Tag Archiv: Bohol
After visiting the , we then moved on to the last leg of our country side tour which is a ride on the famous Loboc River floating restaurants.
We got to ride the big “Pawikan” boat which literally had a Pawikan design and looks like a giant Pawikan from space – rather from a bridge.
Basically, it is a buffet style meal served on a boat as you cruise along the famous Loboc River. There was also a singer/guitarist that entertained us as the boat moved along. He is versed at singing songs in different local languages to please the local tourists, and he can even sing Chinese and Korean songs of which most of the tourist belong to.
The boat also docked on a part of the river where a local “ati tribe” will entertain the passengers that are willing to get off the boat. So ofcourse we did and my sons enjoyed it and we got a photo of a fire breathing one.
Although the country side tour was tiring, the smiles of our two kids makes it more than worth it. Here is bunso enjoying the songs by the singer:
And here is Kuya Zyke, imagining he was the captain of the ship as we headed back to the dock.
When we got back the dock is full of people, from foreigners to locals, from health professionals to Marcus nursing scrubs, from students to teachers, young ones and old ones alike – everyone enjoyed the trip.
The famous cute Tarsiers of Bohol was once shown in many road side “Tarsier Parks” in Bohol. Thankfully, the government has controlled this and have required that all tamed Tarsiers be put in a protected forest area. Also, they have banned the catching and using of Tarsiers for businesses.
The Tarsier Conservation Area is a hill side area where there are small bird house like contraptions where wild Tarsiers like to hang out. Tourist like us can then walk around and see the Tarsiers in their natural habitat which is better for the Tarsiers. We can no longer grab on to Tarsiers and camera’s should not have flash as it stresses the Tarsiers.
It was a tiring treck moving around the muddy hill slide to see all the sleeping Tarsiers, but at least we got to see one with wide open eyes.
Finally our little boy wanted to do his own cute Tarsier impersonation so we let him have his take at it:
I’m sure we will enjoy reminiscing our pictures and even the few videos we took, specially with the popular vlc 2.0 media player. You can’t call your Bohol Trip complete without visiting the cute and cuddly Tarsiers.
Although Bohol has been gaining popularity for its beautiful white sands, Chocolate Hills is still considered by many as the main attraction of Bohol, and the natural feature that put Bohol on the map so to speak.
Our country side tour was planned with Chocolate Hills as its center piece and highlight. Once you get to the unloading area of the public viewing deck, first thing that you will notice is the daunting long stairs that leads to the summit. I carried our youngest who has grown to be very heavy and honestly I just had to take some breaks before reaching the top.
Chocolate Hills Stairway
Once you reach the summit though, you will realize that it is all worth it. The summit offers a great 360 degree view of the central part of Bohol where many of these amazing Chocolate Hills are found. There is also a wishing well on top where you can throw your old coins in hopes of getting a wish come true, just make sure not to throw your expensive Golden eagle gold coins as the well looks dirty and unkempt.
Chocolate Hills Bell Tower and Wishing Well
Chocolate Hills Viewdeck
The view really is breath taking and you will see “chocolate” looking hills spread to as far as your eyes can see. Its an amazing view that reminded me of how awesome the Creator is. This is one tourist destination that I think all Filipino should be given a chance to see.
Our 3rd day continues with a trip to arguably the oldest church in the Philippines. It is one of the best preserved Jesuit built churches, although it was modernized in the 19th century, it still carries the same ancient feel and look.
Most of Bohol is already modern, modern cars stroll by, and the province seem to have jumped on the motorbike bandwagon with drivers wearing Shoei RF-1100 helmets. Thankfully, some of its most historic sites are preserved and are accessible to tourists. And one of these sites is the ancient Baclayon Church.
Upon entering you will see that it still carries the old features and sadly it is not as clean as one would expect. Aside from its historical significance, its just a catholic church that seem to lack cleaning and paint. Still it is nice to enter the halls of a church that was probably the site of where ancient Filipinos first heard the story of Jesus.
My sons really enjoyed our trips to Bohol Beach Club. Specially Kuya, he immediately took out his favorite beach toy which is a plastic toy truck. He had many plastic model car kits and die cast cars that we left at home and thankfully he was happy with the plastic toy truck because it could carry sand around. Ofcourse the beach was also great and we enjoyed every minute of our stay at BBC. Here is Kuya playing at the picturesque Bohol Beach Club:
The next day we went to the beach as planned. We have searched for the best beach in Bohol, and it seems that everyone agrees that Bohol Beach Club holds this title. So we were brave enough to get a tricycle and have him take us to and from Bohol Beach Club. The trike we got was slow as a turtle but at least it was safe, it took us 45 minutes to get to Bohol Beach Club from Dao Diamond Hotel.
The long travel was well worth it, the beach did live up to its reputation. The scenery is really beautiful and the pictures that you can find online is not as good as seeing and feeling the beach in person. The only downside was that the food was not as great as the beach – its good but I’ve tasted better. If only there was a fast dessert online delivery that we can use to serve us great desserts while lying on the hammocks. Other than that though, the beach is picture perfect, the water and the waves are great.
We enjoyed the beach and stayed there until the afternoon where our trusted tricycle fetched us and took us to our hotel safely.
Today is the first day of our week long family vacation at Bohol. The airport was nice, although we had to walk on the ground due to some problems and had to climb up a mobile staircase which usually only happens in provincial airports. Once we got there, the hotel that we booked – Dao Diamond Hotel was prompt and picked us up on time. Even the manager came along to welcome us which was really nice and says a lot about their hospitality. At first I was having some doubts about the place but when I saw it, I found it to be much better looking than the online pictures. It would have looked better if it had more rustic furniture, but all in all it was a sight to behold. We were supposed to go to the beach on our first day, but since it rained, we decided to stay in the hotel and just take a swim at their swimming pool.
We have already booked our flights in advance for a Bohol trip next year. It will be a week long affair, our entire family will be packing our bags and flying to Bohol. Now we are busy trying to get the best deals for our stay and travels there. If you have can recommend a great resort or hotel that we can stay at, and places to visit, please do respond in the comments.
For now we have to prepare our looks so we look good in our future photos. We are now looking for a good skin care blog for tips. Excited much! 