Sole Escape: So Peaceful in Guimaras... Too Peaceful!!!

Guimaras is a place where you can relax and enjoy the picturesque beaches, islets and all sorts of flora. It is rung with undiscovered beaches and great snorkel spots. One of the smallest islands in the Philippines and the primary route to get here is through Iloilo. 15 mins motorboat from Ortiz wharf in downtown Iloilo City.

It is an island known for it's mangoes and mangroves. It was also reported that the mangoes served in the White House and Buckingham Palace comes from #Guimaras. A great way to be internationally known! Weee!

So again, there are no direct flights to Guimaras. You must take a flight from Manila to Iloilo, ride a cab or shuttle going to the city proper, take a jeepney or tricycle going to the Iloilo City Harbor (Ortiz Wharf) and then take the 15 min pumpboat going to Jordan Wharf in Guimaras. The pumpboat only cost like P20 each. Buenavista is also another port of entry to the island, but the Ong Bun Pension security guard I've befriended said it's quite expensive to get there and not recommended for first timers. BTW, This was more of like a random decision to visit Guimaras, coz my friend and I overheard a couple of tourists that they'd spend the weekend on the island. Without further research and contacts, we packed.

Jordan Port... so quiet.

We took the Jordan route and when we've finally reached the port, we immediatley looked for the tourism people. No one's there! No flyers and maps available for us. So I talked to some of the tricycle drivers, and I wasn't expecting that they'd charge P500 to get to a specific resort. Since I'm one of those cheap-oh's, I suddenly thought of asking the locals for a cheaper way to get to one of the resorts or if they could give us directions and instead of taking the tricycle, we could just maybe walk.

Do you see anyone?! Anybody there?! Hello!

Unfortunately, by the time I've ended the conversation with one of the drivers... We were the only ones left. Just us and the tricycle drivers. Staring at us with hidden smirks, we tried to delude them by picking up our cellphone, talking as if we knew some locals in the area. After a few minutes, we gave up... it was really embarrassing! My friend approached one of the drivers and asked if they could somehow give us some discount. I suck at haggling, so I have him do it. But still with no luck, we gave in to his offer. This is what happens when you don't do your research!!! ha ha

The smallest plaza in Guimaras

Trappist Abbey

Interior of the Trappist Abbey

2014 Update for Trappist Monastery

Along the way, I was actually surprised that the driver offered to take us to some spots on the island without additional cost, with him as our photographer (our camera's battery running low at that time). My eyes went from droopy to bright, knowing that the deal wasn't so bad after all. We were like kids enjoying the scenery, amazed with the interior of the Trappist Abbey, tempted to eat all the sample treats offered by the locals and staff in the islands' gift and souvenier shop, stoked by the sight of the tiny islands surrounding Guimaras... until we reached the resort.

The Resort... It's called Raymen Beach Resort. We were at the gates of the resort after a 2 hour trip from the port and the driver bid farewell. There's nothing really special about the place when we arrived, I don't know, maybe it's because it felt like we were the only guests that time. So we still went ahead and searched for other human beings! ha ha. Seriously though, it was really quiet as we searched for someone who could maybe at least have our names registered as guests before some tourist-eating island monster attacked us (hyperbolizing... but it did feel that way that time).

This is what we found during our search for the other humans and turtles... Untouched beach!

I honestly don't know how we got here.. but this is because of our search for people... then we found another peaceful beach.

Some tree... Wish this tree could somehow talk.

After a few minutes, we felt some movement... ha ha, Yeah, enough of this paranoia! Well, we finally saw the reception area and a few of their hotel staff. And we weren't the only ones there after all! Whoopee! The resort wasn't that crowded, it seem to have been booked by 3 different groups, and us to be the 4th. We decided not to get a hotel or cottage since we don't plan on spending the night on the island after all the bizarre-oh. Though we asked as to how much the room is for a night would cost, and it's about P1500 which is good for 4-6 persons. That's for a non-airconditioned room but with a glorious view of the beach (can't remember how much the aircon rooms were)

The staff was nice enough to actually have us leave our bags with them instead of taking it with us to the beach. Took our essentials from the bags and went towards the beach pathway.

Pathway towards the Beach

The Beach... it was nice and clean. The water was calm, sand is very fine and it welcomed us with a magnificent view of the islands nearby. It felt really close to nature. It's not like other beaches that has numerous souvenier vendors and island tour agents bugging you to avail of their service.

Finally! Humans! Koreans going for the Island Hopping tour organized by the locals in Raymen Beach Resort. YEY!!!

Raymen Beach

Time to relax finally! Laid my sarong on the sand, sunglasses on, sunblock smoothed and leafed through some Garth Stein. Since I'm in Mango island, I ordered a mango smoothie and it was divine.

To sum up the rest of this trip, it was thrilling and stirringly beautiful even after all the misery to get to this tranquil piece of sanctuary.

Here are some of my Guimaras moments back in January of 2012 after attending the Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo.