5 posts tagged “bohol”

Show us a photo of a place you love.

IMG_0658

Our third day in Bohol was not much exciting compared to the previous days since our flight back to Manila will back at 1:10pm. Our plan for the day was to wake up at around 5am to watch the sunrise but since we were all tired from the previous day we woke up at around 8am in the morning. We settled the damage for the motorcycle that we rented from the previous day, we started to pack up our things, had our breakfast, some of us went to the beach for a swim. others just chilled out and enjoyed the view. Before we went to the airport we bought some pasalubong and I grabbed some calamay, peanut star, cookies made out of peanuts, and a pair of earrings for my sister and Gig (since I know she loves earrings). Not much since I was on a tight budget on my way back. While on a plane, I purchased a balloon plane and a wallet from Cebu Pacific. Went straight home, sleep, then work (back to my typical routine). Although the trip to Bohol was very tiring it was a fun and it's great place to stay.

There are also a lot of great places here in the Philippines where you can go to and for more info you can visit Philippines' tourism site:

http://www.wowphilippines.com.ph/

We woke up at around 4:30am since we will be on a Whale and Dolphin Watching trip. It was a beautiful morning and everyone is eager to catch a glimpse of a whale or dolphin at sea. We departed at around 5:15am in the morning in a small boat named "Myra 2". After a 2 hour search, unfortunately we only found waves and there were no dolphins or whales. Quite disappointing since this is one highlight to see if ever you get to Bohol. We went straight to Balicasag Island where resides a marine sanctuary. The water is clear and you can even see those fish swim when you look at the side of the boat. Around the island are several spots where you can try snorkeling and diving and see the great sights of the sea. I'm not into diving so I just tried snorkeling just to peek at what's underneath. All I can say is that view that I saw was a lot better or probably way better than snorkeling in Puerto Galera and Boracay. You can see a school of fish wandering around, you can also see even bigger fish when you look at the deeper parts of the sanctuary. The landscape underneath was like a cliff where on the other side you can see the corals (you can even step on it) and on the other side all you see is just blue. I didn't wander on the other side even though all I do is float since I don't know how to swim. After that we sent ashore, took our lunch which consists of grilled fish and sinigang. After the meal the delicious meal we went back to Alona beach which I think took us about an hour and 30 minutes.

We went straight to our rooms in time for us to check out and move to another resort which I believe to be its name is Tropical. After that we took a few minutes break and then went on to rent motorcycles. Rent was around 150 pesos motorcycles were all in automatic. Good thing I know how to ride one and good thing that my motorcycle is the same as the one I rented (a 110 cc Honda XRM) so I had no problems using it. We took off between 2pm to 3pm since I lost track of the time when we left Alona beach. It was a long, smooth drive since traffic is very light, although its 2pm or 3pm in the afternoon it quite cool due to the breeze, and we can smell fresh air while driving. On the way to Tagbilaran we stopped by Hinagdaganan Cave where most of us enjoyed a dip in its cool water. Unfortunately when we're on our way to Tagbilaran, 2 in our group had an accident and thanked god that they suffer only minor scratches, the bike was damaged as well. We didn't expect that we're going to drive to Tagbilaran where there's a lot of traffic since most of us were not used in driving a motorcycle in the city and we didn't expect that we will drive around 20 kms just to eat at Jj's in Tagbilaran (a sea food restaurant). Mike and Anne lost their appetite due to the accident. On our way home, we drove together and it took us around 40 minutes to get back to Alona beach. After that we spent the rest of the night in the pool, and since its only open up until 11pm, we went to  the resort's restaurant to have dinner and chill out while facing the shore.

Just as I've mention in my previous post, I'm going to put it into detail (I'll try). This trip was planned way back in February. It was a promo of Cebu Pacific and originally the plan was to go to Puerto Princesa but we ran out of tickets and decided to go to Bohol instead. We took a flight to Cebu at around 4:45am, the sky was clear that we were able to see the sunrise and a view of Mayon Volcano. It was a smooth flight. We are the 1st group to arrive since we were separated into 2 and the 2nd groups flight will depart at 6:45. Instead of waiting in the airport we had a quick tour of Cebu, first stop was the Lapu-Lapu's Shrine where at first was unnoticeable since it was a small place. We took some pictures and Immediately went to our next stop which was the Shangri-la Hotel in Cebu. Quite a good place, comfty lounge, have a very relaxing area. We've spent around 20 minutes to loiter around and have a short break. After a few minutes stroll, our next stop was in the Plantation Bay. Plantation Bay is a great place but a bit pricey. Another stop is the Magellan's Cross, a tourist attraction in Cebu but when we arrived, I was a bit disappointed since the area around the monument itself was created to be a parking lot, although there were a lot of tourist, there were a lot of street children loitering, sleeping, begging. One even followed us just to beg when we took off to our van. We went straight back to the airport to welcome the 2nd group and took off to a Toaist Temple for a short picture taking, dropped by Sykes Cebu (just to comment on their building, it was a lot better than Kpointe). After the tour, we went straight to the Harbor to take the SuperCat which will bea long cruise to Tagbilaran, Bohol.

After an hour and 40 minute SuperCat ride (I think) we arrived in Tagbilaran Bohol where we were welcomed by another van which toured us in Bohol. Since it was about lunch time, we had our lunch at Loboc River where you get to eat in a boat while cruising the Loboc River. After the lunch we head straight to the Tarsiers. Tarsiers are small monkey-like, nocturnal creatures who eats cricket and can only be found in Bohol and are considered endangered. The sanctuary is quite far so we get to visit those who are in captivity. After the Tarsiers we head straight to the famous Chocolate Hills. Our view was at the top of a hill and seeing the hills is a magnificent view, you can see them scattered all over the landscape. It was called Chocolate Hills because its color is brown during summer. Its green when we went there. Those were the highlights of the day's tour and too bad we didn't get to see the Falls and stop over the Mahogany Farm or Mangrove Forest (although we get to pass through it on our way to the Hills and in our way back to Tagbilaran and it's where sunlight barely touches the ground, expect it to be very dark at night). After the long drive, which took us 76 kms from the Chocolate Hills to Tagbilaran and 20 kms from Tagbilaran to Alona Beach where we checked-in in Sea-Divers Resort and spent the rest of the night.

Arrgh... I'm back at work after having a short vacation from Bohol. It's one of my yearly activity to go out of town and go to places I've never been. Last year I went to Boracay and enjoyed the beach, and some water sports. What I can say is that Bohol is a lot greater compared to Boracay since in Bohol, you get to go to see the famous chocolate hills, the endangered tarsiers, mohogany farm, endless road, island hop, whale shark and dolphin watching, and white beaches. Now, I'm back to work, reading hundreds of email, creating reports, spending 9 hours in front of computer while my body aches. My detailed trip to Bohol will be posted since I'm still awaiting pictures from my colleagues and I'm so tired and can't organize my thoughts very well... Here are some of the pics taken from my camera.