Balesin Active Trail Run

Maybe the Universe decided that after all the recent heartaches I've been through, I deserve to go to Balesin.

ICYMI, Balesin is a members-only island resort in the province of Quezon. One can only go there as a member or accompanied by a member. I'm not acquainted with any members so my chance of going there was zero to none. HAHA. Until Run Rio announced the Balesin Active Trail Run which was open to non-members. Hubby did the math and said that the registration fee was sulit for a 3D2N stay with accommodations and flights. 

We were able to persuade one of my classmates to go with us so we availed of triple sharing. At first though, we thought that the run will not push through because we did not get any details after registering. We were only told about our flight the day before, it was because there are no scheduled flights to the island, just chartered ones. Maybe they should have informed us that more clearly.

We flew from Clark which is nearer to our place. Twenty-five minutes after take-off, we landed in paradise. It was cloudy and rainy when we arrived but we could see that the place was beautiful.

 

We were billeted at Costa del Sol. The room AND terrace was so huge for the three of us.

The island in itself is huge with seven villages so you need vehicles to go around. You can rent golf carts but there are free jeepneys. After exploring the clubhouse area, we freshened up to have dinner at Casa Grande for Spanish dishes. My friend wanted the cuchinillo but we should've ordered it six hours before. We had tapas and paella valenciana which were soooo good.

 These prawns are from the Clubhouse during our late lunch though.

The thing about Balesin is that the food is expensive but they were so yummy. And unlike other resorts, the food arrives hot and after only a few minutes wait. We had glasses of wine during dinner then went back to our room because we had to wake up at 3AM for the run.

Our room was facing the Pacific Ocean and on our first night, it was quite stormy. The lights even went out for a while and it was so dark. I was scared because I was inside the bathroom, haha!

When we woke up the next day, it was raining so hard. We assembled at 4AM and took a long jeepney ride to Rico's Hideaway. It was still raining when the 21KM runners set off. Glad that the weather cleared when it was time for us 5KM runners.

 

After the run, we set off to the St. Tropez village for breakfast. They had savory and sweet crepes.

Then we returned to Costa del Sol for a dip in the pool.

Then off we went to Mykonos for a Greek lunch.

The beach infront of the Clubhouse was the one with the gentle waves because it was the bay part. We ended up waiting for the sunset there... well, I tried. :P

That night, we had dinner at Phuket but I don't have much pictures because it was raining so hard.

Woke up bright and early the next day to visit the rest of the villages.

 

 

 

 After breakfast, we went to Toscana which was our favorite because it was unbelievable. And when we were there, it was deserted.

Lakas maka-donya pictorial.

Then for early lunch since our check-out was at 1:30 PM, we went to the Bali village for some Indonesian fare. It was our second favorite village after Toscana.

After the trip, my friend and I rued that Balesin has ruined us. We think that no other resort will compare, except maybe Amanpulo, if we ever afford to go there. LOL.