Today, I want to share my experience in Tarlac, how I reached this place and witnessed the horrific eruption and how this turned me into a Pinatubo Tour Operator.
Philippines, though categorized as a third world country, is very rich in natural resources. We have extensive sea coast with good bays and harbors, navigable rivers and lakes, mountains and caves, land rich in minerals and agricultural products. Back in 70s, Philippines is one of the richest countries in Asia.
There are many factors why we are one of the poorest now. The Government seat has full of corrupt officials who never serve the interest of the Filipino people. Our Political system is one of the the few things that I can never proud of.
As requested by some of my blogger friends and readers, I will be featuring one of the most visited tourist spot in my place, Mount Pinatubo. This mountain is an active volcano located in the island of Luzon and can be found at the intersection of the borders of the provinces of Zambales, Pampanga and Tarlac. The volcano’s recent eruption in June 1991, two weeks after I was transferred here from Manila (I’m not a local here, I was assigned to work here). This eruption came after 500 years of dormancy and produced one of the largest and most violent eruptions of the 20th century. This resulted to dislocations of thousands of families, destroyed many towns, houses, churches and millions worth of properties and resources. One of our indigenous people, the Aetas, who were living peacefully at the foot of the mountain, were evacuated against their will but some stayed in the caves and just waited there to die.
I was sleeping peacefully on that early morning of June 15, 1991 when my room mates woke me up and told me that Mt. Pinatubo had erupted and when we go out we saw that big smoke of clouds circling the part where Mt. Pinatubo is located. The next days were storms of ash falls and we had to wear masks. Our company, International Wiring Systems Inc. (IWSPC), a subsidiary of a Japanese company Sumitomo Wiring Systems stopped its operation and sent us home. Most of us were pioneer employees of Kawasaki Motors Philippines from Sucat, Paranaque. We were offered a relocation to Luisita industrial Park to man and train the newly hired workers from different municipality in Tarlac province.
After a week, we were back to work but we have to sweep and help clean the ankle deep ashes surrounding the entire building. Those were the unforgettable story of my first weeks in Tarlac. We spent almost a month of clean up operation. This really sadden me but not as bad as those who lost their families and loved ones. Most of them never had the chance to recover even the remains as the ashes wiped out the entire towns and buried the houses turning the place into desert-like area.
More than a decade after, the trees started to grow, people started to build their houses again. That raging volcano turned into a beautiful tourist spot that is now visited by many tourists from parts of the world.
A local tourist from Manila will reach Mount Pinatubo in 5 hours depending upon the traffic and trekking speed. 2 hours travel time via private car, more than 1 hour off road ride and 2 hours trekking.
There are public bus going to North. To name a few are; Victory liner, 5 Star, Dagupan Bus, Philippine Rabbit heading to Dagupan or Baguio City. The exact destination is Capas, Tarlac. That is at least 200php- more or less $5.
If you are interested to book a trip, just visit my business website, www.pinaykeypoint.org.
When our company offered an early retirement program, I immediately grabbed it on October 2005. I started to work online and open a home-based printing shop. I personally designed the ID card of almost a hundred Mount Pinatubo Tour Guides and most of them were Aetas.
Pinatubo Local Tour Guide ID
Where to eat and stay at Tarlac
There are low cost hotels and transient houses at the adjacent areas surrounding Mount Pinatubo. Some range from 1000php/day- or at least $25/day but first class hotels range from $50 and up. Food from local food chains & restaurants like Jollibee, Max’s, KFC, Shakeys, Pizza Hut, & Mc Donalds range from $3-5/meal per person.
Another attraction is the Mud Spa, Hot Spring, Volcanic Sand Spa and Massage Spa
Our services were availed by different establishments here such as
advertisement banners, flyers, tarps & posters.
Because of the overwhelming response of my readers here, I included Mount Pinatubo Tour Guiding as part of our services.
Update 2/8/2009
Please click the link to see our First Mount Pinatubo Trek
December 2008
February 6 & 7 2009
For further inquiries, detailed info, trek schedules and itineraries please visit my other blog:
HTTP://PINATUBOTREK.BLOGSPOT.COM/
RECENT UPDATE: AS OF AUGUST 13, 2012
WE ARE NOW ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED GROUP IN THIS FIELD.
SINCE I POSTED THIS POST, I WAS ABLE TO ARRANGE NUMEROUS TRIPS TO THIS DATE 😉
BLOGGING is indeed a very fulfilling activity. This blog has given birth to PINAYKEYPOINT.ORG
Though, am am guilty that I almost abandon this blog. Each time I log in, it seems that this blog stared at me asking WHY DID YOU ABANDON ME?
I replied: NO! I WAS JUST BUSY GROWING OUR KID 😉
A BIG HUG TO MY BLOG! 😉
JULIET
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!
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Hi Alex, I’m glad you found my blog interesting:) Thanks for dropping by…
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How many hours does it take for a Pinatubo trek? Thanks!
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Is there a hotel at Spa Town near Pinatubo? Is it allowed to spend overnight during trekking?
