Horse Riding in Taal Volcano Crater! :0

Budget: P1,700
Inclusive: bus fares, banca ride, horse ride, tips, buko drink, lunch, snack, entrance fee, and a luscious dinner at Leslie's Tagaytay
Weather: A long cloudy saturday
Tour Duration: 8:30 am to 7:00 pm

the slow bus rides

8:30 am Jam Transit Bus Station We arrived in Jam Transit Bus Station in Taft Avenue. This is near Buendia. We took an aircon bus to Tanuan. Bus fare is just P84. Tell the driver in advance to drop you off in Tanuan in case you don't know the place yet.

the friendly batangueños

Once we were in Tanuan, we took a motorcycle to the Talisay jeepney station.
The kind motorcycle drivers and locals will show you how to get there. P27 is the cost for the whole motorcycle ride.

The Talisay Jeepney Station is at the back of McDo in Tanuan. We took a jeepney to Talisay and asked the locals again and the driver to drop us at any boat station going to Taal Crater.

meeting the Manalos

11:30 am Manalo Beach Resort, Talisay, Batangas
The kind jeepney driver dropped us in Manalo Beach Resort where we got a lot of discounts. The banca ride usually costs at around P1,500 to P2,500 and the horses costs around P500. We easily haggled the prize to P1200 for the banca ride and P350 for the horses

the banca ride in the creepy lake

12:00 noon Brgy. Pooc, Talisay, Batangas

The Manalo henetes greeted us when we arrived in the island.
Before we took the trek to Taal crater, we decided to take our lunch in the Mami House owned by friendly Manong Felix ( he is kinda gayish).

long and dusty horse trail

12:30 pm Horse Ride to Taal Volcano Crater
It looked sooo dangerous while I was there because of the cliffside hills and it was my first time to ride a horse that long...

My henete at that time was Ate Marilyn and she told me a lot of stories of being a henete and such.

So, I named my horse after me...He was such a PG horse....as in patay gutom...always stopping by to get some grass food

sulphuric lake of the crater

1:00 pm Taal Crater


The Taal Crater smelled sulphuric because of the lava.

We arrived in the Taal Crater. There was a woman who was selling sodas and asked to buy drinks for our henetes at a cost of P30 each. I think the henetes deserve some drinks after walking in the long and dusty road.

drinking buko juice

There were buko vendors who sells buko at P50 each.
It is my first time to be in the Taal Crater. I've been to Tagaytay before but was never able to trek in this place. It was awesome!

2:00 pm Descend to Brgy. Pooc, Talisay, Batangas
We paid the following fees:

Horse - P350
Environmental Fee - P50
Tip - P100

Overall, the whole adventure costs P500

2:30 pm Talisay, Batangas

After talking with Mr. Manalo Beach Resort, we took a jeep to Tagaytay. The whole jeep will go without being full at a cost of P600. If there are only 6 passengers and you are in a hurry, you have to pay P100 each. We decided to take a rest for awhile and wait for the jeepney to get full. Luckily, after taking a nap, the jeepney is way beyond from being full---it was already OVERLOADED! So the jeep ride costs just P35 each


chilly Tagaytay weather

3:00 pm Tagaytay, Cavite
We arrived in the market and took a motorcycle that costs P70.







3:15 pm People's Park in The Sky
Entrance Fee: P15
This was the ugliest park I've ever been. It beat Tacloban's Children's Park in my list. It was literally Ugly with a capital U.
The moment I saw the dilapidated building, I just want to get my ass out of there immediately.But it is not worth to have a date there...I swear...If I am the girl (shown in the pic), I already dumped the guy! (literally)

The 360 degree panoramic view of the whole Taal Lake and the nearby towns is a catch though...


5:00 pm Mahogany, Tagaytay, Cavite
I don't know exactly the name of the place but the bus driver said "baba kayo sa Mahogany" and that's how I got the name for this place. I think it is called Magallanes blah blah or whatever. We just asked on how to get to Leslie's.
Leslie's is one of the best recommended resto in town. This is actually just beside Starbucks, Dencios and others. Leslie's have a nicer view and ambience though.
We ate....

Bulalo Special P499
Leche Flan P140
Rice P120

7:00 pm Left Tagaytay

We took an ordinary bus to Baclaran.
Fare: P60
Duration: 1 1/2 hour

8:30 pm We were back in Makati.

Happy and Satisfied
:)