Philippines
Negros – Bohol
December 6, 7, 8, 9, & 10
2018
Bohol is An Amazing Place A Beautiful Island A Hidden Gem Fun!
This morning we started off early packing our things, eating breakfast, and heading to the port. We are planning on heading to the island of Bohol and spending a few days there! Both Tia and I spent a good amount of time on Bohol in the years 2006-2007 and we both think it’s one of the best places in the Philippines. There is so much to see and we both know a lot of people still! We were excited to see them and explore around the island.
We got to the port and learned quickly that we had to buy tickets elsewhere. There was a small shack we had to go to buy tickets and there was already a big line. We finally got our tickets and made our way to the port again. Once inside the ferry terminal, I got an avocado shake and some snacks for our trip to Bohol. Our trip was about 2 hours. We got on the Oceanjet ferry and we were soon on our way!
Once we got to Bohol, we got to the port at Tagbilaran City, which is the largest city on Bohol. The entire island of Bohol has about 1.4 million people! Compared with Cebu Island which has about 4.3 million people. Bohol is very relaxed and easy going, much like Dumaguete City. We hired a van to take us to the Kew hotel where we booked rooms for the next few days. It was a good deal and breakfast was included so it made things easy for us. Plus, the Island City Mall was down the street so this hotel location was ideal for us.
After we checked into the hotel, it was time for lunch. We walked up the street to the Island City Mall to eat and see the mall again. It was weird to be back at this mall since I used to visit all the time back in 2006-2007 to buy groceries.
Once inside, we quickly realized that the mall had some major updates since we were here before. It seemed like there were more stores. We went straight to the top of the mall to eat at the food court. We found a couple of amazing restaurants that always had our favorites (humba, lumpiya, ginamos, sparkle, pancit, adobong manok, etc.). We came back here several times because it was that good!
The mall was great to see again! I know it sounds weird that I’m getting excited about a mall, but it was fun to see the same old places I used to visit before. It felt like I was still here on this island somewhere! After the mall, we went across the street to the public market. This is where the fun stuff is! Surprisingly, as a missionary before, I only came here once. I wish I would have visited more since this place had all the local vendors and local food.
We saw some cool jeepneys (below) outside the public market.
It was getting later in the day so we visited with some friends and then walked around downtown Tagbilaran City before sunset. We visited another mall called BQ Mall where we got some more Thirsty smoothies and enjoyed the views on the roof. Back in 2006 for Christmas, I remember standing outside this mall calling my dad and talking to him. It seemed like a different lifetime. I was definitely feeling nostalgic today. It didn’t seem real that I was here again. I think I was much quieter today than before.
Near BQ Mall was another market and some stores we went into. I found these hilarious toys. Make sure you read the names on the boxes!
For dinner, we walked over to Garden Cafe. It was just a short walk. We used to eat here all the time in 2006 and 2007. We loved it because they served pretty good American/Mexican style dishes. Even after all those years, the menu was still the same! This place is pretty awesome because they employ people who are deaf. It’s a place I recommend eating at!
After this, we got a ride back to our hotel and went to bed! Today was a long but amazing day!
Today we started off around 8 am. We had a jam-packed day all across Bohol. We hired a guy to take us around to all these spots and he picked us up at our hotel.
Today we were planning on seeing the Chocolate Hills, Manmade Forest, Butterfly Sanctuary, Tarsier Monkey Conservatory, a small zoo, Loboc River Tour, Baclayon Church, Blood Compact Site, and then a drive back to Tagbilaran City.
The entire drive would take us about 106 km (65 miles). It doesn’t seem that far, but keep in mind that many of the roads we are taking are winding. I got sick a few times along the way! Good thing we had many stops so we could get out and stretch.
Our first stop was the world famous Chocolate Hills! I remember visiting here as a missionary and it was a stop that was very simple. There wasn’t a big reception center or restaurants or anything else. Now, there are a bunch of buildings and restaurants and all sorts of shops.
The Chocolate Hills are big grass covered mounds that are spread across the country side in this region. They are made of limestone that are ancient coral deposits. They are over 1200 of them!
The stop here gets you some of the best views. There is a nice overlook to get pictures of these incredible formations. You can’t just wander off and hike all the hills (maybe you can??), so we only spent about 45 minutes here enjoying the scenery.
