I opened my 2017 with an adventure through the southern part of Iloilo to Antique, particularly in Malalison Island (often called Mararison Island), a road trip that I will always remember in my lifetime.
The year 2016 was a great one for me, which I refer to as my Globe year because I won an all-expense paid trip to New Zealand through the Globe #Wonderful Blog Contest and a Huawei P8 unit during our bloggers’ Christmas dinner courtesy of this telco. On top of that, I was able to explore various parts of Negros, such as Sipalay, Dumaguete, Don Salvador Benedicto and Lakawon Island. I have also made a trip to Siquijor, Oslob, Badian, Brunei and Cebu.
Then this opportunity to hit the road suddenly came. So, on an early morning on the 2nd day of the new year, a fellow blogger and I embarked on a ferry from Bacolod to Iloilo City to join another friend there for this trip to the western side of Panay Island. Antique is the only province in Panay which I wasn’t able to pass through when I took the RORO from Manila to Bacolod (Read: Road Trip to Bacolod)
But before we turned to the highway, we first made a stopover at the La Paz Public Market for some coffee and breakfast. Then this fun trip went rolling. We stopped by old churches at the towns of Southern Iloilo that were along the way. We drove through coastal towns, crossed bridges, went uphill to the mountainous parts and through zigzag roads.
We spent the night in Tibiao, where we also had a relaxing experience at the Tibiao Fish Spa. The day after, we continued to Culasi, which is the jump off point to Malalison Island.
The island was exquisitely beautiful. And our whole afternoon was filled with awesome moments. The intermittent rains did not dampen our mood as we were able to enjoy the island, along with the locals.
The day after, it was time for us to bid Malalison adieu. We retraced our route, starting from the northern part of Antique and made our way south towards Iloilo province.
As we entered Iloilo City, it was already dark. We wanted to make it to the 8:00 pm trip of FastCat. We just made a brief stop at Roberto’s to buy ourselves some siopao before we made our way to the port.
I suddenly realized how I missed the road. I was glad I agreed to join in this last minute trip. In the succeeding posts, allow me to share with you in detail our adventures:
- La Paz Public Market food trip
- Old Churches and Attractions in Southern Iloilo
- A Night Stay at Tibiao Fish Spa
- Swimming and Hiking Malalison Island
Here’s a summary of our itinerary, for your reference:4 days
Day 1
6:30 am – Weesam ferry from Bacolod to Iloilo
8:30 am – breakfast at La Paz public market: batchoy at Netong’s; coffee at Madge Café
10:00 am – Start of road trip:
- Molo Church and Molo Mansion
- Exiting Iloilo City
- Oton, Tigbauan, Guimbal, Miagao, San Joaquin
- Entering the boundaries of Antique Province
- Lunch at San Jose de Buenavista
- Belison, Patnongon, Bugasong, Barbaza
- Overnight at Tibiao
Day 2
8:30 am – breakfast at Tibiao Fish Spa
10:00 am – drop by Culasi Tourism Office
11:00 am – arrive in Malalison Island (or Mararison Island); check-in at Aloma
12:00 nn – lunch at Nanay Christy’s Carenderia
1:00 pm – hike to the hills
3:00 pm – reached the cave
4:00 pm – back to Aloma; relax at the sand bar
Day 3
8:30 am – breakfast at Aloma
9:00 am – island tour
9:30 am – back in Culasi; drop by Culasi Tourism Office
10:30 am – Start of road trip
11:45 am – lunch at Dandanzoy’s, Bugasong
2:00 pm – San Jose
5:30 pm – Asilo de Molo
6:30 pm – Roberto’s
8:00 pm – RORO via FastCat to Bacolod
That looks like a fun road trip. I would love to try their La Paz Batchoy, my best friend who’s from Ilo-ilo always say it was worth a try. Great to know that they were able to preserve the old churches as well as the first Malay settlement. You mentioned about the sweets, do they have any specialty that we need to try as pasalubong?
You can try their bande or panutsa, which is made of muscovado. 🙂