Bohol Day 1

TRAVEL

Over the Chinese New Year long weekend, D's family and I flew over to Bohol for some touring, good eats, and chilling out at the beach. 

Along the main road of Tagbiliran city. Our awesome tour guide, Vincent informed us all the tricycles are required (as in by law) to have a Biblical passage painted on at the back (the first random fact of many during the tour).

A view of Panglao Island from the highway; it's absolutely covered in green. Good job, nature.

First stop in our whirlwind, one-day tour of Bohol: the monument to the blood compact between Dagohoy and Sikatuna. This wasn't the actual place where it happened though so not much going on here historically.

Just down the road from the monument stands the Baclayon Church, one of the oldest of its kind in the country.

Lunch was served buffet-style aboard a boat cruising the Loboc River. We were serenaded by choirs at various outposts along the river. The tourism in Bohol is outstanding, well-thought of and executed with such charm.

Here's part of the insane climb what felt like a thousand steps up to the viewing area of the Chocolate Hills. It's quite steep too so if you've got a fear of heights, it's best to do it with someone you can latch on to.

The climb was well worth it with the view from up top. The hills are made from piles of fossils and coral left over from when this whole area was underwater. It's so awesome that the local government has really taken care of the natural beauty of Bohol.

The ledge of the viewing area was set up for tourists to take pictures that maximized the view. Clearly the photographers have had a lot of practice making up poses (i.e. flying on a broom and the obvious touching the tip of the hill).

For a fee, you could get a printed copy of the shot of your choice. You wouldn't say it was cheap but we figured, when in Rome...!

One of our favorite spots of the trip was the man-made forest with its incredible rows of mahogany trees. Vincent informed us that only snakes can live here because the fruits of the trees are too bitter for other creatures. How's that for random trivia? (Super blurry shot because we were right by the highway and did not want to get sideswiped by a truck!)

Amazing landscape!

The man-made forest is quite a long stretch so it's perfect for a leisurely drive or a scenic picture.

Since it was both our first time in Bohol, we couldn't leave without seeing the tarsiers! While they were cute and all (we're big on animals!), this leg of the tour quickly turned sour. During the orientation, the guide was quick to emphasize that we had to keep QUIET during our walk through the trail because obviously, tarsiers are nocturnal and they needed their sleep like we all do. When they get woken up, their stress levels rise quickly and this cuts their life span by a few years. The instructions were simple, tread quietly and don't use flash photography.

Unfortunately, I guess many people weren't listening. Many were shouting out "Hoy! Psst!! HELLLLLOOOO!" Some were shaking the trees to wake them up. We even saw a group of girls stomping their feet and using the flash of their cameras. How annoying! How would they feel if someone shook their beds as they slept in the middle of the night?! Jeez. We found this little guy looking absolutely exhausted. :( -end of rant-
Now bringing back the good vibes, if you haven't noticed from the snaps, the tarsiers are fascinating creatures. They're not to be missed if it's your first trip to Bohol.

Our last (quick) stop was this hanging bridge. For P10, you simply walk back and forth on these bridges. Not much of an activity but it's actually quite a rush! You're stepping on thin pieces of bamboo woven together and strung on extremely rickety cables!

These bridges were made extra scary by the pack of rowdy teenage tourists jumping up and down, making the entire structure shake! They obviously had more trust in native engineering than we did. Check out the office on the foreground too. This is just one of the many examples of how the Bohol has really embraced the tourist trade and made it so clean, efficient and pleasant for its many visitors. Cheers for local tourism!

More on Bohol coming up in the next couple of posts, including the beach and the Bohol Bee Farm. Sorry for the delay!