Bacolod City is one famous metropolitan in the South of the country because of its colorful festival, the Masskara. This festival showcases the different colors and creativity of the locals, it also shows the genuine smiles that the locals always have for guests and tourists. To date, it is among the festivities that are well embraced by national visitors as well as tourists. In October, the city is one very busy place due to this festivity and the high traffic of tourists from all around the world. Wanting not to be a tourist in my own country, I have also dreamed to visit the city one day and that dream was realized not once but twice.
My first Bacolod trip was in 2011 with the same travel buddies I had years ago and the second was in 2014 with a long lost friend whom I rekindled friendship with. The first time was a backpacking tour from the city to Ilo-ilo city where we jumped off to the secluded but wonderful Guimaras. It was in January which was wrong timing because the festivals of Sinulog and Dinagyang were happening in nearby cities, Cebu and IloIlo respectively. The second one was an exclusive vacation in Bacolod city just in time for the MassKara Festival. This travel story is the recollection of the first travel with family
We enjoyed our first travel that we hope to continue doing it, this time in the nearby Negros cities Bacolod and Ilo-Ilo. This travel is just like the first one, a five-day tour to the attractions of Negros with days 1 and 2 in Bacolod, 3 and 4 in Guimaras with sides in Ilo-Ilo, and fifth back in Bacolod.
Our first day of the trip was spent worrying and waiting for our other travel buddies from Legazpi city in Silay-Bacolod International Airport. This was due to a bad weather that has caused cancelled schedules in the city. Eventually, the weather cleared and they were flown an hour late from the original schedule to the city of smiles where we await. Once the plane was there, we moved to the arrival area and greeted them both with happiness for seeing them once again and in excitement for another week of endless fun and learning.
Soon, we are out of the airport and to the vehicle with our tour guide. The road to the city is almost an hour travel from the international airport. The road trip was filled with history talks, views of long sugar cane plantations on both our left and right, and clean jokes. Our guide took us to our hotel first because our other companions were so tired. As soon as we checked in, we decided to cancel the tour for that day since we only have two hours to burn and instead ordered some dinner and rest. Around eight in the evening, when everyone has recharged from the long trips, we decided to start touring the city proper on our own – at least those nearby. We went down and started walking towards the capitol and park but too bad, the lighting was poor in those areas – I’m not sure if it was always like that there or there was current interruption on that spot of the city. Dismayed, we head back to the hotel, watched TV and planned for next day.
Day 2
Our day 2 was a rather early day because of the downtime we had the other day. We immediately head down the boulevard to enjoy a stroll to the highlights of the city. We stroll by San Sebastian Cathedral, the St LaSalle University, Bacolod Public Plaza, Capitol Park & Lagoon, Activity Center, Panaad Park & Stadium, and museums. The long walks were tiring but the food in the city is healing – we headed down to the famous Manokan Country to enjoy a sumptuous lunch of local flavors of poultry and seafood, and we were not disappointed! Everything was fresh, tasty, and best of all inexpensive! Nearby is the SM Bacolod city, which we explored before going to the terminal to buy ourselves tickets to Ilo-Ilo the following day.
Believing that we had our fill of the attractions in the city, we packed early for next day’s adventure. The next day, we woke up early to get a glimpse of the sunrise in the city park and then proceed to the mall to grab a quick bite and buy some food and necessities. Then we went to the terminal and waited for our cruise. This one is a shorter ride compared to our Cebu to Bohol Ro-Ro trip but not short of sceneries. Once we reach the port of Ilo-Ilo, we walked around the park and into some mango market of sort and Bachoy stalls. We found a nice and old house along the way to the Parola Port where we have to take another short boat ride to Guimaras.
In 15 minutes, we reached our destination. We alight the boat and walked to the nearby tourism station to register and get a few pointers while in the area. We have arranged a boat ride that will take us to our resort of choice, Baras Beach Resort, but we didn’t knew that the land travel to that other port will take hours as well. And so we hire a trike to tour us around the place. We stopped frequently to take photos, watch the vast mango plantations across the land, and to buy souvenirs. We were able to snap some photos of the Capitol building, the Convent, and Siete Picados or the 7 islets off the north of the island.
