Iloilo, Guimaras, and Gigantes
2016 hasn’t been the best year and I guess I can speak for many.
After all the chaos and hate that this year has brought, I’m so relieved that
it’s almost over. This month, my barkada and I traveled to the islands of
Visayas – Iloilo, Guimaras, and Gigantes. After travelling to these islands, it
made me realize that the Philippines is still such a beautiful place that's
worth exploring. What better way to end the year than travel to paradise? What
a way to start 2017 with a clean slate!
Our flight to Iloilo was scheduled at 4:30 am which meant we all
had to wake up at least 1:30 am. Some of us even went straight from work. I
always hate early morning flights – usually it’s the cheapest but it also means
a lot of people are at the airport.
Iloilo International Airport is a lot nicer than MIAA 1 and 2.
They even have installed walkways direct to the plane so you don’t have to go
down a flight of stairs and walk to the arrival area.
Upon arrival, we just had breakfast then had ourselves dropped off at the Ortiz Wharf to go to Guimaras. On a side note, Guimaras was once just a point of interest in my Sibika classes.
My teacher would always tell us that Guimaras is the mango capital in the
country. I never really thought I'd visit the place. Not many people know this but this is just a 15-minute boat ride away from Iloilo
city. Just head over to Ortiz Wharf and pay the
fare of P14 at the counter. They also offer chartered boats at P500/per boat if
you want to have a private boat for your group. Upon docking at Jordan Wharf in
Guimaras, a tourism info office is just a few steps away so you can easily ask
around. Tricycles (good for 2 pax) also offer tours for P1000-1500. We hired a
private driver with van for our trip and we were thrilled with our decision! Cherald (0908 474
8122) was our guide and he was very accommodating. He also
studied photography so he was more than happy to take photos of us. He even
directed us on how to pose! He charged us P2,500 for a half-day trip to the
windmills, Pitstop (restaurant that serves anything with mangoes in it), and
the mango tree farm. If you choose to go to more sites, fare will adjust.
Here we are at the Guimaras Windmills.
We noticed that there
were a lot more windmills here than in Ilocos.
Mango Pizza at Pitstop.
A lot of the food items here have
mangoes in them. Not really an everyday thing that you’ll crave for, but a must
try!
The Mango Tree Farm.
We went there during off-season so there
weren’t mangoes but the tree farm is something to see! The trees here look like
broccoli – the branches are long and the leaves have a lot of surface area
facing the sun (so that’s the secret!)
Iloilo to Gigantes:
Gigantes is far from Iloilo. It is around 4-5 hrs one way; 3 hrs
by land to Carles Port; and another 1.5-2 hrs by boat to Gigantes. Gigantes
(based on the myth that giants used to inhabit this place) isn’t a single
island – it’s actually a group of islands. The waters were very calm when we
went - it's as if the entire ocean was one big swimming pool. We stayed at
Maruja Flora Resort at Cabugao Gamay Island, one of the islands of Gigantes.
Accommodation is very spartan and not for who's after comfort or luxury, but
it's okay. You can order scallops for a peso each and you have to pay P250/drum (around $5) for fresh water. There is a bathroom inside the room with just a toilet,
faucet, and pail. There is “running water” but the faucet is connected to the
drum that’s located at the roof. So if you run out of water while taking a
shower, you’d have to holler at the manong to transfer the hose to a new drum
(another P250). We ended up taking a shower in batches of 3 just to save water!
Hahaha! There is also no electricity during the day (only from 6 pm – 6 am) and
no cellphone reception. Luckiest we got was a one-bar globe signal (that lasted
for a few minutes) at the edge of the island. There is a generator in the
island but it sometimes fluctuates.
One peso (around $0.02) each!
Freshly caught crab!
Cabugao Gamay Island.
This is where Maruja Flora Resort is
located. There is also a big rock which you can climb in this island.
What a view!
I think there are only 2 rooms available at Maruja Flora and
we were very lucky that no one else was present at the island when we stayed so
we felt like we owned it!
Antonia Island.
They offer jetski rental, banana boat, and
kayak rental in this island. Our guide Andrei told us that during the summer,
the island can get really crowded so were lucky that there was just one more
group when we went.
Tinagong Dagat (Hidden Ocean in English)
This was our favorite! The sand here is very fine – akin to
Boracay’s white powdery sand and waves are almost inexistent here since it’s a
cove. We really felt we were on our very own private island!
Bantigue Sandbar.
This is also a unique island as most of it
is just sand. You can also buy a shellfish endemic to this island called “Wasay
Wasay” that kinda tastes like oysters. The shell looks like an edge of an axe
and is said to be the weapon that the giants used when they still inhabited the
islands.
Tangke Saltwater Lagoon.
On Day 2, it rained for a few hours
so I wasn’t able to get nice photos here. But it’s still a must see! The island
itself houses limestone cliffs similar to the one’s in El Nido. It used to be
an enclosed lagoon, but after Typhoon Yolanda hit, water gets “drained out”
during low tide and it gets “refilled” during high tide.
Pulupandan Island.
They call it Pulupandan because there’s
only one coconut tree (some call it palm tree ) and “pulo” means island. We
were told that you can rent this island for private events. The island’s not suitable
for swimming though as it gets pretty deep.
Getting around: We booked through Las Islas Travel &
Tours (lasislastravelandtours@gmail.com
and/or 0917 709 3856). #TourGuideAndrei was our guide and he made sure
everything was in order (09198010779). What I really like about this agency is
they really promote responsible tourism by educating people on proper garbage disposal
and sustainable fishing.
Iloilo.
Iloilo has a lot of historical churches and its city has
nice infrastructure compared to other cities in the country. It is also very
clean.
If you have the time, do visit Miagao Church – a World
UNESCO site. It takes around 45 minutes to get here from the city.
Molo Church.
Netong’s La Paz Batchoy.
La Paz Batchoy is called that way because it originated from La Paz, Iloilo. If you want to taste the best, you can go to La Paz market and have a bowl of this soup. It has slices of liver, chicken stock, chicharon (crushed pork rinds), and noodles. I promise it tastes better than it looks.
Buljack's Talabahan
Would you believe a tub of oysters is only P30 (around $0.60)???
Getting around: You can take a jeepney at just P7/passenger.
Do note that you say “lugar” when you need to go down.
Private van: Roy (0910 722 1418)
Grab: You can take a Grab Taxi using the app. I suggest you
take this instead of taking the jeepney as it’s really cheap! The jeep’s route
tends to be circular so it takes longer and you’ll be paying for the almost the
same amount if you’re a group.
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