Mt. Mayon Volcano

Mt. Mayon from my bedroom window

Mt. Mayon from Impact Learning Center

Mt. Mayon from Daraga

Mt. Mayon Volcano is located in the province of Albay on the island of Luzon.  Its shape is a perfect cone and this is achieved by only one other volvano, Mt. Fuji in Japan.  Mt. Mayon is spectacular.  It dominates the landscape and the smoke that billows out of the top often obscures the mountain but when you are lucky enough to see the slopes, it is a beautiful sight. The mountain has been a national park since 2000. It is protected landscape and as such you need to get a permit to climb.  The starting off point is in Tabaco and the climb to the summit takes three days and 10 to 12 hours.  At the present time, the summit is off limits.  The last volcanic activity on the mountain was in January 2011 when it weakly erupted but scientists feel that it may be building up to a larger more hazardous eruption.  There are monitoring devices on the mountain. To the best of the experts' knowledge, the mountain has had 49 eruptions.  The last known deaths were in 1993 but 77,000 people were evacuated in 1984 and lava flowed when the volcano erupted in 2008. Mt. Mayon is part of the Ring of Fire.  It is the most active volcano in the Philippines and it is just outside my window.

The legend that has been told regarding the mountain is as follows:

Legend of Mayon Volcano

Once there was a princess named Daragang Magayon (Daraga means lady, Magayon is beautiful) who lived in Bicol. She’s so beautiful. She came from the family that reigns over the entire Bicol.
Because of her beauty and influence, warriors, princes and datus from different parts of the country desired to have her as their wife. But Magayon fell in love with a warrior named Handiong, a prince who came from a tribe that was, unfortunately, the rival of Magayon’s tribe. The two suffered so much from their respective family’s attempts to separate them that they finally decided to flee. Unfortunately their families found out and fought a bloody tribal war. This caused the young couple so much pain they decided together to commit suicide.
The tribes buried the lovers separately. Months passed when Magayon’s tribe saw a volcano growing in the place where Magayon was buried. They named it for Daragang Magayon. “Bulkang Magayon” describing its perfect shape likes their beautiful Daraga.