B.I.G. Adventure: Guimaras Side Trip

For the second day of our B.I.G Adventure, we explored more of Iloilo City and had a side trip to Guimaras, the Mango Capital of the Philippines.

Madge Cafe

We went back to La Paz Public Market for breakfast. This time, we tried Madge Cafe. They offer the usual breakfast meals but I think their speciality is their breads.

Going to Guimaras

We headed to the Ortiz Wharf to take a ferry to Guimaras. Iloilo is just a 15-minute ride away from Guimaras so it is easy to do a side trip.

Upon arriving, we went straight to the Tourism Office to register. It reminded us of Sagada because they also have a Tourism Office where you need to get registered. It is also where you avail tours.

Smallest Plaza

This is our first stop, the smallest plaza. It is called such because the plaza is literally small, but we don’t know why this is included in the tour because we didn’t see anything special.

Provincial Capitol

Next is Guimaras Provincial Capitol, which also has a huge park where events could be held. Beside is the Pasalubong Center where we bought pasalubongs which mostly have mango in it. Haha.

Mango Plantation

Near the Capitol is the Mango Plantation. Since Guimaras is famous for its mangoes, we couldn’t miss this place. However, mangoes are not in season when we went so we could see any fruits on the trees.

Trappist Monastery

A little far from the mango plantation is Trappist Monastery. Gladly, it was open when we arrived so we went inside to say our prayers. It was really quiet inside, so we only took a few photos and clips as respect.

Guisi Lighthouse

This is the farthest from all the places, since it is already part of Valencia, a town next to Jordan. It was recommended to get a place that is far from the city so we could get most of our tour, however I don’t think Guisi Lighthouse is a right choice.

The place isn’t worth the long ride. Upon arriving, I already felt creeped out. We didn’t know that we would just see ruins. We weren’t informed, and we didn’t make proper research.

When we arrived other tourists are just leaving the place so it only left me and Gerald roaming around. There was an old man who told us to register and pay for Php 20 each. Just by that, I already didn’t feel good about the place.

What scared me more is when Gerald said he wanted to urinate, and I told him not to do it just anywhere (I believe in superstitions, hehe) so I asked the old man (who was cooking something that time) if there’s a restroom and he pointed a room in a 2-storey old house that is behind trees and plants. It looked suspicious so I said I’ll tell my company first. Gerald told me don’t bother anymore and he might have seen that I’m feeling uncomfortable already so he told me to go ahead and just wait in the trike.

As I was heading down, the old man was waiting and told me about the restroom again. I simply said we’re not going to use anymore. From my peripheral view, I know he was looking at me but I didn’t look back. I wonder why he was sitting outside instead of continuing what he’s cooking inside.

Since I already had weird thoughts running on my mind, I decided to go back and just stay with Gerald. I tried to calm myself, and asked Gerald to take photos of me, but it didn’t help. It could have been a good location for photos, but it seems really uncomfortable. After a few minutes, we silently went back and rode the tricycle to our next destination.

I didn’t tell Gerald about what I thought until we’re back in the hotel. He said he thought I saw something, like ghosts. But he told me he also felt uncomfortable but he couldn’t waste the long ride so he wanted to stay for a few minutes.

Pitstop Restaurant

It was about time for lunch so our next and last destination was perfect. We ordered some pasta which really took long and mango pizza with mango shake. Yes, mango overload! Haha.

Back in Iloilo

We headed back to the hotel and took a rest. This was also the time I told Gerald about what I felt about Guisi Lighthouse. Also, we spent time to film our Bean Boozled Challenge. Watch it here. We also filmed another one, which Gerald called Taste Test. I’ll upload it soon on my channel.

Jaro Cathedral

We went to another church in attempt to go inside, since we haven’t been inside the churches we’ve visited (Miag-ao Church and Molo Church).

Unfortunately, we also didn’t get inside Jaro Cathedral. Here’s why.

Biscocho Haus

While walking to the pasalubong center, we passed by a perya.

I was fond of playing games in a perya so I asked Gerald for a Php 5 coin and after playing for a few minutes, I won Php 35. So lucky! Haha.

Biscocho Haus is a famous pasalubong center where you can get almost every delicacy that the province has to offer. We ended up bringing a box filled with goodies! :)

Esplanade

For our last stop in Iloilo, we visited Esplanade. We’re supposed to catch the sunset here but we got lazy, haha, so we went late to Esplanade. There was nothing special, aside from the boat ride we saw, which we didn’t bother taking a photo of.

Walking wouldn’t be a problem, only if it was one cold night, but it’s not. It was so humid, even if it’s already past 6pm. When we were at the other end of the esplanade, we were sweating and tired so we just got a cab since we’re already too exhausted to figure out how to go back to the hotel. Hahaha.

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We weren’t able to visit that many places, but we still enjoyed our trip. It was even better to minimize the places and just stay longer. Besides, we’re planning to go back to Iloilo next time. :)

You may also watch our travel vlog below:

Stay tuned for the next (and last!) part of our B.I.G. Adventure as we explore more of Iloilo, Guimaras and Bacolod. :)