My husband and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary at the beautiful island of Bohol. For us, it is a dream come true with just the thought of seeing the chocolate hills, the tarsiers and the dolphins- things that fascinated us both when we were in the first grade. in fact, Bohol gave us more than we expected. Aside from the usual sight-seeing trips and adventures, I can't help but love the people who accommodated us in the whole three days of stay there.
Via Cebu Pacific Air, we landed at the Tagbilaran Airport at about 10:30am. Thank God that the weather there was really sunny, contrary to the weather when we left Manila which is really rainy (and I mean heavy rains). Upon our exit at the airport, there are already loads of agents offering tour packages around the island. We opt to inquire at the booth of the Bohol Drivers Cooperative and get a car service package which will take us to the countryside of Bohol - Loboc River, Chocolate Hills at Carmen, Tarsier Sanctuary, Hanging Bridge at Sevilla, Baclayon Church, Sandugo Shrine and the final destination of course is the one-stop Pasalubong Center, also in Baclayon.
Before having the tour, Nani (my husband)and I meet with Ate Neneng, one of my husbands former family helper who happens to be now living at the Dao District in Tagbilaran. It's really amazing to think that from being a house helper when she was younger, Ate Neneng is now driving her own car and living in a big and nice house. She is also sending her children to a private Chinese School at Tagbilaran. Ate Neneng picked us up at the airport, so that we could leave our things with her while we are having our tour. She dropped us at a local mall in Tagbilaran- Island City Mall. And guess what, the mall isn't so far from the malls we have in Lipa City. There's World of Fun (Nani's favorite place), a supermarket, a department store and a mix of fashion shops like Guess, Bench, Mossimmo, Sabella, Kamiseta and a lot more! From there, we were picked up by our hired driver - Mr. Arnold Marquez or Kuya Arnold as we called him. We were surprised to know that we will be using a van for our trip for the price of only P2500. Usually, hiring a van for the countryside trip would cost about P3,500 to P4000. And believe me, this rate (p2500) is really cheap, considering the length of distance that we travelled that day.
Our first stop is the best place to have lunch - The Loboc River Cruise. The park, have an entrance fee of P100 per pax and a lunch buffet at P300 per pax. There were about five floating restaurants to choose from, each with its own different sets of menus. We chose the one which offers Crabs cooked in coconut milk, Adobong Pusit, Grilled Tuna, Pakbet, Bam-i (Pancit), Adobong Manok, pork bbq, vegetable salad, seaweed salad, fruits like watermelon, pineapple and banana, local desserts like suman, bibingka and minatamis na saging and just to let you know, wala kaming pinalampas sa lahat ng ito!
When the restaurant started to cruise, we were already halfway of our first plate. Yes, our first plate, because we had three! There is an accoustic guitar musician who is playing and singing easy listening music, fitted for the relaxing and natural ambiance of the river and the beautiful greens on its side. Another highlight of the cruise are the two groups of locals in costumes performing cultural dances and songs. A stop over in one of these groups who are stationed in a an anahaw-roofed bamboo raft allows guests to dance and perform with them. Of course, as a sign of appreciation, guests are requested to donate (or not) any amount they want to give. The cruise lasted for about one and a half hour- and what can I say the P800 we paid is all worth it!
Next stop is at the Carmen Chocolate Hills Complex. It was a 15-minute drive from Loboc and along the way, we were able to see the foot of these famous hills. It's really a wonder on how these hills were formed. From a flat rice plantation, there would stand what look like a giant "punso". And there are so many of them!
The Chocolate Hills Complex have an entrance fee of P50 per pax. There is a viewing deck on top of one of the hills, which will give you a 360-degree view of this vast National Park. Going through the stairs up to the viewing deck, it is advisable that you bring along water and towel because it is quite a work-out! At the top, altophobics like me are most likely to stay near the railings. Nani on the other hand, the more adventurous one, had a jump shot at the edge of the viewing deck (without railings). Seeing him do that jump made my knees feel weak.
When as a child, I have seen the photos and descriptions of the chocolate hills in Bohol, and it fascinated me, thinking that "Are they really made up of chocolates?" Seeing the hills in person makes me think that I have checked one part of my bucket list.
After twenty minutes at Chocolate Hills, we went to the town of Sevilla where there are two long hanging bridges which we enjoyed crossing at a price of P10 per pax. On the other side of the bridge there are picknick grounds, sari sari stores and buko stores. We bought Buko for only P20 which is just perfect after we were dehydrated by the climb at the Chocolate Hills Complex. While enjoying our buko, we met a tourist named Perla-a balikbayan from New Jersey. She's touring Bohol alone but with the help of a motorbike she hired called a habal-habal. She's planning to see other tourist spots in the Philippines so I (of course) told her of the beauty of Batangas, the Heritage of Taal and the Mt. Malarayat of Lipa. Unfortunately, we were not able to exchange numbers so see you when I see you again Perla! Nice meeting you!
The next stop is the Tarsier Sanctuary. According to Kuya Arnold, the sanctuary was formerly a place where the illegal trade of tarsier is taking place. It was only when the government made the trade of tarsier illegal that the sanctuary was made and I still saw a sign (a tarpaulin) welcoming guests to the inauguration of the sanctuary which was dated July 22. There are no entrance fees here, just donations.
The tarsiers are so cute! I mean really really cute! Since they are nocturnal creatures, the ones we saw are sleeping while clinging to the tree branches. Either that they are overly-fed or lacking of exercise, the tarsiers are just so fluffy fat, which by the way adds to their cuteness (just like nani).
After the Tarsier Sanctuary, we headed to the Baclayon Church. One of the early churches here in the Philippines. Noted are the old stones used in its walls and perimeter fence, which tells me that this is by far the oldest church I had ever seen. The flooring and the windows though might have been redecorated during the 1920's with the black and white marbles along the isle, and the stained glass window which illuminated a colorful array of light beams inside the church. The best experience here however, which by the way is tradition which I recommend to be adapted by Lipa, is the time when a lady put on cloth to cover my exposed back, sleeves and legs. "May rules po kasi...", while she is pointing to a familiar poster describing the proper attire inside a church. The lady put on a violet (my favorite color) cloth around my shoulder and a floral print cloth around my waist. Am I being embarrased? No! The Japanese and Chinese tourist wearing shorts were also asked to have cloths cover them. Good thing, the lady is multi lingual!
After the Baclayon Church, we headed to the Sandugo Shrine where the Blood Compact between Datu Sikatuna and Miguel Lopez de Legazpi took place...Elementary History. Today, the youth might probably think that this act is a little "vampirish" considering the movie Twilight.
The last stop is the pasalubong center, where we bought a lot of peanut kisses. A sign at the entrance of the pasalubong center reads "Peanut Kisses at factory price". In packs of 12s, 16s and 20s, you might probably think that this is the best place to buy the cheapest peanut kisses for pasalubong, but, it is not really the case. After our tour and after Kuya Arnold, our driver, dropped us off at the Island City Mall, we got a little time to stroll around the area and we are just a little "nanghihinayang" to find out that the Peanut Kisses in there are much cheaper! About P7.50 each! And that's when you buy them individually. In packs, they fall much cheaper.
A little shopping at the mall's department store for our swimming wardrobe for tomorrow wraps up our one-day Bohol Countryside Tour.
