Bowled Over BOHOL

Map of Bohol Tarsier with a baby. Can you see? Chocolate Hills Loboc River Cruise Alona Beach at Sunset Baclayon Church Blood Compact Monument

Four days have passed and I'm still bowled over my vacation in Bohol. It will be one vacation I will always cherish. For one, it was my first plane ride trip with just my friends. Second, it was my first time in Visayas. Bohol is located south of this region and gazing at the vast horizons of Alona Beach in Panglao made me feel really close to Mindanao already. Most importantly, Bohol will always be a vacation to remember as it was a welcome break for me after a very, very long time. It was a splendid three days to free my mind of the perennial scares of life. Simply put, Bohol was a time to beach, relax, eat, sleep, beach again, sleep again, sleep some more, then beach again. I'm tanned with no regrets. I wanted to burn!

The Blood Compact Monument was our first stop in our day tour of the Tagbilaran City. This symbolic act of friendship between Sikatuna (native) and Legazpi (Spanish) happened long time ago when AIDS was yet unthinkable. The monument offered a serene view of a river in the background.

I was never fond of History classes in school and it never failed to reflect in my grades. Memorizing numerous dates, events and names was a bore. That's why historical trips can be more fascinating for me because history unfolds and becomes alive right before my eyes. And this is exactly how I felt when we went to see the Baclayon Church, the Chocolate Hills and the tarsiers next. Wow Philippines na talaga!

The Baclayon Church (Church of the Immaculate Conception) is one of the oldest churches in the Philippines. It was built by the Jesuits and continued by the Augustinians. I marveled at the centuries-old walls mainly composed of crushed corals and egg whites, and the ancient floors made primarily out of molave wood. One thing I like in visiting churches for the first time is that I get to make a wish, and I did just that before leaving the said church =). I was trying to read more about Bohol after our trip and I learned that there are other historical churches we missed. Too bad. That would have mean more wishes to come true for me.

The view of the Chocolate Hills next really exceeded my expectations. What I imagined to be simply a land of a hundred or so earthly brownish outgrowths turned out to be a sea of 1,268 hills sprawled out magnificently! Our tour guide told us that our visit was very timely because the month of May is the perfect time when the hills turn really brown (thus the adapted name), and are easily viewable.

It was lunch time when we left the chocolate hills so we headed straight for the Loboc River Cruise. It was lunch buffet while cruising the river. The concept was pretty much the same as the floating restaurant in Bangkok, but this time around it was more of a nature-tripping cruise. Great view, lovely cruise with a solo guitarist-singer serenading the tourists, and really good food all capped this wonderful experience.

The tarsiers we saw are the ones in captivity only. I forgot why we didn't go to the tarsier sanctuary. Anyways, the tarsiers in captivity are said to be oversized creatures already because they are overfed. These animals live for over 13 years only as compared to the normal 25-years life span of the wild tarsiers. I found them really cute! Their eyes are bigger than their brains hehe. I was able to take a photo (see pic on the left) of one female tarsier with a newborn baby. Sorry for the flash of my camera. One of the caretakers said mothers who get distracted often have a tendency to get irritated and eat their young. Yuck!

Bohol will not be complete without a plunge in the beach! So the rest of our stay were water adventures! The Alona Kew Beach Resort became our home for two nights and three days. I haven't been to many beaches for comparison but I just loved Alona Beach! I loved the white powdery sand, the cool water and simply everything about it. I had my first try of snorkeling in Alona. Seeing all those colorful fishes under the sea abandoned me of all my fears of drowning while I relied on my life vest for dear life. Now I'm dying to do it again! And yes, the dolphin-watching activity was also very fun! Too bad, I wasn't able to get any photos of them. My futile attempts only captured their splashes in the sea. But heck, I saw many jumping and playful wild dolphins to last me a lifetime.

One thing I missed was the Hinagdanan Cave Adventure. I was really looking forward to this but we were discouraged by our tour guide to try it. Said it was very stinky, infested with bats, not well-kept anymore and very dangerous. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed Bohol. I enjoyed it so much that I really forgot for a great while there what life will be back in Manila. I did not miss anything back home. I even forgot for three days about badminton. It was absolutely a wonderful getaway!

Punta rin kayo sa Bohol!