Going to Bohol has always been a dream for me. I've attempted going there twice. The first one failed because the introvert in me canceled on my Japanese friend when I found out he was going with a couple of other friends, while the second one was canceled because of the pandemic.
I could finally go there yesterday with my bestie and her hubby. I almost canceled it because of my crazy personality, but my bestie didn't give up, and I thought it was a great chance to bond with her while they were still on vacation in the Philippines.
Radisson Blue Hotel in CEBU...
I met up with them at their hotel. It was also the pickup point for the travel tour driver they hired. Our ship was scheduled to leave Cebu at around 8:40 in the morning.
After boarding the OceanJet, it took us around 2 hours to reach our destination, Bohol Island. We opted for a day trip and visited only a few places before returning to Cebu. The weather was sometimes overcast and drizzly, but I saw it as great. It was better than going there when it's hot or heavily rainy.
Our first destination was BACLAYON CHURCH. It was founded in 1596 and is one of the oldest churches in Asia. I personally admire the ceilings of old churches. The paintings and the designs give off a solemn and mystical feeling.
This church also has a museum, but we couldn't go there since we had limited time. Next time when I visit Bohol, I'll go to more historical places and museums.
Our next stop was the Lemur and Butterfly Park, but we only checked out the butterfly sanctuary. They have several species of butterflies, some of which were endemic to Bohol. They also showed us some of the butterfly eggs, caterpillars, cocoons, and, of course, the adult butterflies. It was quite educational, so I enjoyed it a lot.
The staff there were also very kind and helpful. They even took photos for the guests and suggested ideas for better pictures. Here's one of mine.
In front of the Lemur and Butterfly Park is this one.
It represents the Sandugo or Blood Compact between Miguel Lopez de Legaspi (a Spanish explorer) and Datu Sikatuna (Bohol's chieftain). It was a ritual to seal the treaty of friendship between Spain and the Philippines.
This is not the original monument, but according to our guide, they made this so more visitors could easily see it. He also mentioned that the blood compact was done inside the ship, not on land. Although the ship was docked in Loay, Bohol. (It was good to know.)
Now, on to the next stop!
It was the Rio Verde Floating Resto!. It's one of the places where we can have lunch while traversing the Loboc River. The food was buffet style and was so delicious. However, the food was just a bonus because the experience and the view were magnificent!
There was also an area where we'd stop for 10 minutes and enjoy a short program. We could watch a performance there and enjoy other activities. After an hour, we'd go back to the dock, where another set of performers would welcome the visitors. There's also a souvenir shop with lots of interesting stuff, from shirts to magnets to stuffed toys and so on!
After filling our tummies with a sumptuous lunch and our eyes with the lovely river view, we headed to our next stop!
This place is easily one of my favorite places ever. It's the Bilar Man-made Forest. I love being surrounded by beautiful nature. It's so refreshing and stress-relieving. Just looking at the trees made me happy. Even driving along these trees was amazing enough.
According to our guide, it stretches around 2 kilometers, and these mahogany trees were planted around 50 years ago as a government project for reforestation. I hope that in the future, there will be more areas to do the same, so years later, there will be more places like this.
Next, we visited Bohol Tarsier Conservation Area.
Despite feeling happy to meet these tiny little primates, I feel sorry for disturbing them. They're nocturnal animals and are very sensitive. I remember our guide telling us how these little fellows are actually quite suicidal, especially when they're feeling stressed. And the huge amount of tourists visiting the area to see them is troubling. That's why I'm feeling quite guilty even though I enjoyed meeting them. T_T
This area also had a huge souvenir shop with lots of stuff to choose from, but there were many people, so the introverted me wanted to escape as soon as possible. XD
Now, on to our last stop! :)
It's the lovely and delicious-looking view of the Chocolate Hills from the Chocolate Hills Viewing Deck. Walking up more than 200 steps was worth it! The view from the top was so beautiful! I was speechless when I got to the top, not only because I was gasping for breath but also because of the mesmerizing view that was laid out in front of me.
I've learned that over a thousand hills are spread around the vast area. When we got there, the place was overcast, so the view from far away wasn't that clear, but I'm still grateful that it wasn't hot or rainy when we went up the viewing deck.
When you're feeling hungry or thirsty, there's a small shop on top of the deck where you can buy some snacks. Aside from the Chocolate Hills, you can also see some places for activities, such as ATVs, from the deck. Below the viewing deck are souvenir shops, a restaurant, and a place to book shuttle buses. I don't know much information about them since my bestie and her hubby booked a private tour in advance for our day trip.
Checking out the Chocolate Hills was our last stop. We drove back to the port for more than an hour, and it was raining heavily. Luckily, the weather calmed down when we were waiting to board our ship back to Cebu. We headed back to Cebu from Bohol at around 5:40 in the afternoon.
I had a fantastic time exploring several places in Bohol with my bestie and her hubby. I enjoyed third-wheeling! (I'll share more stories about it in my next blog)
We were back in Cebu at around 7:40 PM. I'm glad I decided to accept my bestie's invitation to go to Bohol. It was such an amazing experience that I will forever treasure... and surely, it won't be the last one!
Thanks for checking out this post! See you around! (^^,)/