{"id":1415,"date":"2020-01-12T16:00:14","date_gmt":"2020-01-13T00:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/?p=1415"},"modified":"2023-06-29T13:47:25","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T20:47:25","slug":"scorching-our-feet-on-taal-volcano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/philippines\/scorching-our-feet-on-taal-volcano\/","title":{"rendered":"Scorching Our Feet on Taal Volcano"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taal Volcano is erupting today. Authorities are ordering 8000 people to evacuate the surrounding area. Flights at Manila International Airport have been suspended. (Please see the attached article<\/a> from the BBC.)<\/p>\n

In view of all this, I decided it was a good time to republish this post from 2014.<\/p>\n

\n

***********************<\/p>\n

It seemed like a good idea at the time: a midweek excursion, a dormant volcano, and my seven-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n

\"view<\/a>

view from Tagaytay Ridge, photo courtesy of Glenn Martinez<\/p><\/div>\n

It was 1975. We\u2019d lived in the Philippines for four years by then, and we\u2019d seen Taal Volcano several times \u2026 from a distance. We\u2019d driven to Tagaytay, a popular day-tripping spot south of Manila, stood on the ridge and enjoyed the view below\u2014the lake and the scattering of islands. Somewhere down there, below the lake and the picturesque islands, slept a volcano, or so they said.<\/p>\n

\"Mt.<\/a>

Mt. St. Helens, photo by Sue Cromarty<\/p><\/div>\n

Growing up along the Pacific Ring of Fire, I\u2019d been surrounded by dormant volcanoes\u2014Mt. Baker, Glacier Peak, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, and Mt. St. Helens. Each one a tall, snow-covered, stand-alone mountain. None of them bore the slightest resemblance to the islands and lake 2000 feet below Tagaytay Ridge.<\/p>\n

\"Mt.<\/a>

Mt. Baker, photo by Sue Cromarty<\/p><\/div>\n

Still, other excursions sponsored by the Asian Development Bank Women\u2019s Club had always been worthwhile. We\u2019d gone to Corregidor and the Banaue Rice Terraces, even to the presidential palace to meet Imelda Marcos. Surely this trip would turn out to be fun and educational.<\/p>\n

The bus the Women\u2019s Club hired took us as far as Tagaytay Ridge. While my daughter and I waited to board one of the minibuses that would take us down to Taal Lake, I squinted, trying to see the ridge on the far side of the lake. It was too far away. Tagaytay Ridge was supposed to be part of the rim of a gigantic prehistoric volcano. If so, we were about to descend into the volcano\u2019s crater.<\/p>\n

The road down to Lake Taal was steep and rutted, the drop-off deadly. I hugged my daughter, and then, remembering that she had a low tolerance for heat, I released my arms and held her hand instead. Poor dear! It was always so hot in the Philippines.<\/p>\n

\"bancas<\/a>

bancas on Lake Taal, photo by Jhun80, Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

At the edge of the lake, outrigger canoes were waiting to ferry us to the island, four passengers in each banca. The water was choppy, the lake far bigger than it had looked from Tagaytay Ridge. As soon as we were all on the island, the boatmen left. They would pick us up on the other side.<\/p>\n

As we started up the first slope, it finally dawned on me: Taal really was a volcano. In a country rich with sun and rain and everything green, the land under our feet was completely barren. Not a single tree to give us shade. The rocks, pebbles and sand were too newly coughed up from inside the earth to support life.<\/p>\n

For a while everything was charcoal-colored, the pebbles smaller than peas. Then we reached a section of fine ashen silt. Interesting. But, oh! It was so hot. The heat came not only from the sun, but also from beneath us, steaming up around our burning feet.<\/p>\n

As we reached the top of another hill, I looked over at my daughter. Her face was as red as a beet. We should turn back, I thought. I looked around at the now rusty-colored ground and the ridges of hardened lava. We weren\u2019t even halfway to the other side, and the little flask of water I carried was almost empty. We couldn\u2019t turn back though. The bancas had already left for the far side of the island.<\/p>\n

Before cell phones, you couldn\u2019t change your mind or phone for help. So we plodded on, up one hill and down the next until finally, about two hours later, we reached the bancas. After that, we still had to ride back across the lake and up the ridge to our bus.<\/p>\n

On the bus going home, my daughter developed a fever and upset stomach. Heat stroke.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d hoped that the excursion with the Women\u2019s Club would be an educational experience, but I wonder now if my daughter remembers anything from that day. I only know that I regret having taken her to walk across the top of a volcano.<\/p>\n

Years later, I realize I was wrong in labeling Taal a dormant volcano. Having erupted at least 33 times in the last 400 years, Taal is considered an active volcano. It may not have erupted in 1975 (when we visited), but it did erupt every year from 1965 through 1970 and again in 1976 and 1977.<\/p>\n

Where would you draw the line between educational experiences and safety for children?<\/p>\n

Have you ever been close to an active volcano?<\/p>\n

\"my<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Taal Volcano is erupting today. Authorities are ordering 8000 people to evacuate the surrounding area. Flights at Manila International Airport have been suspended. (Please see the attached article from the BBC.) In view of all this, I decided it was a good time to republish this post from 2014. *********************** It seemed like a good […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[155,177,148,253],"tags":[337,329,338,336,335,333,332,334,928,331,330],"class_list":["post-1415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-parenting","category-philippines","category-travel","tag-active-volcano","tag-dormant-volcanoes","tag-eruptions-of-taal-volcano","tag-heat-stroke","tag-lake-taal","tag-mt-baker","tag-mt-st-helens","tag-pacific-ring-of-fire","tag-philippines","tag-taal-volcano","tag-tagaytay-ridge"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Kn1e-mP","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10227,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/philippines\/volcano-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":1415,"position":0},"title":"Volcano Love","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"July 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"summer at Mt. Baker, photo by Sue Cromarty I\u2019ve always lived near a volcano. Most of them quiet. Most of the time. Mt. Baker I was born and grew up not far from beautiful Mt. Baker. It was part of our landscape. 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