Cagsawa Souvenir Shops [My World-Tuesday]

Who could resist souvenir shops?  When you're visiting a place, it's hard not to buy some mementos to bring home to family and friends.  These stores are a few of the  many stalls inside the Cagsawa Ruins selling Bicol shirts, hand-crafted bags and home decor products made from natural fibers, and other local gifts and flavors.  Bicol is famous for their spicy flavors--carved chili pepper key chains and magnets were a hit to my family and friends.

the belfry at Cagsawa Ruins

a cloud-capped Mayon Volcano, known as the world's most perfect cone

Naturally, you need to visit Cagsawa Ruins first before you hit the souvenir shops.:p   Cagsawa Ruins is located in Daraga, Albay, an 8-hour bus ride from Manila or a 55-minute flight from Manila to Legazpi City.  It is the remains of Cagsawa town and surrounding areas which were buried in lava during the 1814 eruption of Mayon Volcano.  About 1,200 townfolks persished and only this church belfry survived the devastating fury of Mayon.

Posted for http://showyourworld.blogspot.com

Sky-watching at Cagsawa Ruins

No trip to Bicol would be complete without seeing the majestic Mayon Volcano. After spending the Lenten holiday in Caramoan, we traveled back to Naga on Easter Sunday and made a side trip to Legaspi for our pilgrimage to the Cagsawa Ruins. It was more than a three-hour bus ride from Naga to Cagsawa, and clouds already veiled Mayon when we arrived. Vendors told us that the best way to see Mayon is early in the morning. But we didn't give up and waited for a glimpse of its perfect cone.

This was my second visit to Cagsawa Ruins---the first was a few years ago during one of Mayon's hiccups. To witness an actual volcano eruption was both frightening and breathtaking, and the danger was very real. Mayon Volcano is the most active of the active volcanoes in the Philippines, having erupted over 49 times in the past 400 years. Its last eruption was in December 2009. Famous for its perfect cone, Mayon was included in the New Seven Wonders of Nature top 10 list in 2008.

The Cagsawa Ruins and its surroundings are the remains of communities buried in lava during the 1814 eruption. The church belfry was the lone witness of the devastation and tragedy---more than a thousand people sought shelter in the church and no one survived.

Posted for Sky-watch Friday