Our next stop was down the street a little ways to the Tarsier Conservatory. Tarsiers are very small monkeys that have huge eyes! They live in the Philippines, Borneo, and Indonesia. They are very charming creatures!
The conservation was set up as a loop trail. You have to go through fences because they keep the tarsiers penned so they don’t escape.
Our next stop is the manmade forest! This is a beautiful drive through very tall mahogany trees in the area called Bilar. Our driver said that they planted over 1 million trees here as part of a reforestation project. There isn’t a welcome center or anything, we just got out the car, took some pictures, and were on to our next stop!
The next place on our adventure was a small zoo and butterfly sanctuary. It was neat to see, but not a must-see. It was fun though to get butong (young coconut) to snack on!
We still had MORE stuff to see after this! Our driver took us to the city of Loboc for a boat tour on the Loboc River! This is an incredibly beautiful river that has palm trees and vegetation right up to the water’s edge. The boat ride consists of a buffet, which really wasn’t that good. We rode up the river to a small fake village where we got off to see some sculptures and native Filipino displays.
There were a group of like 5 kids who were children of the actors in the Filipino displays and they kept asking me to borrow my camera so they could take pictures of me. I asked them why they wanted to borrow my camera and they said so I would have to pay them! haha I let one of the older kids use my camera and we got a few pictures. We got back on the boat and headed back.
After this, we went to the very old Catholic Baclayon Church. This church was built in 1727! It was completely destroyed due to an earthquake in 2013, but it was rebuilt and restored in 2017. It’s quite the incredible place to visit!
Then we drove down the street to the Blood Compact Site. This is the location where Lopez de Legazpi (Spanish Explorer) and Datu Sikatuna (Filipino) made a blood compact. They both made a cut on their arms, put the blood in a cup of wine and drank it together as a symbol of friendship. They did this in March of 1565.
We basically made one giant circle around Bohol! We came back home and got some dinner and went for a walk outside our hotel. It was a beautiful night and we loved walking around town like we were locals.
Time for bed! We were more than exhausted!
Today was a low-key type of day. We had plans to take a jeepney to Antequera to visit Mag-Aso Falls! It was about a 30 minute jeepney ride and we just hung off the back of it! Just like old times!
The jeepney let us out right at downtown Antequera and we were getting some weird looks! People were wondering what in the world we were doing! This is a remote town so I can understand the stares.
We bought some snacks and walked the distance to the falls. To read more about our adventure here, read the Trek!
We spent a good amount of time here relaxing and swimming! After, we came back to town and visited the town that Tia lived in when he was a missionary. The members in his ward were having a Christmas Fiesta and invited us to it. It was fun to be there and eat good food! I didn’t know anyone, but I was trying to make new friends.
We came home after this and called it a night!
Today, Tia and I split up so we could visit people that we knew before. I went to the church congregation I was in before and Tia went to his.
I also visited my old apartment that I lived in back in 2006/2007. It was VERY odd to see this place. I have so many memories of it and standing in front of this house now, made me feel good/weird/odd/happy/sad/everything else.
After church, I met back up with Tia and his brother and we walked around downtown getting food and just suroy-suroy!
Today was pure relaxation! We met up with one of our friends who lives in Tagbilaran and he took us around in his car to Panglao Island!
I loved riding around and seeing old familiar places again. We went to Alona Beach first and found that it was just a tourist trap. I wanted to find some fresh fruits to eat and discovered that they cost as much here as they did in the US! We looked around the beach and saw a bunch of older American men hanging out with very young Filipina girls and decided we should go check out a quieter beach.
We went north to Doljo Beach and spent the afternoon at the Ananyana Beach Resort! I have been here before back in 2008 when I came with my two older brothers and my sister-in-law. It was still the same!
This beach is amazing and peaceful! We got smoothies and food and went swimming and just enjoyed hanging with our friend again.
We then went to the Bohol Bee Farm for ice cream and lunch!
When we were done at the beach we went back to our hotel and then went to the Island City Mall again to hang out for a bit. We went to the grocery store and I saw that all the chocolate was behind a glass case! I also saw Caesar dressing that cost almost $8!
Tonight, I visited with a family that I got to know very well back in 2006/2007. This amazing family took me in when I was living here and treated me like their son/brother. It felt so good to be with them again. They made some amazing food, but I just felt their love for me. Really made me sad that we all lived so far away from each other.
This concludes our trip to Bohol. Tomorrow we go back to Cebu!
