The sleeping princess

As with all great works of Nature, the lush volcano Mount Mayon has a mythical fable of its own. Gulf News reader Monette Ardales Imperial, a sales coordinator in Dubai, trekked and took pictures of the 2,462-metre tall active volcano on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. She said: “The name Mayon originates from ‘Magayon’, which literally means ‘beautiful’. Local folklore says that Magayon was actually an ancient princess who was forced to marry her wicked suitor, Pagtuga, after the latter kidnapped her father. During the day of the wedding, Magayon’s true love, Panganoron, tried to rescue the princess with the help of several men. The love story ended tragically when Magayon was hit by an arrow while Panganoron was stabbed to death. Over the years however, a mound grew from Magayon’s grave and eventually expanded to become the modern-day Mayon volcano.” The amateur photographer is an Albayano, or a resident of Albay province, where Mount Mayon is located. She said: “I used to see the beauty of the Mayon every day, but began to miss it when I moved to Dubai for work. I took these photographs to bring back with me, so that I could show the beauty of Mayon to everyone. It still amazes me.”