View of Wanshou Hill from South Lake Island 南湖岛

This was supposed to have gone together with the Summer Palace series. Attached to the Seventeen Arch Bridge is the small South Lake Island. So named because it is located at the southern portion of the lake. Recalling how Kunming Lake itself is artificial, the presence of South Lake Island makes it rather curious and a source of amazement. The island was made as a reflection of the Wanshou Hill just across the lake. Places of interest here with colorful names are a few temples such as the Dragon King Temple, a few halls such as the Hall of Embracing the Universe, Hall of Foresight and naturally its own Tower of Moonlit Ripples.

The Entrance to South Lake Island 南湖岛

The island is tiny enough to breeze through but was big enough to accomodate the tourists streaming inside. Probably because there wasn’t much to see anyway. For me, the biggest draw of South Lake Island is the wonderful view it has of Wanshou Hill. It was almost full front view of the entire temple and palace complex. No doubt this spot was planned right from the very start. Surprisingly, not a lot of tourists seem to find this spot. I guess they were discouraged when they didn’t find anything interesting on the island.

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Enjoying Kunming Lake 昆明湖

Seventeen Arch Bridge 十七孔桥

Pavillion of Bright Scenery 景明楼

Reaching the Pavillion at Tai Tau Chau

For the second time in a day, I was climbing again, though it is not a mountain this time, but rather a hill on a tiny island called Tai Tau Chau in Shek O. The path on the island itself is paved and it has guard rails to protect visitors from falling. Here, falling is not good since there are no trees to break your fall and you will go straight to the jagged rocks below. It is really thoughtful of the government to build these, it makes the hike so much safer.

Another Island Sliced Up By Nature

At the end or rather the middle of the hike (the hike is actually a loop around the island), you reach the highest point of the island. At this point there is a nice little pavillion where visitors can sit and relax in the sea breeze. From this point, you can see the rest of Shek O and realize how tiny this place actually is. The small houses are built all over the rocks at Shek O, making use of every available space. I guess they are no longer allowed to expand their borders so everyone is just crammed together, however it is nowhere as dense as the residential districts of Hong Kong.

Rugged Coastline of Tai Tau Chau

Around the top, there are barbeque pits which seems to be an enjoyable activity here. However, it was already late in the day and I don’t see anyone using the pits. There were, however, people just hanging around the pit area enjoying the breeze.

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Tai Tau Chau 大头洲

End of the Day at Shek O

Rugged Coastline of Shek O

Rugged Coastline of Tai Tau Chau

Shek O is a truly interesting landscape to explore. Just across the rocky coastline of Shek O is what seems to be a small peninsula. Actually, it is a small island which is separated by a very narrow channel of sea. Tai Tau Chau as it is called is easily accessible to visitors via a small bridge which connects the island to the mainland. Tai Tau Chau is composed of the same stuff as Shek O and I would say that this looks even more impressive than the formations at Shek O itself.

Massive Split in the Rock on Tai Tau Chau Island

There is a convenient path that will bring you around the island and you can see great views of the very rugged coastline of Tai Tau Chau. The setting sun is already playing magic with the natural color of the rocks here and they are really quite photogenic. It is really hard to believe that this is Hong Kong and not some remote Pacific Island. Naturally the waves pound the coast of the island non stop and has created this impressive work of nature we now know as Tai Tau Chau.

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Summit of Tai Tau Chau 大头洲

End of the Day at Shek O

Rugged Coastline of Shek O

Beach Facing Pulau Ketam in Pulau Ubin

As we continue on the dirt road of Pulau Ubin heading west, the trail undulates across the hilly and rocky terrain. It was sometimes difficult to bike through all that, so I will be sometimes forced to get off my bike and just push the bike through the rough patch. This is most especially true when the trail is up a small elevation. My legs have already turned into jelly and I was not able to bike up the slope. I would find myself not alone in this position, some of my more fit friends would push their bikes up, so I thought I was still doing okay.

Dark Sand Beach in Pulau Ubin

Going down from that rise was much easier through and this path brought us to a small beach. This beach faces mainland Singapore but not much can be seen though. The small island of Pulau Ketam is in the way. The island itself is uninhabited but it is full of vegetation. The beach itself has nothing to write home about this was just a grey sand beach which is not really that inviting for swimming. I guess it would be a good place for camping and bonfires since there were some folks cooking something when we were there.

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Rocky Beach at Pulau Ubin

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View of Taal Lake From the Crater

Seeing the Taal Volcano up close and personal is a bit of an underwhelming experience. Yes, what do you expect a volcano to do when you visit it? Aside from the obvious “explode”, it doesn’t really do much. However, I got to see a whole new side to Taal Volcano that I have never seen before. This boat ride and horseback ride up the slopes of the world’s smallest volcano is still something to remember.

Close Up of One of Taal's Cones

My guide was waiting for me to go down from the crate rim and he excitedly called out to me to let me know that he will be bringing the horse down. He asked me to go down further since the slope here was a little steep and it might be a little dangerous to mount the horse here. He mentioned that there were times where the horse slipped, fortunately no one was seriously injured, tourist and horse. Apparently they have quite a number horses on Volcano Island and to discourage bugging tourists, the guides and horses take turns. In an island where that vast majority of people rely on tourism, it helps everyone.

My Guide on Our Horse

There are other access points to Volcano Island, the town of Talisay is just one of them. I could tell from they way other horses come from a totally different direction from where I came from. At the pier, the boatman was also waiting for me to come down and quickly showed me to the boat and a short while we off. However, he needed to turn back to the pier since there were other passengers. He mentioned that these guys were from the municipal hall and were hitching a ride back to Talisay town.

Other Outrigger Canoes at Volcano Island

Bert Mendoza was not at his stall in Talisay and was said to be attending a baptism at the church. Instead, the wife was there to welcome me back. I paid her the fee and she refused to accept money for the lunch I had at their place additionally, she helped me find a way back to Tagaytay City. A quick tricycle ride took me back to the main junction that leads me back to Tagaytay City.

If you want to go to Volcano Island from Talisay town you can get in touch with Bert Mendoza and he will be more than willing to assist you, who knows, you might even get a discount. His mobile number is +63 (917) 3873447. If possible try to gather as many people as you can so it will be cheaper.

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Going Up Taal Volcano on Horseback

Boat Ride to Taal Volcano

Crater Lake

Vulcan Point

One of the curiosities of Taal Volcano is not just the fact that the volcano has a lake inside its crater but that there is yet another island on that lake. Apparently, it is just one of the many cones of Taal Volcano. The name of the island is Vulcan Point. It is not particularly large, in fact, one would probably have difficulty erecting a house in such a small piece of land. This is often marketed in a rather amusing – “an island within a lake, on an island within a lake on an island”. To be more specific, Vulcan Point within Crater Lake, on Volcano Island within Taal Lake on Luzon Island. Confused yet?

Closer Look at Vulcan Point

The shores of Crater Lake do not look particularly inviting since there are a number of steam emissions that are visible from way up the crater rim, I don’t think this is your ordinary steam emission that I just passed by on the way to the top. This is several times larger than that one an my guess is it won’t be very safe to go near that thing. One side of the shore of Crater Lake is stained yellow probably from sulphur. It makes for a rather otherworldly landscape and it reminds you how dangerous Mother Nature can be. It would be best to respect that.

Steam Emissions on the Shores of Crater Lake

The shores of Crater Lake is dotted with numerous seismometers which will report back to the volcanologists who monitor the activity of the volcano. Right now it was still safe to visit the volcano. If ever the volcano acts up, visitors will not be permitted anywhere on Volcano Island, and residents will be evacuated. Fortunately, this was not the time for that.

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Crater Lake

Volcano Island

Heading Back to Talisay

Path to the Summit

As I rode my little horse onwards to the top of Taal Volcano, it is not hard to be taken by the wonderful scenery around me. It is difficult to remember that I am on one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the Philippines. This island is aptly named Volcano Island. The island is the remnant of a monstrous explosion in the ancient past. It is theorized that the entire area from where Tagaytay now stand once formed one of the worlds largest volcanoes at that time. Huge volcanic eruptions starting from 100,000 years ago eliminated all of the original volcano and left only a massive caldera which is now Taal Lake.

Steam Coming From the Ground

Volcano Island is what remains of that massive volcano and it is still active, just biding its time. Along the way up Volcano Island, my guide, doing his job, pointed out steam emission coming from the ground proving that the volcano was still active. I didn’t expect to get to see these so close so I got off my horse and moved closer to the emissions. The steam was coming out of a small hole in the ground and when I held my hand to the steam it was hot but not scalding. I was also expecting a smell of sulphur in the emission but there was no such smell.

