BORACAY not BORA (Part I)

I previously worked as a researcher in a transport group company and my job gave me the privilege to travel in different parts of the country. During this time, my wanderlust was born. 

In the summer of 2006, we had a trip in Iloilo and most of the tourists in our ferry trip were on their way to the famous island of Boracay. As we touched down Iloilo and while we were having our breakfast at Iloilo City Lapaz Bachoy, we envied the tourists who were busy chatting about Boracay, so we had an on-the-spur of the moment decision to have a side trip on this famous beach. The decision was really abrupt! With no travel plans at all and no idea of the travel time and how to go there. We were 4 in the group and the 3 of us were first timers. Since it was a great opportunity at hand, we did not hesitate with our decision to visit Boracay.

Yes, we did a roughly 5 minute interview of the locals about the itinerary.  It was 10:30 in the morning and we should be in Boracay before the sunset. For the transportation, we had 2 options: (1) taxi – approximately 4 hours of direct travel, or (2) public bus – around 6 hours of travel due to stop-overs. We chose option 1.

Upon arrival at Caticlan terminal, we paid the terminal and environmental fee. A small boat carried us to the island within 10 minutes, then we rode a tricycle on the way to Boracay Station 2, where most stalls and restaurants were located. Of course, we selected "on the spot" our overnight accommodation through the help of the Aklan locals. We stayed at Jerome’s Bungalow which was just 3 minutes away from the shore.  

We were so excited that we arrived in Boracay at 3:30 in the afternoon. We did not waste time and took wonderful shots of the beautiful scenery. Boracay is such a PARADISE! It was my first reaction when we arrived. You could walk barefooted on the fine white powdery sand. Big Boracay sand castles were visible on the shores. We strolled along Station 1,2, and 3 and enjoyed the nice ambiance of the trimmed coconut trees, of the color coordinated restaurants and of the beautiful bodies of beach hunks and babes (“_”).

By 6:30 pm we had our beach swimming. It was almost 8 in the evening when we had our dinner. By 9:00 pm, we enjoyed partying and drinking at Station 1. We left the area at around 1:00 in the morning. 

We only had a 3-hour sleep and by 4:30 am, we had to leave Boracay since we were expected to be in Bacolod through ferry in the afternoon, so we should be in Iloilo by lunchtime. Our Boracay escapade was really short. Tiring, it was, but we considered it a very memorable trip and a once in a lifetime experience. It’s a wonderful trip and we will definitely go back to this place.

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Yes, this memorable vacation took place 6 years ago.  Since airlines nowadays are usually in promo, we were able to book a trip in Boracay this January 2012 via Kalibo, Aklan. The route was entirely different. Read BORACAY not BORA (Part II)