Guimaras and Ilo-Ilo Escapade Part 1! (December 2018)

Our first agenda was to look for a place to stay. It was epic though as it led us to some sights including this one below.

This was taken inside Ilo-Ilo's Museum. It was fortunate for me that there was an ongoing exhibit. It was amazing though tha this artist, who happens to be a teacher creates different artworks about what it is like being in a classroom and how educators help shape up the society. I have thought then the teachers who helped me by paving the way.

After the said visit, my family and I were able to visit Ilo-Ilo's Provincial Capitol. In my point of view, it was not that super elegant but the walls, decorations, grand staircase hinted sophisticated. By the way, one thing I commend about Ilo-Ilo is that it is not just a lovely place but also a very clean place.

While roaming around, I was not able to find any dirty spots. There were no trashers and people follow the city regulations. I find it very easy to understand the locals as well because I grew up hearing my grandfather speaking his dialect which is Ilonggo. If you are a foreigner, the locals can converse with you in English so there is no need to worry.

There are also tons of inns, lodges, and hotels to stay to. What we did though was to look over the internet for available rooms. Luckily we found a place to stay which is only 1k for every room. We rented two rooms then, one for my parents and another one for my brother, boyfriend, and I. There was hot and cold shower, airconditioned room, and a strong wifi connection.

Thanks a lot to AIRBNB and other sites that over places with affordable packages. It also made my staycatio and short vacations acroos the country easier and cheaper. What our country lacks though is a strong and public internet connection.

Off to Guimaras!

The following day, after a short rest and reunion with my boyfriend @kennethjames, we decided to head to Guimaras. What made me ecstatic about the place was the fact that they have the juiciest and tastiest mango in the country! I really love mango and thinking about it just now makes me crave for it.

Anyway, all you need to do is just to go to the port where the small crafts would lead you to the island of Guimaras. It was not costly though because as I could remember per passenger is just 100Php (that is 2USD) more or less than that. The trip was also very short. It only took 10-15 minutes before we reached it.

When we reached the island, we found a lot of drivers who offers a driving service on the main sports of the island . Tourists can choose between riding a multicab, motorcab, or a van. Since we wanted to save, we opted for a multicab. We only paid 1kPhp for an all-day tour although we basically had travelled across Guimaras until 3 in the afternoon.

Giant Windmills and Little Plaza
Just like other islands in the Philippines, Guimaras has a lot of unique things to offer. There were a lot of humongous windmills. The first time I saw one there, I was like, this is just so freaking amazing! There were even locals who were selling handcrafter windmills for a cheap price (200Php or 4USD). Across the said region, windmills are actually not unique. There are also tons of windmills across the mainland Ilo-Ilo. We found out about it when we were heading to Boracay.

Few kilometers away from the port of Guimaras, you can easily spot the smallest plaza. It was actually very small that it is so easy to capture the entire place with your phone.

The Pitstop
Along the highways of Guimaras, we also found this Pitstop. They sell this unique Mango Pizza. If you have an exotic taste buds which is always on the go for out of the blue menu, you would surely love this place. If you are not a fan of it, you can order pizzas with the usual toppings and flavors for the price of 100-400Php.

Now that ends the first part of our Guimaras and Ilo-Ilo Escapade. I would not make it very long so that reading this post would not be straining to your eyes. Keep posted on my blog for a part two (2) on this travel series! Ciao!