Mayon Volcano, the beautiful lady of Philippines

I had my first encounter with the world-renowned Mayon Volcano eight years ago while I was on a trip to visit a friend (now my wife) in Legazpi City, Albay. I think it had been almost a 12-hour busy trip from Pasay City to my destination. I was almost on the brink of wanting to go back and never do that trip again. If I only knew that there's a one-hour flight from Manila to Legazpi City I would have taken that option.

I was asleep most of the time during the trip and was glad that I was already in Naga when I woke up. I took another nap (bus trips can be so tiring, I know) and look out at the window. I couldn't help but be mesmerized by the beauty and magnifience of what I saw: standing more than 8,000 ft tall with a perfectly-formed cone volcano. For the rest of the trip I found myself awake and staring at the volcano, to the point that the passenger sitting beside me asked if it was my first time to be in Albay. What he didn't know is that it is the first time that I saw a volcano.

Bulkang Mayon, or the Mayon Volcano, is a national park and a protected landscape of the Philippines. The word “mayon” comes from the Bikol word “magayon” which means beautiful, thus it is also called Bulkang Magayon. Believe me, this is not the only “magayon” you will see in Legazpi and in Albay in general.

I wanted to get up close and personal with the mesmerizing giant. I was like a boy staring at a display of a new set of toys, or the moth in Dr. Jose Rizal's story. So with Ria, my soon-to-be-wife, and friends, we climbed the Lignon Hill just to have a closer look. The 30-minute climb was worth every sweat that drenched off my body when I was on top of the hill. From there I can see the whole city, the gulf of Albay, the “sleeping lion” mountain (I kid you not. It really looks like a sleeping lion), the airport and the Yawa River. Lignon Hill also provides a view of the destruction that the volcano brought when it spilled out lava way back 2006.

I would recommend visit Legazpi City either on April or August. Throughout the month of April Legazpi celebrates the Magayon Festival of Albay, and on the month of August is the renowned non-religious festival, the Ibalong Festival.