Bohol is an island in central Visayas, Philippines. My journey began with a 2 hour boat ride from Cebu City in Cebu Island to Taglibaran Pier, the capital of Bohol.
From the pier, I took a tricycle to the hotel in Taglibaran. It is a small town with few eateries. One of the things that I like about Taglibaran is the cheap massage in the public park. Basically one can get a shoulder and head massage for only around USD2 per hour on the public bench. My friends and I went there for 2 consecutive nights for a public massage!
The key highlight in Bohol is watching the world's smallest mammal, Tarsier in Tarsier Sanctuary. Tarsier is a shy little mammal hanging on the tree. Unfortunately, not many are left and it was disappointing to only manage to spot just 1-2 mammals in the sanctuary.
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| Shy Tarsier |
The tour was followed by a boat cruise and lunch on boat along Loboc River with live bands. It was a relaxing ride with natural village views where we could see villagers bathed and washed in the river.
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Cruising along Loboc River
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| Stand up Paddle |
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Lunch on board
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Next, the iconic and unique Chocolate Hill , where one can climb on the stairs to viewing platform to enjoy the surrounding Hersey Kiss Chocolate lookalike of Chocolate Hills. The hills are shaped in triangle, a typical isolated hill shape in clusters. We explored both the viewing platforms of Chocolate Hills, the viewing platform in Carmen and Sagbayan Peak in Sagbayan for amazing 360 degree surrounding view.
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| Chocolate Hill |
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| View from Carmen Peak |
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| View from Sagbayan Peak |
The popular tourist spot in Bohol is Alona Beach in Panglao Island, where one can take a boat ride for island hopping and just stroll along the beach for a wonderful sunset evening. We took a public transport in a jeepney that was jam packed for about an hour to reach there. We went for island hopping from the beach, to Balicasag Island for snorkelling and Virgin Island with white, long sandy bar for sunbathing. The beaches are super white with fine sands that can hurt the eyes in a bright sunny day. I remember the boat ride was choppy that I was wondering if we were surfing on the sea with the water splashed violently. In the evening, many people hang out at the tables along the beachin Alona, enjoying the sunset with a drink. What touched me in the evening was the experience of riding a tricycle back to Taglibaran in a pitch dark road and the rider had to bear the burden of 3 adults in his tricycle as he was earning a living, riding in pitch darkness with rain.
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| Balicasag Island |
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| Virgin Island |
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| Alona Beach |
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| Happening scene during sunset |
Before I left the island, I took an adventure by taking a public transport from the city to the rural village for a stand up paddle along Loboc River, where we had a boat cruise the day before. It was my first stand up kayaking experience.
After the adventure, I took a bus back to town in the outskirt of Taglibaran to explore the local market and local shopping center nearby. To my surprise, a cinema movie ticket cost nearly 5USD! The local market reminded me of the past back home though.
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| Bus station in Taglibaran outskirt |
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| Coke in glass bottles |
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| Charcoal iron - memory from the past |
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| A rare sight of firewood sales these days |
I have always love to explore Philippines as the Pinoy (Pilipinos) are friendly and places are amazing with natural landscapes especially mountains. The only thing that I don't crave is the food as I think Pilipino food lacks vegetables and variety which I may be wrong... Yet I enjoyed travelling in The Phillipines!
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| St Joseph Cathedral in Taglibaran |
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| River view from Hotel in Taglibaran |
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