One of the greatest things about my country, the Philippines, being am archipelago, has so many beautiful islands to see. One of these famous island is Bohol in the Visayas region and I was fortunate enough to have visited this island paradise tow times already. Here is an account of my experience in my latest tour in Bohol.

This was my second time to be in Bohol but I'm as excited as all the rest are.

It was still dark when we departed from Cebu at 6:05 A.M. on board Ocean Jet. We were a party of six anticipating tourists; Wendell and me, our tour organizer Inday, my cousin Vance, my Aunt Sarah and Mr. James Chapman - our special guest from Portland, Indiana, USA.

It was a two-hour trip to the island of Bohol but everyone was comfortably seated in the air-conditioned cabin. We spent our idle hours at sea chatting and eating some lansones. I managed to doze off for 30 minutes and before I knew it, we were there.

Arrival in Tagbilaran

We arrived in the Port of Tagbilaran at 8:07 A.M. Everyone suddenly come alive and did not waste any time to document our Bohol landing. Soon all three cameras started clicking as everyone scrambled to take a pose in front of the big sign that says "Welcome to the Port of Tagbilaran."

MEET THE TOURISTS (from left to right) Wendell, Vance, James, Sarah, Inday and down below is yours truly, Chivy

We made our way through the crowbed port and outisde, waiting for us with a van and driver, was Aries, our tour escort for the day. Inday explained that Aries is a police tour escort and had since been escorting both local and foreign dignitaries and even President Arroyo herself while staying in Bohol. We were indeed fortunate to have him around. We know we are in good hands.

Soon enough we were rolling down the streets of Tagbilarn and into the outskirts of the city. Looking out from the window we passed by some little towns nestled in lush verdant landscapes and overlooking sparkling clean beaches. We also passed by old churches and more than a dozen of those old 19th century Spanish houses with coral stone blocks, sliding capiz shell windows and roofed with tiles, the ones which resembled that of the old Casa Gorordo house we find in Cebu.

Everything I saw looked wonderful. These are the sights that you don't see everyday in Cebu. I had difficulty deciding whether to look at my left or at my right. I did not want to miss any detail. These are the times when I really wished I had a camcorder to capture those fast moments so I can replay it later on slow motion. I was half hoping for the driver to drive a bit slower so I can relish the sights, unfortunately, there was no traffic so while the van was picking up speed, everything we passed by soon seemed to look like a hazy blur of green and silver

Blood Compact Monument

Our first stop was the Blood Compact Monument, a site which commemorates the Blood Compact between Miguel Lopez de Legazpi of Spain and Rajah Sikatuna of Bohol which took place on March 16, 1565. Made by Boholano National Artist, Napoleon Abueva, this sculpture depicts two men drinking from a common cup with drops of blood taken from each other's arm to symbolized peace and friendship between two leaders and their constituents.

I'm not much of a fan of people being carved out from metals or stones so I did not find it interesting, Besides, I already know for a fact in my history class that where the monument stands isn’t really the exact spot where the blood compact actually took event. it was a little way a few meters near the beach down below. We tried to explore a series of staircase which led us down to some kind of structure, but nothing was of interest there either, except that it gave an impression that this must be one of those unfinished projects of the local government. Anyway going back up, the site had a very nice view of the sea. We took a few minutes to enjoy the view before we left for our next destination.

The Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Baclayon

The Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Baclayon was our next stop. Considered to be one of the oldest church in the Philippines which was completed in 1727. It is one of the best persevered Jesuit-build church rich with centuries-old religious relics, artifacts and other antiquities, dating back to the 16th century. For 25 bucks you get to see these priceless treasures housed in a well-kept museum. A museum guide gladly showed us around and also explained basic backgrounds about the relics. Cameras and videos are not allowed so this time we were more focused on the artifacts.

Among their noteworthy collection was the crucified Christ made in ivory; a statue of the Blessed Virgin, said to be presented by Queen Catherine of Aragon; relics of St. Ignatius of Loyola, old gold embroidered ecclesiastical vestments, books with carabao skin covers, and librettos of church music written in Latin on sheep skins. I was particularly impressed with the workmanship of some old wooden carvings of some relics and the type of wood they were using. All of these wood carvings were made by hand and must have been made from age-old trees to withstand degradation so that it would survive for centuries to come. The intricate golden embroideries of the priest vestments also caught my attention and made me wonder how much time did the maker spent to embellish one garment.

I also learned that some 200 native forced laborers constructed the church from coral stones, which they took from the sea, and used millions of egg whites to cement the blocks together. Like most old churches, some parts were damp and eerie. I saw some moss growing on a wall of what seemed to be the dungeon where they kept their prisoners who tried to resist or to take rebellion against the church. I also begin to wonder how much people have died just to construct this church and how ironic it has been that such a place of worship, a place where the message of God's love and compassion are brought was built by force and violence.

The church had big windows filtering in rays of sunlight. There were those huge imposing columns, an old worn-out bamboo organ and the pedestal where in the olden days, the priest would stay everytime he make a sermion. We sat there for a while pretending to pray hehehehe but at that very moment, nobody was in a holy mood. We were in such a hurry and my camera was running out of power that we forgot to take a picture of the church's facade.

