Guimaras: On a Tricycle from Jordan to Nueva Valencia

We landed in the small island province of Guimaras just twenty minutes after leaving Iloilo on a pumpboat. The 604.6 square kilometer island of Guimaras is known for its mangoes, being the sweetest mangoes or so I heard through the grapevine. Guimaras has taken that claim to heart and welcomed us with a giant mango. I would have gladly verified the claim right then and there...if only the giant welcome mango were real.
Welcome to Guimaras!
Verification would have to wait until I could get my hands on some real mangoes. In the meantime, we rode a tricycle (Ronald 0906 760 6285; Php 250 per tricycle) to Raymen Beach Resort in Nueva Valencia, some 45 minutes south of Jordan Wharf. There were a few tourist spots on the way to the resort:
The Smallest PlazaJordan, GuimarasThis, they say, is the smallest plaza in the Philippines. And who else would be standing in the center of it? Our national hero, of course, Jose Rizal, who was a rather small guy (from what I learned in class and from the clothes I have seen in the USPF Rizaliana Museum in Cebu). We waved to Dr. Jose Rizal as we slow–zoomed in our tricycle.Photo from banebanerbanest.wordpress.com
Pitstop RestaurantBrgy San Miguel, Jordan, Guimaras(033) 581 2310Daily 7AM to 8PMPitstop Restaurant is known for its mango inspired menu, with its mango pizza being the most famous. But we did not make a pitstop at this restaurant, not because we do not like fruit in our pizza nor fruit in our spaghetti, but because we have already tried its famous mango pizza in their Cebu branch.
Market at San MiguelBrgy San Miguel, Jordan, GuimarasFresh mangoes. Dried mangoes. Mango piaya. Mango tart. Mango otap. Cashew. Cashew brittle. These are just some of the food that we could have bought at the market in San Miguel had we had enough money and enough baggage allowance.

Trappist MonasteryBrgy San Miguel, Jordan, GuimarasThe monastery was established in 1972 and is the only men's monastery of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (known as Trappists) in the Philippines. The Trappists follow the Rule of St. Benedict and the Benedictine motto "Ora et labora" which means to pray and work.
The Trappist Monastery has a church (pray!), a factory where they make mango bars, jams and jellies, otap, etc. (work!), a gift shop where they sell their food products, religious items, and souvenir items (work!), and a guesthouse (for a retreat: pray!).The Church at Trappist Monastery
After Trappist Monastery, the next stop on the map would have been Raymen Beach Resort, but we decided to go farther to Guisi Lighthouse. (We added Php 350 for the tricycle for a total of Php 600 from Jordan Wharf to Guisi then to Raymen Beach Resort.) It was a bumpy half hour drive to Guisi from where we were supposed to turn right to get to the beach resort.
Guisi LighthouseSitio Guisi, Brgy Dolores, Nueva Valencia, Guimaras
Entrance Fee Php 10 adult / Php 5 childOpen until 5PMGuisi Lighthouse, also known as Faro de Punta Luzaran, was built in 1896. But what is left now is its rusty skeleton and the ruins of its surrounding building where roots and plants cling to. A new lighthouse has been built in the midst of the ruins.
We didn't climb up the lighthouse, old or new. One, climbing is prohibited in the old rusty lighthouse...unless you want to get tetanus. Two, somebody alerted the lighthouse keeper that I was coming and he locked the new one.

Guisi BeachSitio Guisi, Brgy Dolores, Nueva Valencia, GuimarasFrom Guisi Lighthouse we could see a white sand beach below. This is Guisi Beach. We left the lighthouse and made our way down to the beach, passing a gate with a sign "Entrance Fee Php 20," but no collector came for our money. It was a short walk down to the beach where we found that the sand wasn't fine but the water clear. The beach was deserted; not a soul, visitor or local, was in sight. The resorts in this area, Kenyama Beach Resort, and Guisi Clearwater Water, must be as lonely as the lighthouse above.
We left the quiet of Guisi for some civilization and some sleep in Raymen Beach Resort in Alubihod, Nueva Valencia. Where we would also be commencing our sweet mango verification and then embarking on a short exploration of some of the islands of Guimaras by boat.
Getting to Guimaras from Iloilo: Guimaras can be reached in just 20 minutes (fare of Php 14) either via Parola Wharf (to Buenavista) or via Ortiz Wharf (to Jordan).
Guimaras:
On a Tricycle from Jordan to Nueva Valencia (you're here!)
Raymen Beach Resort (soon)
Guimaras on a Boat (soon)