WATCH: Tourists caught Taal Volcano unrest while hiking at the crater
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Denise Bernardo, Michella Domenici and John Horner's Tagaytay vacation was bombarded with fear and terror as Taal volcano erupted right before their eyes.
Thousands have witnessed Taal volcano's unrest as it spewed massive clouds of ash, which was shown in uploaded photos and videos.
However, Denise Bernardo, Michella Domenici, and John Horner experienced the incident on a whole different level.
They witnessed the horrifying volcanic activity while touring around Taal crater lake.
Michella Dominici, together with his fiancé John Horner, came back to the country on January 11, a day before Taal volcano's destructive eruption.
“I was here on 2007, I was like 12. I brought John with me so he could meet some family.
“I first visited the volcano from Tagaytay like saw it from afar when I was here in 2007. And I was super intrigued when I found out that you could hike it,” Michella shared.
On the other hand, John said, “The idea of like swimming in a volcanic crater is a different experience.
I've never experienced something like that before.”
Meanwhile, Denise Bernardo, caught the incident on cam while she and her family were hiking Taal Volcano.
“All we knew about the secret trail was, p'wede mag-swimming sa crater, p'wede magluto ng itlog at the base. Sige game! Exciting 'yan,” she said.
She and her family, together with a tour guide named Elmer, rode a boat to the hiking place on January 12 at exactly 10:30 in the morning.
They arrived at the site and started trekking at 11:00 am.
“It gives a long hard walk for them and the heat especially,” Michella shared.
But when they arrived at the viewing deck, just meters away from the crater, they already saw smoke.
“Maliit lang, parang pataas lang siya. Sabi ni Elmer, parating ganoon. Hindi 'yan out of the ordinary,” Denise described of the smoke.
Little did they know that that little amount of smoke will soon be formed as clouds of ash that will drift across the southern and northern part of Luzon--bringing danger and threat to people living nearby.
“Sabi ko, 'What's happening?', 'Ma'am, balik na, umiiba 'yung usok!, 'Kuya, takbo na tayo!,” Denise related.
“Natakot talaga kami is, ang daming ibon na biglang lumipad. And then iniikot nila 'yung puno, hindi makababa.”
As of writing, Taal Volcano remains at Alert Level 4 following its phreatic eruption on January 12.
Follow Denise, Michella, and John's story as they describe their horrifying experience at Taal's crater amid its eruption:
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