Python Snake Mini-Zoo

Next on the list was a visit to a family owned mini-zoo that had a 10 year old python snake as their pet alongside with some other native birds, eagles and crows. The snake's name was Pruny and is said to be the largest python snake to have geown that big under captivity. Pruny had his 10th captivity aniversary a day before we were there.

10 years ago, this family caught this python snake in their backyard and now it has grown so huge that it can consume a whole medium-size pig alive. They say that you can touch the snake if you dare and have your picture taken. I would have wanted to do the horror....ehem...I mean the honor but nobody bothered to show me inside the cage hahahahah. An added bonus was their never-ending chatterbox, Marimar, who at the end of the tour will eagerly entertain you with her Celine Dion medley and acrobatic antics.

Chocolate Hills of Carmen

After we're done with historical places and events and a bit of biology, we are now ready for what Bohol is really all about. Our next stop was the world renown Chocolate Hills of Carmen. It was quite a long drive going there but there was no reason to be bored. Going there we passed by Loboc River and acres of rice paddies and other picturesque landscapes. While heading for the mountains we encountered a winding road that leads up to Bohol's highest point of elevation above sea level giving you am eagle's view of the green valley down below and the sea from afar. These meandering roads remind me so much of the winding roads going up to Baguio. Not far ahead was the Manmade Forest. It was only a matter of minutes when everything fall into darkness as we passed by thick groves of Mahogany trees. The trees were growing so close to each other that almost no sunlight could penetrate through the thickets.

We finally arrived at the Chocolate Hills site past 11 A.M. The parking area was packed with buses and vans with all sorts of tourist; Koreans, Chinese, Americans, and Europeans and...us heheheh marching all over the place. By now my camera had ran out of batteries. Fortunately, James was kind enough to lend us some of his spare batteries.

We started exploring the place climbing those more than a hundred steps going up to its peak where you can see a panoramic view of the Chocolate Hills. It was a long way up...but it was worth it. We need the exercise anyway to stretch our legs after almost an hour of sitting in the van.

It was sooooooo.... wonderful to be up there with the breathtaking view and nice, fresh breeze blowing through your face Those perfectly cone-shaped hills dots the landscape of a rolling terrain of haycock hills. These hills are actually grass-covered limestone hills which turns chocolate brown during the dry season, thus the name Chocolate Hills was derived. They would look more like giant Hershey's chocolate kisses in summer.

It was all green when we were there but the cone-shaped hills were very much distinct. You can also see the valley down below which are mostly farmlands and rice paddies. Exotic plants and colorful flowers also adorn the area growing abundantly in the hillsides. Everything was so clean, I never saw any single piece of trash and the place was well maintained. We took our time to admire nature's beauty before we hit the road for our next stop.

Hanging Bridge of Tigbao

The Hanging Bridge of Tigbao was our next stop and crossing it would be our challenge. Auntie and Inday prefered to stay behind so it was all up to the four of us to brezze through this so-called obstacle hahaha. There was nothing really special about this bamboo bridge except perhaps for the "feel and thrill” of crossing in it while enjoying its magnificent background, which is the clean Loboc River and the trees along the banks.

Crossing the bridge was a piece of cake for me since I have already crossed one before. My first hanging bridge crossing was the Capilano Suspension Bridge in Canada. It was much more set higher above the Capilano River and overlooking a waterfall. But it was built from stronger materials so it did not sway as much and had some safety net on the sides with much solid flooring. Comparing the two bridges, crossing the one in Bohol offered more challenge because of the thrill that the passibity of falling while crossing the bridge is still there. LOL

Reaching the center part of the bridge where it hangs above the water to its lowest angle, I look down at the waters of the Loboc River and saw how still and clean the waters were. It looked more like a big looking glass reflecting the magnificnet beauty of the sky and the riverbanks.

Loboc River

The Loboc River experience is what I would consider the best part of our tour...not because of the food but because of the dynamism of its presentaion with you on-board those boats. it was also spent in a much relaxed manner.....no hurry......no rush...well maybe a little bit of rushing at the buffet table...hahha

It was already 12:45 when we reached the Loboc River. For lunch we would be dining on board one of those famous floating restaurants with two bangka-hulls, over a large wooden platform and nipa roofing. At the back, a small outboard engine works hard to move the vessel. They had a nice waiting area overlooking the river, clean fragrant restrooms and a mini-port built for this purpose. Lunch came with a price tag of 280 bucks per head. Aries told us that 20 bucks goes automatically to the local government for the maintenance of these facilities.

Lunch at the Loboc River Cruise

it was more than 30 minutes of waiting and everyone was getting cranky. it was almost past lunchtime but more diners were still coming in. The number of boats available was outnumbered by the multitude of diners pouring in. Nobody bothered to organize the diners to get into a line so everyone would just scamper up hurriedly whenever a boat comes. We waited for the less crowded one to come.

