliana for around P60 (or go direct from Capas to
Santa Juliana via tricycle; 1hr; at least P500). Once in Santa
Juliana the first 4WD trips depart at around 6am from PDC
Spa Town (see below).
TOURS
Several companies run Pinatubo trips, though none will volunteer the information that the longer treks are closed, so
question them carefully about what's open to trekkers at present. Prices are dependent on group size.
Hiking
all the way
is discouraged but possible; since it would take at least 8hr and you'd need to hire a guide - and bearing in mind that
camping is not allowed - taking one of the 4WD tours is virtually mandatory.
Mount Pinatubo 4x4 Club
Santa Juliana
T
0919 608
4313,
W
pinatubo.tk.
4WD trips are charged at P3000 for
the jeep (for up to five people), plus P500 for the guide,
P500 conservation fee (per person) and P150 Aeta passway
fee (per person): so P1350 each for a group of five, and
P2400 each for a group of two.
PDC Spa Town
Santa Juliana
T
45 615 0454,
E
sales
@mtpinatubotour.com or
E
pdcspatown@yahoo.com.
The Korean-owned PDC Spa Town resort is the main
coordinator of trips up the mountain and sells all-inclusive
PINATUBO BLOWS ITS TOP
On April 2, 1991, people from the village of Patal Pinto on the lower slopes of
Mount Pinatubo
witnessed small explosions followed by steaming, and smelt rotten egg fumes escaping from
the upper slopes of the supposedly dormant volcano (the last known eruption was six hundred
years before). On June 12, the first of several major explosions took place. The eruption was so
violent that shockwaves were felt in the Visayas and nearly twenty million tons of sulphur
dioxide gas were blasted into the atmosphere, causing red skies to appear for months
afterwards. A giant ash cloud rose 35km into the sky and red-hot blasts seared the countryside.
Ash paralysed Manila, closing the airport for days and turning the capital's streets into an eerie,
grey, post-apocalyptic landscape. By June 16, when the dust had settled, the top of the volcano
was gone, replaced by a 2km-wide caldera containing a lake. Lava deposits had filled valleys,
buildings had collapsed, and over eight hundred people were dead.
The eruption virtually destroyed the traditional way of life of the
Aeta people
, who had
lived on the slopes of the volcano. Over twenty years later, many Aeta have re-established
small villages near the mountain. Over seven hundred, however, live in poorly maintained
bamboo houses on a special relocation site in Sitio Gala near Subic Bay dubbed the Aeta
Resettlement and Rehabilitation Center, where they're almost entirely dependent on
charitable organizations for their survival.
