The largest volcano in the world. The largest volcano in the world What is the smallest volcano

We can't all sit in stuffy and dirty Manila. And so we decided to go to the Philippine province, where it is clean, calm and cozy, and not just somewhere in nature, but to the smallest active volcano in the world. It is called Taal, it is located in the middle of the huge freshwater Lake Taal, and is located 50 km from Manila. The journey takes approximately 2 hours. We traveled by our own car, but there is also a regular bus from Manila to Tagaytay from the Pasay area. Tagaytaya is a village on the shore of a large lake, from where boats and boats depart to the volcano island. There are also buildings on the volcano island itself, people live, but it is completely unclear how they will evacuate in the event of a sudden eruption. By the way, Taal's two strongest eruptions occurred quite recently, in 1911 and 1965.

Outside of Manila, the road passes mostly through green thickets like this.

But then we climb the mountain, and suddenly a view of the lake and the volcano opens up right in front of us.

The view is certainly impressive. It should be noted that the living conditions of the local population here are better than in crowded, dirty Manila.

The shore of the lake is overgrown with palm trees. By the way, it’s curious, but there are no beaches here, despite the fact that the water in the lake is exceptionally warm. at all. For some reason, the tourism industry has barely touched this place; you have to get there yourself at your own peril and risk.

Well, of course, no one swims here.

Numerous strange structures in the water, as they explained to us, are fish farms. And the houses of Tagaytay village are nearby.

Another small volcanic island in the middle of a huge lake. It swelled, but did not become a volcano.

Thickets of palm trees on the shore.

We. On the background.

We went down to the shore, to the village. In front of you are authentic Philippine fishing and passenger boats with counterweight skis, or whatever they call it.

That's where we'll sail.

On one of these boats, always standing ready, waiting for tourists. Delivery costs are very cheap.

They asked the coconut to drink. The guy immediately started chopping for small money.

He cut it down and looked at where it fell.

Local children came running to watch the show with foreigners.

Opens a coconut like this.

We are being watched.

View of the pier. Quite a rural idyll.

We are also being filmed.

It looks something like this. Sweet water inside.

We set sail. The shore ahead is also completely unsuitable for swimming and relaxation. Just berths - and off we go.

Here it is, the volcano cone.

Settlements on the coast.

There are two ways to get to the mouth of Taal Volcano - either on horseback with local guides, or along the same road on foot. We decided to go on foot. Not out of savings, but because they wanted to test themselves. The locals couldn’t believe that foreigners would trudge up in the heat on their own two feet. They followed us on horseback for a long time and urged us to come to our senses. Other foreigners walked around us and were amazed. Although we saw a few more people on the way up on foot.

These are exactly the guides who so wanted us to use their services.

Let's get up. View in the opposite direction from where we sailed. The same fish farms on the lake.

Lonely palm tree on the field. The heat is 30 degrees.

And the same jungle all around.

Another volcanic island.

Some green ones were flying in the thickets big birds, apparently, parrots.

And so we went upstairs. View of the volcano's mouth. It is boiling, and going down there is prohibited; the edges are fenced around the perimeter. At the top there are observation decks, cafes and tents for relaxation.

The water in the lake below is very salty and hot, and you can see that it is boiling. We were told that there were toxic fumes. but there was no way to verify this. True, some tourists continued walking along the edge, apparently to another observation point, perhaps below.

Here is a view from above of a boiling volcano, which could explode at any moment.

Let me remind you that this is all 50 kilometers from Manila, although behind a mountain range.

Taal Volcano July 10th, 2013

Taal Volcano is considered the smallest volcano in the world, but at the same time it is one of the most dangerous. It has more than 30 recorded eruptions, the largest of which occurred in 1911. Now the volcano is “dormant”, but from time to time it has shown signs of increasing activity since 1991 and therefore is constantly under the supervision of volcanologists and seismologists.

This is the second active volcano in the Philippines after Mayon (the largest in the country). It is interesting that the volcano is located in the center of Lake Taal, on the so-called volcanic island, in the center of which, after the last eruption, a lake also formed. Here, in the photo, you can see the crater of an extinct volcano, the locals call it Old Volcano. The crater we need is a little to the left, the boat is returning from there.

To get to the volcano, you need to take a bus or jeepney to the province of Batangas, in the south of the island of Luzon. The nearest town where you can hire a boat to cross Taal Lake is Tagaytay.

By the way, the locals don’t understand the name “Taal”, they make big eyes! They pronounce TAAL (without a soft sign). I was faced with the fact that they didn’t understand me when I tried to find out how best to get there, and only then I understood what was going on.

In addition to the fact that you need to find a boat (which is not at all difficult), they will also ask you to register in the register, and they will also try to impose a guide on you, which they supposedly cannot do without. You don't really need a guide. Having landed on the shore, you need to go to the right along the path through the village. There is only one road - it’s difficult to get lost.

Despite the fact that since the 90s it has been strictly forbidden to settle and build houses here, the volcanic island is full of people. People literally live on a powder keg that is about to explode. The last eruption killed more than 1,300 people, and all life in the area died out within a radius of 10 km. Yet these people have nowhere to go; they have always lived here.

We still took a guide, because we didn’t know how it would be there, which we soon regretted. He asked the boatman to drop us off at the farthest end of the volcanic island, after which we walked for half an hour through the village, although this could have been avoided by landing closer to the beginning of the climb. A dozen local guys on horseback immediately followed us, waiting for us to get tired so they could offer their services. In general, all tourists climb the volcano exclusively on horseback, and only we decided to walk on our feet.

This grows not what you thought :) This is a root vegetable from which bread is made, I forgot what it’s called.

As you climb, beautiful views begin to open up.

Hot toxic gases make their way to the surface from various cracks, and it smells of sulfur.

This suggests that the volcano is gradually waking up.

The ascent takes about an hour at a leisurely pace. If it were not for the terrifying heat and numerous stops to sit in the shade, you could walk to the volcanic lake in about 40 minutes.

Before climbing, you need to stock up on water; from above they sell it 5 times more expensive. But coconut and water are the same price.

You can't go anywhere without a jump photo.

You can look at the lake from a different angle. Someone tried to write "Vasya was here."

At one end the water is hot, even boiling a little, but sulfur remains on the shore. On the other hand, the water is cold, as evidenced by the smooth surface of the water.

The beauty here is, of course, oh-oh-oh! By the way, this is our first volcano that we climbed!

This is a master of ruining the frame)))

And these are our would-be guides; in the end, I knew more about the volcano itself than they did. We agreed with one, then the second one came from somewhere, for the company.

We ran down in 15 minutes, our boatman invited us to his family’s house to drink some water. It's a small thing, but nice.

Mistress of the house.

Simple interior, nothing superfluous.

We say goodbye and get on the boat. From the pier, our route takes us to Batangas, where we need to take an overnight ferry to Caticlan, the port from where we can take a boat to Boracay!