Finally on board, the boat takes off as the buffet begins with a small band playing. Everyone was hungry and immediately swarmed the buffet table at the without bothering to fall into a line or wait for thier turn. The food was almost gone in less than 15 minutes and the crew had to make a refill. I'm not a good food grabber in the midst of all the chaos, so I was among the last to finally sit down to eat and hurriedly finish my food. I did not want to waste my time eating while some nice sights passed me by

Now with a full stomach, I eased myself comfortably on a chair and watched the riverbanks slowly sliding before my eyes. We passed by large vegetations of nipa (palm tree), coconuts and other tropical flora. Everything was so calm and cool it felt tempting to go for a short siesta but i managed to snap out of it. Wendell could not help but take lots of pictures of the beautiful sights we passed by. I had to remind him that i have only limited space in my memory card and that we still have other places to go.

Busay Falls

The end of the trip is Busay Falls which marks the point where the boat cannot go any further. The presence of big rocks and the increasing flow of rapids make it too dangerous for sailing further. The boat stays here for a while to allow the guest to admire the landscape and to take some pictures before the boat makes a turn for the return trip.

Children Singing in the Loboc River

In our return trip we came on a raft full of children all clad in jeans and yellow shirts. One of those sturdy men from the raft grab hold of the boat and tied a rope to keep the boat steadily attached to the raft. Then in unison, the children cried "Good Afternoon Visitors, Welcome to Loboc River, Bohol" and immediately sung in chorus with their ukelele in hand, the song, "Back To Me" originally sung by the Queshe.

One man on the raft beckoned us to come down and pose with the children singing. James and Auntie went first while I took their picture, them me and Wendell and the others soon followed. The "Itaktak Mo" dance followed. it was an invigorating dance and the kids were having a good time while performing it. it was a jovial sight to behold.

Looking at these kids I could say that they were indeed a group of homegrown talents that we can be proud of. I guess that must have been one of the best part of the Loboc River Cruise experience, seeing those children singing and dancing in raw and humble presentation to remind us how simple yet meaningful life can be and that happiness can also be found in simple pleasures. Our return trip moved on and along the way we passed by some children swimming in the river. Four of them clambered to the sides of the boat and them dive back into the water.

Tarsier Sanctuary

Our next stop was a visit to the tarsier sanctuary. The tarsiers are considered to be one of the smallest known primates, no larger than a adult men's hand, It is a nocturnal creature and is among one of the protected species of the government, This creature has big eyes, a gray fur and a nearly naked tail.

There were three of them clambering on a branch and I had a chance to look at them in close view and have one of them put into my palm which eventually started to climb up to my shoulders. They were really cute creatures and I just wish I could bring one at home for a pet. LOL

Hinagdanan Cave

And finally, to wrap-up our whole day tour, we proceeded for the Hingdanan Cave after dropping by a local gift and sovenier shop. Ceilings dripping with stalactites, Hinagdanan Cave is a marvel to behold. The cave leads to a large underground cavern that contains a small lagoon. it was so tempting to take a dip on those cool waters after those long hours of sitting in the van, but I was well reminded that it has not been advisable to swim there after it has been tested for high levels of various pollutants, since it is fed by ground runoff. It was extremely difficult to take photos in this cave because of its insufficient sunlight coming from the two holes. Somehow we managed to take a few for posterity. Wendell almost fell down to the lagoon while trying to find a nice angle in the cave. heheheh

Dinner by the Beach

it is already past 5 P.M. so we started for Alona Kew Beach Resort, where we are already booked for the night. Everyone was exhausted but happy and looked forward for a relaxing night. We had dinner by the beach past 7 P.M. with two guys serenading beside our table as we ate. We had grilled lobster, squid made into calamare rings,, pork barbecue and a some nice tasting, steaming hot fish soup. Swimming in the pool came after dinner with a bottle of red wine and a walk by the beach caps the evening before we finally retired to our rooms.

Alona Kew Beach Resort

I as awaken by my cellphone alarm at 5:30 A.M. Everyone was still fast asleep so I took the liberty to go out for a walk on the beach hoping to catch the sunrise. Soon enough there on the horizon spreading its golden rays was the sun in all its golden glory. It looked magical.

We have no more itinerary for the day so we just stayed in the resort and enjoyed their white sand beach and their swimming pool. Everyone squeezed into their swimming attire, put on some sunblock and got ready for the beach pictorial. It was a bit cloudy and the sun was shining mildly. The weather was almost perfect (not to get a sunburn) so nobody dared to be left behind. Everyone jumped into the water with a big splash.

We checked out of the resort at 11 A.M . and headed to JJ Restuarant for lunch. Then we went to island City Mall to buy some calamay and other Bohol delicacies for our "pasalubong" for the folks back at home. We lingered in the mall for almost an hour before we finally left for the terminal for our return trip to Cebu.

Homeward Bound

We left for Cebu at 4:20 P.M. on board the same fast craft. This time we choose to stay on the upper deck part instead of the air-conditioned cabin so we can see some islands and to enjoy the sunset. As Bohol slowly
fades away from view I said "Goodbye Bohol but I'll be back.... soon hehehhehe."

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