[this is a repost from my friendster blog with additional info]

july 21, 2007

ortiz wharf – ortiz st., iloilo city.
this is the boat station in iloilo to hoskyn port at jordan, guimaras. the island across is guimaras.

wooh! that’s the first word that came out of my mouth. i thought the cab driver was joking. the place was very, ah… “not pleasant.” it’s like in the middle of a squatter’s area. there’s some odor that’ll offend those with delicate sensibilities. well, it’s not really offensive – but the place is far from clean. the cab driver assured me that he has indeed taken me to ortiz wharf going to guimaras. so then, i hauled my ass off the seat and took my backpack out of the cab. “all right, vet. you can do this. you’re intent on doing this side trip before heading to ibajay, aklan to attend a birthday party.”

off i went. carried my backpack on my shoulders and the gift in my left hand. walked straight and found a very tiny booth with a sign “TICKETS” [if i remember correctly]. asked the ticket attendant if the tickets were for ferries going to guimaras. the woman nodded yes, and thus handed her a 20-peso bill [hehe, i saw a man before me hand the woman a 20-peso bill, i sorta just followed him as i had no idea how much the ferry fare was]. the woman handed my change [i counted 9 pesos, thus fare was 11] and a makeshift ticket. hehe, super ingenious. the ticket was made of a used prepaid cellphone call/text card. front part was just covered with a white paper and the name of the ferry written on it. with the ticket in hand, i proceeded to where some people carrying bags headed. mein, notwithstanding the poor state of the boat station, the view from across the station was simply amazing. well, i found the view spectacular. it was one big island surrounded by very calm waters. it was unfortunate, however, as i didn’t take any picture. this was because i allowed fright to get the better of me. as the place wasn’t conducive to displays of possessions worth grabbing, unsafe at least to my mind. i couldn’t back this up with statistics though. anyway, i hopped on the ferry and 15 minutes after, i arrived at hoskyn port in jordan guimaras.

hoskyn port, jordan guimaras – the pix though was taken on my way back to iloilo]

now, where to vet?

hmmm, last i remember from my ever reliable Lonely Planet Philippines book and some stuff from the net, the place i was headed for can be found in the town of nueva valencia at sitio alubihod. i was actually headed for Raymen Beach Resort found in Alubihod Beach, Nueva Valencia, Guimaras. According to a Virtual Tourist forum member, one may take a jeepney and ask to be dropped off at the town of Nueva Valencia. From Jordan [hoskyn port], it’d take roughly 45 minutes to get to the town’s center and then transfer to a trike for a 15-minute drive to the resort.

wookie, i got it covered. not.

the jeepneys parked near the port don’t exactly have the same signboards that we have here in cebu. thus, feigning thirst – i went to a nearby sari-sari store, bought a bottled water, and asked which jeepney was bound for nueva valencia. the store attendant gave me directions using a dialect i didn’t understand. it was a good thing she pointed her fingers to where the jeepneys were parked as i had no clue what she just said. hopped on the jeepney. interestingly, the jeepney didn’t wait for the vehicle to be full. as we were nearing the town of nueva valencia, an “only-in-the-philippines” scene greeted me. the jeepney was filled to capacity. more even. as in the jeepney’s whole middle aisle was occupied by more passengers sitting on what we referred in cebu as “extension seats.” what’s even more interesting was what i saw at the poblacion. take this: passengers hand a makeshift claim tag to the jeepney’s “konduktor”, then the “konduktor” goes to a store in the market to get what the passenger has purchased earlier. additionally, unlike here in cebu where passengers fight to get the seat nearest the jeepney’s rear, the people in guimaras actually move towards the driver to give room for those who just came in.

45 minutes… hmmm… where the heck is nueva valencia? nagkabukid man, hmmmm…. only then did i ask the teenager beside me and learned to my horror that we’ve passed by the poblacion several minutes ago [the stop where makeshift claim tags exist]. paets….

“ah, miss…can you tell me when we get to the next stop?”
“okay.”
“where’s the next stop, anyway?”
“sa alubihod”
bingo!
“hey, that’s actually the place i’m headed.”
a few minutes after, the teenager told the konduktor that i’m getting off at alubihod.

waahhhhhhhh…. the jeepney stopped in the middle of nowhere. “patay na jud ka, vet. nag bora na lang unta ka, at least you’ve been there and you’re a little bit familiar with the place. hala na… just walk.”
bless me, a few steps and there it was: Raymen Beach Resort.

Raymen Beach Resort

the shoreline. it’s one small resort that you’ll see both ends of the resort when you look to your left and right

the other end of the shoreline

the beach

vetlongwalks in the water [hehe; had to have my mark]

nice place. nice beach. let it be said that if given the chance, i’d like to visit it again.

accommodation; deluxe room @ PhP1,000/night [2 double beds with AC; cr]

there was no single room available when i was there. this room is on the second level in one of the buildings there. on the ground floor is the resort’s restaurant. you may opt to eat at the restaurant or give them advance order and have your food delivered to your room for a fee of P10 only. food is cheap [i think..] paid PhP90 pesos for a cup of rice, one big grilled chicken fit for two person, and a bottle of coke. anyway, open cottages are also available. unfortunately, i failed to ask for the rental fee of the cottages.

when i had enough of the beach, i decided to leave the resort and explore the little island. the resort owner was very pleasant and asked a trike driver to take me to their poblacion / dangwa???

sunset in guimaras

the trappist monastery

interior of the church

hehe, my mark again