Getting Away...Somewhere Unknown

Laid back life, sun bathing in an uncommercialized island, waves lapping calmly...

This is all I've been thinking and planning the whole summer.

Luckily, two of my friends (bolz and noreen again) were up to the same interest. And we decided to check on an island in Mindoro - no it's not Puerto Galera.

We took a bus going to Batangas pier then after three dragging hours, we were able to catch the noon ship going to abra de ilog. A van took us to a hotel where flatboats can be rented for P250. Twenty minutes later, we arrived in the island.

It was already dusk when we arrived and Noreen and I cant wait to take a dip in the water. We really miss the sea!

Dinner was served at exactly 7 pm and it was buffet! After 9 hours of travel, we slept in a bed with kulambo. We were back to basics. The island isn't commercialized. There's only one resort and they use solar energy for power. Talking about conserving energy - small dim light bulbs, no electric fan - we still have a good night sleep amidst the sound of crickets and hooting of the birds.

Walk up early to catch the sunrise but the sun was too shy. It rained in the morning, but we still enjoyed swimming with a light drizzle. The picture above was taken in the morning. It is a view from our 1400-peso bungalow that we rented.

We didn't finish eating our not so good breakfast because we were invited by one of the owners for a tour. It turned out that the tour was about releasing sea turtles! The island is also a turtle santuary, but we did not expect this wonderful treat. Just take a look at the pictures.

this is really a humbling experience (waah i have pimples on my nose)

After this activity we hanged out in the beach and tried to get some tan. Thank God, the sun went out from it's hiding.

We never got tired exploring the island. We basked like godesses and it seems like we were the only people in the island. Most of the vacationeers weren't around, they have gone away to dive in Apo Reef. Apo Reef is just three hours away from the island. Unfortunately we didnt have enough resources. Nevertheless, our stay in the island is superbly fantastic.

On our third day, we left the island and since we cannot catch the earliest trip, we sightsee in the mainland. We went to a hundred-year old church and a watchtower. The watchtower was built to help protect the villagers from pirates. It gives you a perfect view of the 2 islands. I went up and my knees were too shaky that I took a lousy picture. I haven't uploaded the pictures from my phone cam (my digicam went dead, again).

There was also a beautiful garden where a yellow butterfly flew. Trees, a canon, picnic tables, a grotto and gazebos with great views of the sea - a wonderful and romantic place for a date with your beau. :)

It was so sad, leaving the place - and challenging too. We exceeded our projected budget. Thank goodness, I brought extra cash but we were still 'gipit'. Our luch only consists of a hardboiled egg and a 10 peso bottled water. haha.. imagine that.. but we didnt think of the hunger.. we were busy reminiscing our experience in the island. Until now, I can't help but smile of our wonderful discovery.