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Hi Brian, thanks for visiting my blog. If you would start trekking say at 9 am, meaning at the starting point at Brgy. Sta. Juliana where you have to take a 4 x 4 ride, you’ll be at Mt. Pinatubo by 12 noon and you should leave the place by 3 to 4 pm.
….. and to Curt, thanks for the peep too.
No, there’s no Hotel at Sta. Juliana but there are some who offering transient service. No, it is not allowed to spend the night at Mt. Pinatubo but if you come in big groups, you can go to Mayor’s office and ask for permission. They will provide you with security assistance.
I hope this helps… you can also contact me if you’re here and I will endorse you personally to Municipal Tourism officer. Just email me or leave a note here.
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Hi!
My name is Jessika!
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Hello Jessika! That’s a beautiful name, in fact its my eldest daughter’s name too but it’s Jessica, not with a K.
Thanks for dropping by at my blog Jek 🙂
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Hi. Please provide info on clean budget place to stay near Pinatubo. I want to spend 2 nights prior & after the trek. I’ve heard of Jason Inn near Sta. Juliana. Aircon with private bath is my preference. Any contact no. of Jason Inn? Can you also recommend other hotel/hostel with contacts? Please send your reply to my email. Thanks.
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hello! Were planning to go on vacation at Mt. Pinatubo dis Nov. for about 2-3days . can we ask wer we can stay on a nice yet affordable place to stay? and any contact person for us to inquire to arrange our activity at mt.Pinatubo.Pls reply to my email .Thanks! ; )
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Hi Lynette and nicco,
I’ll send you the info you need thru e-mail
Thanks for visiting my blog 🙂
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Hi Nicco, Pinatubo Trek Info has already sent in your inbox, pls get back to me for further info.
To Lynette:
E-mail failed to be delivered in your inbox… I got this message:
Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:
lynnettelimuy@yahoo.com
Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the recipient domain. We recommend contacting the other email provider for further information about the cause of this error. The error that the other server returned was: 554 554 delivery error: dd This user doesn’t have a yahoo.com account (lynnettelimuy@yahoo.com) [-5] – mta130.mail.re1.yahoo.com (state 18).
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Hi Im coming to Pinatubo around the end of November. I want to stay somewhere nearby which is clean and comfortable, luxury not important. Can you please provide me with some options. Can you also provide me with details on joining a tour to the top of the mountain
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Hi Greg, thanks for coming by… I’ll email you the details regarding your inquiry.
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Hi Juliet. I have another email address for you coz the other one failed. To refresh, here’s my question again. Thanks.
Hi. Please provide info on clean budget place to stay near Pinatubo. I want to spend 2 nights prior & after the trek. I’ve heard of Jason Inn near Sta. Juliana. Aircon with private bath is my preference. Any contact no. of Jason Inn? Can you also recommend other hotel/hostel with contacts? Please send your reply to my email. Thanks.
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Hi Juliet I dont seem to have received an email from you yet. Just wondering if its been sent?
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Hi Greg, yea, I already sent it…. hmmm… maybe I put a wrong email add…sorry for that, anyways, I sent you the info an hour ago, please get back to me if you receive it 🙂
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ei juliet, can you send me the complete details for the Mt. Kinabalu package. My friend and I have been planning for it, glad i landed here. Here’s mah email add: cyankyle@yahoo.com. Big thanks! 🙂
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I also would like to recommend one nice Serbian spa called Sokobanja http://www.soko-banja.org spa. Very nice place with termo-mineral springs.
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Hi there, thank you for visiting my blog and sharing this to us
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Pingback: Mount Pinatubo Trek « PinayKeyPoint
hi do you have contacts for tour packages? i’m currently in a rush finding tour packages for the coming weekend, for two, and i’m kinda interested in mt pinatubo. thanks.
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Hi there, thanks for coming by, I already send you an e-mail. please get back to me if you receive it
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hi juliet, nice blog. i was wondering if you don’t mind sending me an email regarding the packages too. we’re planning to go there this january. if possible, can i get a phone number to contact for hotels, guides and renting 4X4s? thanks in advance!
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Hi Yule,
Welcome to my blog! Mount Pinatubo Tour is one of our services. I’ll send the details in your mailbox. Thanks for the visit!!
Juliet
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nice shots! keep it up!
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Thanks for the visit noctis. Happy new year!!
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hi. sorry to bother you again but i haven’t received any emails yet about the packages. maybe hotmail is not working. anyways, if you don’t mind can you kindly send them to me again? i changed my email to a yahoo acct and you can also send it here: bluff00@yahoo.com. looking forward to it and specially interested in the mud spa, is that a hotel or just in mt. pinatubo? thanks again and happy new year! ^_^
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Ok, I’ll re send it to your yahoo mail. Take note, you cannot do the mud spa and Mt. Pinatubo trek in one day coz it’s 2 different destination. For Mt. Pinatubo trek, you need whole day but you can avail siatsu massage or volcanic ash spa after trekking.
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hi!
your blog is really full of interesting information.
my friends and i are planning to go up to pinatubo this summer and i would like to ask for the details and, of course, the budget.
thanks a lot. hope to hear from you soon.