The Hole Where the Steam Comes From

I’m not sure if this counts as a cone but Volcano Island itself is dotted with numerous cones. The hole with the steam emissions would be one of several I would see along the way. Realizing how interesting the walk to the top of the volcano was, I got off my horse and started walking towards the top. As we got higher and higher, the scenery just kept unfolding behind us. Horses carrying tourists would pass me by on the way to the top, but I was in no hurry. My guide just kept moving up the volcano. As I mentioned, there was no way to get lost here.

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Vulcan Point

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Heading Back to Talisay

Amazing View of Taal Lake from Volcano

At the pier of Taal Volcano a young lad approached my boatman apparently to guide me to the top of the volcano. According to Bert Mendoza from Talisay town, it is important that I would get a guide to go to the volcano. Part of the guiding is a horseback ride from the pier to the top of the volcano. I didn’t really fancy riding a horse to the volcano since I think the hike will not be that difficult. However he kept saying because it is very dusty. A little didn’t hurt anyone I thought, besides, I would save some money from hiring the guide and a horse.

Train of Horses Going up the Trail

In the end they managed to convince me to take the guide and the horse. The horses they have were quite scrawny and I wonder whether they can support me. At that time, I was the only visitor coming from Talisay, so it seems that there were not too many tourists at that time. My guide is the young lad from the pier and he quickly led me to the horse which thankfully managed to support my weight. My guide was walking along the trail and was basically just following the trail made by countless number of guides and horses. There is no getting lost here. I knew it was a mistake to hire the guide and the horse. Oh well, I might as well enjoy this.

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Heading Back to Talisay

Crater Lake

Volcano Island

Boatman to Taal Volcano

After the simple but satisfying lunch the family offered me, I couldn’t get myself to turn down their offer for the boat ride. I think that was the whole idea in the first place but what bothers me most is the steep fee to go to the island itself. And being all alone, I was hoping I would be able to share the boat with someone else so it won’t be as expensive but I don’t think another tourist would be wandering into this part of town soon.

Note the New Resorts Being Build at Talisay Town

The dispatcher of the boats introduced himself as “Bert” Mendoza, most probably for Roberto, he hollered for one of his boat men to bring me to the island. I didn’t need to pay right there and he told me I can pay when I get back. When I got to Talisay town, the sky was overcast but it has since cleared up and now it is sunny and hot. The outrigger canoe does not have a roof but no matter, it was a short boat ride any way.

View of One the Dead Cones of Taal

The boatman has been doing this job for 20 years now and it seems that he knows the lake quite well. This would be my first time to set foot on Taal Volcano after seeing it from afar so many times. All along my idea of Taal Volcano was this conical structure on the right. I kept asking Bert if I can go there but he said no one goes there and kept saying that it was “dead”. The actual volcano is the large island on the to the left of the cone. Who am I to argue with people who have been living in its shadow all this time?

Boats at Taal Volcano

The ride to Taal Volcano was short, taking around 20 minutes to cross Taal Lake. Along the way, I got to see the lake itself with its clear water, it is also filled with sea grass. This lake used to be an inlet of the nearby Balayan Bay but a volcanic eruption sealed and turned the inlet into what it is now eventually losing its salinity and isolating the lake and its tawilis from the rest of the world forever.

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Heading Back to Talisay

Going Up Taal Volcano on Horseback

Talisay Port

Another Beautiful Island

Our last stop in our island hopping tour was the tiny island of Khai. This island was quite a distance from the Ko Phi Phi Don so it took us around 45 minutes to get there. The island, as mentioned, was indeed tiny you could probably walk around the entire island in less than thirty minutes. Despite its small size. This seems to be one of the major stops in the island hopping tour here.

Row of Chairs Neatly Arranged in Khai Island

As expected Khai Island also has that powder white sand, it also has the beautiful iridescent sea. We were dropped off at one side of the island to and we had to walk past a row of chairs and umbrellas to get tho the beach. Because of these chairs it didn’t seemed very attractive anymore. Anyway, at least the chairs were all arrange at some distance from the beach itself. Our tour guide gave away drinking water for everybody too.

Fish Gathering Near the Surface

We spent and hour and a half swimming in the crystal clear waters of the sea. It was shallow enough that kids can just be let be swimming in the beach. Since this was a popular stop for the tour groups, there were also a number tour groups winding up their tours here. So it was a bit crowded but not as bad as Maya Beach. After all the swimming, it was finally time to head back to Phuket island, which was only twenty minutes away from Khai Island.

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