A lake within a volcano within a lake

The dodgy bathroom turned out to lack hot water as well as a toilet seat so after a cold shower we happily left, wanting to get to Talisay, a town on the edge of lake Taal. Instead of spending ages trying to find a jeepney (their idea of a bus which is just a truck with benches in the back) we paid a little extra for a tricycle to take us all the way there. It was a good half an hour ride down to the lake and when we arrived the driver helped us find somewhere to stay. What we should have thought was that it was too expensive and we could have got a bus to Manila later that day and stayed somewhere cheaper but we weren't sure how long we'd spend exploring Taal volcano, which lies in the centre of lake Taal. However, we're not that wise so we settled for somewhere that cost us £10 each for the night. More expensive than El Nido! It was clean and nice but we're travellers and shouldn't be spending that kind of money on somewhere to sleep. 

Having dumped our bags we found breakfast at a place round the corner, both choosing a Filipino dish again. This one had rice and fried egg as well but was served with a lovely sausage that was like a soft chorizo. We bought some water and then caught a boat to the volcano, travelling across the large lake. 

When we arrived at the base we were shocked to see a vast amount of horses being walked round a basket ball court, waiting for tourists to ride them up the volcano. This didn't seem like my idea of fun so we avoided horses and guides and made our own way up, following the very visible path up to the top. Of course, we foolishly decided to climb up at midday, the hottest time of the day. We'd barely walked for five minutes when Matt stubbed his toe (we were wearing sandles as we're really dim) and it began to bleed slightly. The path was basically just dust and we had no plaster so Matt was worried the cut could get infected. He had to ask some ladies who were trying to sell us things if they had any tissue (they didn't have a plaster) so he wrapped up his toe and secured the tissue in place with one of my bobbles. I won't be using that bobble again. This incident didn't help our enthusiasm levels and so we begrudgingly trekked up. 

Around forty minutes later we reached the top having dodged masses of horses on the walk up. We were disgusting. My feet were black, my Birkenstocks (originally black) were grey from the dust and I was so sweaty that it would drip down my forehead into my eyes. This stung slightly as I had suncream on. I was a new level of hot. There was nowhere to cool down at the top which made us even grumpier. In addition to that we were unimpressed with the view. Maybe it was a little naive of us to think that there would be lava bubbling in the centre of the volcano but things we had read had described the place as a lake within a volcano within a lake within a volcano within a lake and so on. This was simply a lake within a volcano within a lake. The edges of the inner lake were slightly red from the red dust that was scattered around the shore making it seem a bit more volcano like but it lacked the impact we thought it would have on us. 

Eventually, when we'd stood for at least half an hour, we started to cool down and appreciate the view more. Truly, it was rather amazing and I think our grumpiness clouded this. We walked along the small ridge which looked down onto the inner lake (the top of the volcano) and when we'd cheered up we started the descent. This took less time and wasn't nearly as hot and sweaty so before we knew it we were back with the boat and on our way towards Talisay again. I'd thought it would have taken longer to explore the volcano and so we hadn't planned anything for the afternoon. However, we were situated at the edge of a large lake so swimming in it all afternoon sounded like a marvellous idea. 

It was gone two when we reached Talisay so we had some lunch. Having disliked the pork yesterday, I decided to try chicken adobo. It was quite lovely but lacked the veg that I've been craving. After food, Matt wanted a haircut and there were a few barbers in this little town. It took about 15 minutes and I watched, amazed at what the barber was doing. He used rather large scissors and a blade to cut Matt's hair even though he had some clippers. The end result was far better than I expected and costing only 50 pesos (less than a pound) it was a bargain. We asked the barber if he knew where we could swim in the lake. He didn't understand us fully (which makes no sense as all Filipinos speak English) and so sent us off with his friend in a tricycle. The journey was about 50 metres back to a resort right next to where we were staying which had a swimming pool. We'd been mugged off slightly (we should have realised as some people had laughed at us as we got in the tricycle). We tried to explain that we wanted to swim in the lake and then were told that there isn't anywhere where you can swim in the lake. This shocked us and left me feeling utterly disappointed. What would we do with the rest of our day? We walked through the town which consisted of one long road along by the lake. We walked for a good half an hour before deciding to turn back as there really wasn't anything to see in this town. People kept shouting hello at us which at first was lovely but then it became tiring waving back numerous times. I cheered myself up a little with an ice cream on the walk back and we both decided that we'd go for a nap as it was only 5 at this point and felt a little early for tea. 

After our little nap we went to a place that sold two types of soup and ended up with both soups. One was a rice soup with a boiled egg and fried garlic and a touch of lime juice. It was quite salty but was warming and tasty. The other was noodles in a broth with a boiled egg. This one was nice but didn't have the same kind of flavour as the rice soup. We sat down and ate whilst watching the Voice Kids which is a popular Filipino reality show. The family that owned the little place ended up all coming out to sit with us. I felt like I was having a family dinner (even though they weren't eating). It was rather a large family with around six children and so the eatery looked quite full! I'm not a huge fan of Talisay as there's nothing to do but the Filipino people are very kind and friendly.