Clark

The 1991 eruption took the summit off and water filled what was left. It is ninety minutes by 4x4 up a valley of volcanic sand, then on foot, and in the wet season that valley floods and it closes. Leaving at dawn gets you back the same day.

Four days on the old runway with the balloons up at 6am, though the month moves from year to year. Once the sun is up the wind cancels the flying, so the early hour is the point, and the gate is slow unless you bought ahead. Aerobatics run alongside.

You are buried in hot volcanic sand rather than sitting in water. The way in is by 4x4 past Aeta villages, and because the sand runs hot the staff time how long you stay in it before moving you to the pools. It cannot be entered without a booking.

Built in 1877 in old Angeles and used as a hospital during the revolution. The two front towers differ in height because one was left unfinished, and the Holy Week processions set off from the square in front. Outside mass hours the doors are locked.

A single 1,030-metre cone standing alone on the plain, visible from anywhere since the land around it is rice. The round trip runs about eight hours on two routes, the north steep and the south long, and with no water on the way it all has to be carried.

A sugarcane field turned adventure park, with what it bills as Asia's tallest swing. Zipline, climbing wall and bike trails sit on one site, which brings families, and each activity is charged separately, so the bundle needs working out.

Villages build lanterns over six metres across and compete on the Saturday before Christmas. Thousands of bulbs go into one, switched through a hand-turned rotor so the light moves with the music, and the seating fills early enough that most people stand.

Fighters and helicopters the American forces left behind stand beside the runway and the ground around them became a park. You can walk right under the airframes and the panels say which war each flew in, and with no shade the morning is the time to do it.

A heritage park of full-size houses from regions across the country. An Ifugao dwelling stands next to a Maranao royal house, which puts north and south side by side, and a few of them can be entered and sat in. On weekdays it is nearly empty.

Restaurants cooking Pampanga food gather over a few blocks, and sisig is said to have started along here. Some kitchens work with frog and mole cricket, which other regions never see, so it is worth asking before sitting down. At lunch there are no tables.

In 1995 lahar from Pinatubo buried this church to about half its height. A new floor was laid over the buried one and services carry on, so the ceiling and arches feel strangely low inside. It is a short drive south of Clark.

Santiago Apostol Church in Guagua, nicknamed the Sistine Chapel of the Philippines for the paintings covering every inch of ceiling and wall. The outside is plain, so the effect hits only once inside. It stands at the centre of Betis, a woodcarving town.

Housed in the restored old Angeles town hall, across from Holy Rosary Church. Exhibits cover Kapampangan food culture and local customs such as the Holy Week processions, along with photos of the Pinatubo eruption.

A memorial at the site of Camp O'Donnell, where prisoners were held after the death trek from Bataan in 1942. A tall obelisk is ringed by walls bearing the carved names of the dead. It lies north of Clark in Tarlac, a half-day trip.