We arrived at the pier with our eyes full of memories and our hearts singing in happiness. The boat waiting for us was alone at the dock and there were nothing on the parking lot. Other times, we would have been scared but we weren’t even close to that because we were so excited. The boat ride was a bit long but eventually, we arrived to a secluded beach resort where a number of cottages punctuated the hilly surroundings. We reached the shore where a huge 2 storey home was and we were greeted with happy faces and delicious iced teas. They gave us instructions and assigned us to the cottage at the other side of the resort. There were no electric resources in the resort but generators, which will be cut by 10 in the evening.
As soon as we are settled in the cottage, we went down to the beach and tried the warm water. There were kayaks idling at the side of the resort so I boarded one and paddled to a nearby shore, which at our point looks white as white can get. It was indeed white sand beach on that side of the island but it was barren. I saw a man who was probably taking woods from the island but he was so shy to come up and say hi instead retreated into the mountains. There was an eerie feel in the beach and the mountains behind that compeled me to go back to my kayak and paddle back to the resort as fast as I can. When I reached the resort though, my travel companions would like to try and go to that island though so I paddled back with my friends this time.
There, we frolic the white sand and enjoyed the sight. We swam and waved at small fishermen’s boats passing by. When the sun was about to set, we paddled back to the resort, stopped by the resort’s mezzanine to order dinner and went back up to our cottage. After taking a bath and changing our clothes, we went down to the main guesthouse for dinner. The caretakers were so nice to set up a dinner by the sea with the stars and moon shining from up above. They also placed a few tall torches around our dining area to ensure that we have enough lights for ourselves.
On the other side was another table for two. There were two other guests in the resort, both white male and foreigners. They weren’t friendly so we just minded our own businesses. The food was glorious. For P150 each, we had our fill of seafood, pork, chicken, and vegetable that we started thinking how the business can manage to survive the operation expenses versus the low volume of guests that are coming in. Well, maybe, in summer, there are more people who are staying in the resort and perk up the profit.
We frolic the beach some more before we retired to our cottages where we await the 10 pm mark to shut down the electricity.
Day 3
Surprisingly, we didn’t miss the electricity overnight and even when we woke up the next day. The breeze was our centralized air conditioning and the sounds that nocturnal animals have lulled us in deep sleep. The next day, we asked for hot water and tried some of the delicacies that we had bought along the way to the island. The sun was well up when we got up so we missed the sun rise in this side of the country. The beach was calm though and it looked inviting. After our breakfast, we got down to the beach and started swimming, kayaking, and everything that anyone would do in the water. Then a fisherman boat came by, bringing live seafood. Since there are only a few of us in the resort, the owner and caretaker didn’t buy everything. I would have bought all those if I were staying longer or if I had an ice chest.
The day went on fast and a little over lunch, we started our journey back to Guimaras mainland. The boat ride was fun and as the day before, we docked at an almost barren port. The guide and trike that we had rented the other day was there already, waiting for us. We said our goodbyes, gave the boatman his bonus and board the trike for what seemed an eternity of road trip across Guimaras. We stopped a couple of times once again for the delicacies we are going to take back home and souvenirs. After that, we went directly for the port that will take us to the mainland of Ilo-Ilo.
After a 15-minute boat ride, we are back in Ilo-Ilo. Once again, we braved the long walk to the port that where we will board the SuperCat that will take us back to Bacolod. Not stopping to get something to eat, we had our late lunch enroute to Bacolod. We reached Bacolod before sundown and we head directly to the Manokan Country to grab a bite. We had what locals would always have, skewed chicken with smokey and local flavors, beef stew, and seafood. When we were full, we dropped by the mall that was just in front of the food strip and shopped for souvenirs and provisions. Then head back to the hotel to check in.
The remaining hours we had for that day was spent bumming around the busy street of Lacson and looking for recommended attractions and local food strips. We missed the Ruins for the Negrense Museum and all the old houses that can be found within the CBD. After lunch, we left for the airport and waited some more for the plane that would fly us over to Manila – which came in late so we had to burn more hours waiting in the airport. We could’ve gone somewhere nice if they had told us that the plane would be delayed for more than three hours. Oh well, the perks of sale fares. J
How to Get There
Ø By Land-Sea-Land via Ro-Ro
Ø By air via Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines or Air Asia
Cost of the entire trip
P3,000 excluding the airfares and transpo from our place to the Airport
