Bohol

Before we left Malapascua, my underwater camera died on me. It was very difficult to convince myself that taking pictures is just secondary to what I would be able to gain from the trip. 

We arrived in Panglao, Bohol at 9pm (see travel notes below) on a Sunday. We had dinner, then took a walk along Alona beach for an hour before hitting the sack. There was nothing much to see there at night.

The next day, we hired the same cab driver that brought us to Panglao to give us a tour of Bohol. The rates of the tour are standardized, costing us Php 1800 to see the hanging bridge, the tarsier, the minizoo, the man-made forest, old churches (one of them was Baclayon Church), monuments, Loboc river and of course, the world famous chocolate hills. 

Bohol is a beauty. I remember how green it is, and it was probably just me but I really felt as if there was more oxygen there.

The Tarsier is also a fascinating sight. I used to just read about it in books, but there it was! A joy to finally see it so close. It brought back a lot of grade school memories of me wondering if I could ever see it that close and not just in pictures. I wanted to know how small it was. The Chocolate Hills was not a disappointment either, although I thought it looked like there were more of them in pictures. Loboc river cruise and lunch was a surprise. Food was fine but the river was amazing! The kids singing and dancing to folk songs was also a nice touch.

We ditched swimming at Alona beach. We thought that it was more important to see Bohol even in such a rush than go swimming, which we can do almost anytime.

There was one place that I missed in Bohol, though. I wanted to go to Danao to experience the "Plunge", rappelling, and the zip lines. However, this was going to be 4 hours from Panglao, and we only had a day to go around Bohol. I thought that was for the next time I would be there. Besides, I did not have a good camera to document the adventure. 


One day was not enough to see everything, but it was enough to convince me of Bohol's wonder.

(See Cebu Cebu-Malapascua adventure here.)

Travel Notes:

- If coming from Cebu, go to the port and take any of the following shipping lines:
Weesam - http://www.weesamexpress.net/
Supercat (renamed as 2GoTravel) - http://www.supercat.com.ph/
Oceanjet - http://www.oceanjet.net/

Boat Fare: Php 520 (this changes, so check out their sites)
Cab to Panglao: Php 400
Accommodation: 1000/night (there are a lot of resorts to choose from)
Tour (transportation): Php 1800
Tarsier fee: Php 20
Hanging bridge: Php 10
Chocolate Hills: PHp 50
Mini zoo: Php 10
Loboc River Crusing and Lunch: Php 450 (this could change)




Gallery

Loboc River

Loboc River

Marimar at the mini zoo

Alona Beach

Baclayon Church

Python at the mini zoo