Patio de Cagsawa

I was quite proud of myself that I was able to find Cagsawa. Cagsawa is the site of the famous church ruins which were destroyed by Mayon in the 1800s. I guess you can say that seeing Mayon Volcano has always been a dream of mine but it wasn’t easy to get here before. Through the magic of paid vacation, I have time to explore this part of the country. The ruins of Cagsawa are what you might expect, the belfry of the church is all that is left now but you can still see the foundations of the the old church. While there are still a very few pieces still standing, they are not very recognizable now. I suspect the ruins have been used as construction material elsewhere.

Unfortunately for me, the view of the famous Mayon Volcano wasn’t very nice. It was very misty that day and it was impossible to get a clear view of the mountain. I had to wait a while before I can see anything since the mountain was totally obscured by clouds when I first got there. It seems like there is a timing to be learned here. The volcano is a magnet for clouds as they tend to cluster around it. They generally persist throughout the day but clear by sundown. Another good time is early morning. You would need to know where the sun is so you don’t end up taking a photo of the volcano with the sun behind it. I will be coming back here the following day, I hope the weather would be much more cooperative. On the way out, I spotting something called Patio de Cagsawa. It seems to be some kind of event place or possible a restaurant. It was still under construction. They try their best not to really stand out too much but I think the damage has been done here. I didn’t like the fact that they were just outside the Cagsawa ruins. They would have picked a better spot a bit further away. I thought putting it so close to the ruins is bad taste. It was too bad since the place looks decent.

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