Santa Juliana Travel Guide

 Bonobo2005 Says:  Quite unexpected, the surroundings change surprisingly. It's just 45 minutes to the Crater and finally, the mountain allows some low vegetation to grow on its ravages. It was hard to temper my enthusiasm and I wanted to go up as quick as possible now. But my guide declared a... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  After passing the gorge, you can see part of the Crater Wall in the far distance. It's around 2 hrs walking from here. For around 1,5 hour you follow once more the riverbed, but by foot now...It's quite a dramatic scenery here and the surface is everything but smooth. Lava... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  The first 10 minutes of the hike might worry you if you think this stretch is representative for the rest of the ca. 7 km route to the Crater. Indeed, the passage is narrow here and the water had looked nothing special before but suddenly became a raging steam. We had to... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  The track lead to a tiny village, but that’s not what we were after! So we drove down back in the riverbed again that became more and more difficult to navigate. On both sides were those towering walls and I tried to imagine the horror scene at the time of the eruption. I... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  Like me, most tourists arrive in the village of Santa Juliana to kick off their trip. You have to register at the Visitor centre where you can discuss your wishes. A trip normally consists of some 4x4 rental for a certain distance and a mandatory guide.The following options... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  Until 1991, Mt Pinatubo was just an average mountain that was hardly heard of. In 1991, it fired more than 300 meters off its peak into the sky and changed the landscape forever. Fifteen years later, its crater is peaceful and a beautiful 850 meters deep water hole that... 

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 Bonobo2005 Says:  Then we reached a steep slope with seemingly no passage. We parked the jeep on the platform in front of it and prepared for the remaining part by foot. Stored 2 liters of water and the packed lunches that we brought along, in my backpack. The Embassy staff had also arrived... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  The last part of the 1,5 hr 4x4 journey became even rougher and the driver had to deploy all his skills to push the vehicle forward. In many parts you cannot see the surface due to knee deep water and big rocks were definitely a threat. In one bend, the riverbed narrows to a... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  After some 15 minutes through the riverbed, we ascended at the other side, where we followed a beautiful sand track. The scenery was stunning as the dark clouds in the distance formed a great contrast with the sun lit white sands and eroded lahar walls covered with green... 

 Bonobo2005 Says:  It was quite a change from the luxury new Toyota Camry to a rusty jeep remake that obviously had conquered the hardest of terrain for more than 25 years. I was in the front , while in the back was a heavy man shouting some directions to the driver behind the wheel. Although...