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Hi Love,
such a beautiful name, I love it 😉 BTW thanks for coming by at Pinaykeypoint blog. More details and pricing information is available at my other blog http://pinatubotrek.blogspot.com/
Juliet
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Please send me ur pricing for your tour packages. I am landing in clark airport. How do i go to mt.Pinatubo? Is there any special price for 8 guys. Please let me know thank you.
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Hi, thank you for your interest at our Mount Pinatubo tour guiding service. I already sent the pricing at your email. Pls. get back to us if you will hire our service.
I am looking forward to be of service to you. Thanks!!
Juliet
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From Sta. Juliana, Capas, Tarlac, all 24 of us in the group rode 4×4 vehicles to the jump-off site. The bumpy and dusty off-road trip took around an hour. Then we hiked to the crater lake for 2 and a half hours.
If you’ve never been to Mt. Pinatubo, you should go there one day. The journey up is a thrilling adventure. The physical exertion is not too taxing (no slopy trail) and the sights are breathtaking especially the crater lake. As for me, I enjoyed the long walk treading on volcanic debris and crossing a shallow river of cool water several times. Of course, the fun of taking pictures is a given.
A limiting factor in Mt. Pinatubo is the expense. To make it easier financially, arranging for vehicles ahead of time is recommended. To make it more convenient, however, you may opt to go for the tour packages,if you want to go there,then you can do online booking
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Thank you for sharing this information to us Max 🙂
For advance booking please email me at pinaykeypoint@yahoo.com or send me a message via yahoo messenger using the same ID
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hi, good day..may i know how much wil i spend to visit mt.pinatubo?i really like d place..im in manila.
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Hi,
I’m planning to visit Mt Pinatubo this summer can you give me the package detail; ie prices, schedules, etc.
thank you,
Francis
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Hi Francis,
I already sent the details in your inbox, the email you used when you sign you comment here in my blog. You can also visit http://pinatubotrek.blogspot.com for updated Mt. Pinatubo package rates, inclusions and itineraries. This is also my blog exclusive for Mount Pinatubo Tour Guiding service.
Thank you for visiting my blog 😉
Juliet
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Hello Juliet,
May I ask the contact information: telephone numbers and addresses if possible of Jason’s inn and other inns offering an overnight stay near Bgy. Sta. Juliana? I plan to stay 2 nights. Thank you in advance. Regards, Millie
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Hi Millie,
Thank you for the visit. I don’t have a number of those inns as i’m not a local resident of that area. My home is an hour drive from that place. I usually book my guests at the hotels in Tarlac City or Luisita and we usually go at Mount Pinatubo entrance before 6am via private van. I may suggest that you call PLDT directory assistance.
Juliet
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Thanks for sharing it!! A great property in Mount Pinatubo… I hope to get there soon to see its beauty…
-david
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Me and my Boyfriend are planning to visit Mt. Pinatubo this december. Kindly send me the package deals. Please. Thanks and warm regards, ANN.
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I would like to apply as a tourguide iun mt.pinatubo..I want new adventures
contact me 09292947767
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Hi! Is this possible for a daytrip? Can you give me an estimated cost for this trip? I’m intrigued with the 4×4 ride? Does that come with the trekking? Thanks.
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Hi. we will be going to pinatubo on the 28th of november from zambales. i would like to know if there is a place where we can leave our things when we go to the crater? i have been hearing about jason’s inn. how much does a room cost? thank you!
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well, there are so many tourist attractions that you find on asia and europe. i would really love to travel a lot *.`
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hi.interesting topic here.may i know what first class hotels there are near mount pinatubo?thanks so much
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Microtel at Luisita Tarlac & La Maja Rica. These are few kilometers away from the dispatching area. Transient Homes & cheap travelers inn are also available.
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Hi!, can you recommend us a transient home at Sta Juliana (Jason inn?), we plan to trek mt. pinatubo april 10 but we will leave manila april 9 – we need accomodation for 4 person on the ight of april 9 , do you also have tour package for the trek? Thanks
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sir,pls.send to my email on how to go there,i have a service vehicle,tnxs
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Hi, Please visit our website http://www.pinaykeypoint.org
Rates, Inclusions, Itinerary and other info is already posted.
You may email me for your further queries. You may send it to pinaykeypoint.team@gmail.com
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Hello. Just a query, if Im coming from San Agustin Pampanga 8am off to Capas, and then just to view a few hours the site-Mt Pinatubo, where can my group stay and relax, sit down or have some drinks with the good view for photos. We only have until 12noon from 8am. Thanks!
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Hi,
Mount Pinatubo Trip is a whole day activity that starts at 5:30 to 6:00am.
Pampanga to final dispatching area is roughly 1.5 hours drive then you will transfer to 4wd jeep that will travel to the base of Mount Pinatubo for less than 2 hours via off road terrain. From the base, you need to trek the 7km trail to reach the crater lake and this is roughly 2 hours and maybe shorter or longer depending upon your trekking speed. This time estimates, it is impossible to beat your 12 noon target. By the way, this is a very old post and if you need new information regarding Mount Pinatubo, please visit our official blog, http://www.pinaykeypoint.org
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