As far as stratovolcanoes go, Mount Mayon is a beauty, having as it does an almost symmetrically conical shape. In December, though, scientists were predicting that Mayon, in the Philippines' Albay province, 330 kilometres southeast of Manila, was about to spectacularly erupt.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised Mayon's alert level to four, the highest below a full-blown eruption, on December 20, as lava flowed down its southern slopes. Each day, Mayon was pumping out 750 tonnes of sulphur dioxide and was being shaken by 460 earthquakes. More than 40,000 people were evacuated from around its base. No civilian was permitted within an eight-kilometre safety zone.
The danger passed, however, and on January 13, the alert level was dropped to two. As local residents returned to their homes, one thrill-seeking tour company took its quad bikes back to Mayon's slopes.
The volcano has erupted 49 times since 1616. In 1814, a major eruption killed more than 1,200 people, buried entire coconut trees and devastated several towns.
Mayon's power is in evidence in the remains of the Cagsawa church, in the town of Daraga. A lava stream from the 1814 eruption buried the church and killed hundreds of villagers who were sheltering inside. All that remains is a blackened tower.
Last year, with the alert warning at level two, Your Brother Travel and Tours began taking adventurers onto Mayon, one of the more prominent flashpoints in the Pacific Ring of Fire.