Boracay, a dream no more

Hearing about Boracay, first thing comes to mind is EXPENSIVE. I thought stepping Boracay's famous white sand will just remain a dream. But last Aug 3, 2012 it became a reality. To realize this dream it takes time and a lot of patience.  Together with my travel buddies we waited for a promo flight to get a discounted round trip ticket. We have Cebu Pacific Air to thank for this, they made life of a budget traveler quite easy. As long as you have the patience to wait for the intended travel period,  your desired places will be a dream no more.  Actually, we booked this flight (Cagayan de Oro to Ilo-Ilo City) last Mar 2012 so it means we have to wait for almost 5 months. We didn't mind the long wait for it means we have ample time to save money for the said trip and find enough choices for an affordable hotels.

Our flight was an hour delayed, we landed Ilo-Ilo City several minutes past 4pm last Aug 3. Upon arrival we  rented a van going to Caticlan for P4,000 (one way only). Immediately left Ilo-Ilo City at around 5pm, safely arrived at Tabon port in Caticlan around 9:30pm , just few minutes before the boat departed going to BORACAY ISLAND. Yebbah!!! At exactly 9:35pm we finally stepped our dream island's sand. (yes the island is just 5 minutes away from Caticlan)

We then took a cab going to our already booked hotel, refreshed for a while and then started strolling the Island by night.

Boracay also means endless walking,  I didn't mind my "uber" sore feet though. It's super tiring yet fun. You will  be entertained with a lot of things  while walking  - you get to see people from various nationalities walking in opposite directions, people partying, crowded bars, restos,  fire dancers, sidewalk vendors here and there, promo girls  for massage, henna tattoo, hair braiding, island activities among others  and many many more.

Stay tuned  with my coming posts about this trip. So excited to share it with you.

First time in Ilo-ilo City and Guimaras Island

Traveling brought me happiness. It will relieve me from any stress plus I''ll get to learn something new from the experience I've had in every place that I visited.

When one of my closest friends booked us a promo flight to Ilo-ilo City back in August 2011, excitement was my initial reaction. Who wouldn't? There are many reasons why I'm excited and I'll just say some of it; one, it's my first time to be in that place;  two, I don't know what to expect and what experience will I have; three, there's also that feeling of getting lost because all of us in the group are first timers in that place.

So now, travel with me by reading this blog post (and my next posts)  as I lead you to our adventure in Iloilo City and Guimaras Island last March 16-19, 2012.

At around 2:20 pm Mar 16, 2012 from Lumbia airport (CDO),  we boarded the Ilo-ilo City bound aircraft. (Thank you so much  Cebu Pacific Air for your promo flights, those travelers on a tight budget can afford to fly with you).

At Lumbia airport.

About to board the aircraft. Those smiles in our face were so priceless.

Cagayan de Oro is just 40 minutes away from Ilo-ilo city by plane. At around 3pm we landed Ilo-ilo airport.

Welcome to Ilo-ilo city. Their airport is  nice, it's like a mini NAIA 3.

For first time travelers in this place, set aside your worries of getting lost in the city. Their tourism personnel at the airport's arrival area is so friendly, giving you ideas and printed guides where to go, where to dine and what's the cheapest ride you can choose from the airport to your destination. In our case we rented a van to bring us to Ortiz wharf for P600.  From airport to Ortiz wharf is more or less a 40 minute ride.

Ortiz wharf is where to ride a small boat to get to Jordan wharf in Guimaras Island for P14 only. The island is just 20 minutes away from the wharf.

The boat was about to depart and we were just in time to catch it,   saving us from that long wait  for other passengers.

Upon arriving Jordan wharf, tourism personnel was there too to give you suggestions what type of vehicle to ride including the fare in  going to your destination. We opted for the multicab for P450 going to Raymen's beach Resort (going to the resort from Jordan wharf  took us 40 minutes).

I actually don't have any idea what places to visit in this Island. So I trusted the ever reliable GOOGLE to search for places  and resorts. We stayed at Raymen's beach resort,  for travelers with tight budget like us the resort is just the right choice.  It's a nice place and it's affordable. Room rates started from P700/night.

They have resto that serves typical Pinoy foods. It has  free wifi but will allow only one device per room to connect to their wifi. That's bad news right? We are 5 in the group with wifi ready devices,  all wanted to have web access. For us, that's not a problem coz we found a way to know their wireless password using a windows 7 laptop. Oh man,  how I love the perks of being a technical support representative. hehehe ssssshhhh

After dinner, we rest for a while and then we had our first dip at the beach.

After the air, water and land travel we've been through to get to this place, you would say it's a long and tiring day for us. But believe me, it's not. You just simply fell in love the moment you can see the beach.

Night swimming is always lovely.  This picture simply spells H A P P I N E S S.

Even with little  shade of light you could see how clear the water is.

More on this trip in my next blog. Can't wait to share our trip with you guys.