Lonely Planet in Boracay - Philippines

The Lonely Planet is not a bar nor a location. It refers to a shop on the island that has a wide section of home furniture items for sale. Aside from the standard home furnishings, there are gorgeous lampshades, homespun fabrics, elegant rugs, local artwork from the island, cushions and carvings of wood or stone. Majority of the items sold here are Philippine made although there may be some works from Thailand or Bali. The shop is also home to clothing which are made of the local fabrics and they offer a "cooling" effect on the wearer. The shop is well known for their t-shirts. Many tourists visit the shop to buy shirts as souvenirs for their family and loved ones back home.

There are several Lonely Planet shops along White Beach, one shop can also be found on Plazoleta, and one on the beach itself. It is not hard to find a shop for their sign stands out among the rest and almost every local knows where the nearest one is.

One thing that makes the shop stand out is the devotion to quality. 99% of all items sold are handmade, handcrafted, or hand carved. The popular trinkets include leather wrist braids which can go for P100.00 and above, handpicked and colored shell displays or stands from P120.00 and up, and decorative artwork on canvas for P500.00 and up. There is always something unique that can be found in the shop and all it requires is a keen and patient eye of the shopper.

Tourists simply love to visit the Lonely Planet shop because they know that they get something unique with every visit. One should not discount the fact that some designs are a one shot deal. This means that one design or the way one item was crated or crafted may not be repeated anymore in the future. One can think of this as a limited design of sorts. This means that every visitor is assured of something new every time they visit.

Many specialty shops have sprung along the area of White Beach as well as along the hi-way. One has to be careful not to fall into tourist traps such as over charging of items or the selling of faulty or defective items. One should not rush their purchases and have presence of mind. Once one has decided on an item to buy, it would be a good idea to ask for a mileage or buyers card so that it could provide discounts in the future.