a-wandering wednesday: mount pinatubo, philippines

heading back to the philippines after cambodia was bittersweet - it meant our trip was coming to a close, but also meant that we would get to be spoiled with homecooking for another couple days before winging our way home halfway across the world.  we had one last adventure in store before returning to real life, however - hiking to the volcanic crater of mt. pinatubo!  mt. pinatubo's eruption in 1991 was the 2nd largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century!  today, the crater is filled with water, creating a gorgeous sunken lake, but the riverbed flowing out of the mountains is still covered in ash and lahar from the eruption.

to get to the trailhead, we took the dustiest, most bone-jarring, and most death-defying jeep ride at sunrise out into the moon landscape left over from the eruption.

we even passed some brave souls doing their wedding portraits!

eventually, the jeeps couldn't go any further, and from there, we hiked.  luckily we had a guide...

after awhile, we started to hike up.

and finally reached the crater!

we were left with tired legs and lots of dust in our hair!

i can't believe it, but this wraps our asia trip!  catch up on the previous stops in our trip here: batangas, palawan, boracay, bangkok, chiang mai, the white temple, our first couple days in laos, luang prabang, the road to vang vieng,  vang vieng, cambodia, pt. 1, and cambodia, pt. 2.  i loved every second of our time in asia, and cannot wait to go back and explore more of this beautiful part of the world!