Guimaras 2015: Land Tour
I've been to Guimaras many times but I've never done a land tour before. The only time I went to Guimaras without any plans of swimming or snorkeling was when me and my family visited my Grandfather's farm (next to Oro Verde - the mango plantation).
So, this was a new and exciting experience for me albeit exhausting. :)
NEED-TO-KNOWs
To get to Guimaras, first we went to Ortiz Wharf in Iloilo City and from there had a 15-minute pumpboat ride to Jordan Wharf (main port of Guimaras). The tickets cost Php14/person.
In Jordan we went to the tourism office, registered ourselves and received a pamphlet about the tour that we were about to have.
Our transportation was a tricycle and our driver was named Michael and you can contact him through (+63)908-324-6835. The land tour cost Php1200 if you exclude the trip to The Windmills and Php1500 if you include it. This rate is good for a maximum of 4 people and a maximum of 8 hours only.
The land tour includes a visit to the following places: The Windmills, Guisi Beach and Lighthouse, Balaan Bukid Shrine, Raymen's Beach Resort, Valle Verde Mountain Resort, Trappist Monastery, Family Holy Hills, The Smallest Plaza, San Miguel and the biggest Mango Plantation in the island.
THE PLACES
We went to the smallest plaza first, nothing interesting really. It's just an ordinary plaza only it's very small. So if I was gonna do the land tour again, I'm gonna skip this one out. Then we went to Holy Family Hills which was nice and interesting for our Japanese visitors. They learned more about the most popular religion in the country and more about our culture in the process.
We visited The Windmills next which for me was the most interesting part of the tour. The windmills were huge and pretty awesome. I haven't done any research about this upcoming project in Guimaras but I have to admit I was impressed with the 27 windmills that they have built so far. Whether it's truly for the people or not however remains to be seen.
Next, we went to the Trappist Monastery. Lighted some candles and offered a prayer for our families. Checked out the property and bought some mango based products. After that we went the biggest mango plantation in the island then off to Raymen's for lunch.
We did not do any swimming because our visitors weren't very fond of the very hot weather. They were concerned with their skin, they felt hot and one of our visitors felt a bit sick during lunch time.
We ate Filipino food at Raymen's so that our friends could experience them. Drank cold beer to cool down a bit and then we're off again, this time to Guisi.
We skipped the Balaan Bukid Shrine because the trek isn't something our friends can do without feeling exhausted afterwards and we also skipped Valle Verde because our friends are bit old for the zipline. Hehehe.. ^__^
In Guisi, we visited the lighthouse, went down to the water so that one of our friends can try and take some underwater photos and drank some more refreshments. It was frickin hot that day, I think 34-36 degrees (?).
THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS
This was my first land tour of Guimaras. It was new and refreshing for me so despite some 'issues' I really did enjoy the tour. It was different and so it was exciting for me. However, from the many water adventures that I've had in Guimaras the land tour pales in comparison.
I would recommend this tour for young peepz, who don't lack sleep (I haven't had a decent night's sleep since I became a Mom), likes adventure and road trips, likes roughing it out (the tricycle ride is a bit bumpy and hot) and of course those who are in a tight budget.
I would not recommend this tour for families with young kids. I doubt I would survive this tour if I brought Tuka along. It would have been torture. Besides, I think kids will like the island tours more.
Overall, I give it 3 stars out of 5 since I'm nice that way. Hehehe..
So, there you have it. My land tour experience.
So, there you have it. My land tour experience.
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P.S. I apologize for the blurry pictures. I'm gonna have my eyes checked next week. They've been acting up lately. All pictures are unedited. ^__^
