Thursday, March 27, 2008

Exploring the Beauty of Bohol

My friend third (Dodong) has invited me to have a vacation in his hometown at Calape, Bohol. Without hesitation, we set our flight booking bound to Bohol. The time of our scheduled flight is 8:00am and we arrived at the airport 7am. The travel time is approximately 1hr and 15mins from Manila to Tagbilaran. We were fetched by his aunt (tita Lydia and his family) and stayed at their house and alternately with his other aunt (tita Alma) at Liboron.

I joined in their traditional station of the cross at Sohoton ( a mountainous baranggay at Calape) were thousands of devotees crossed a "sapa' (brook) and seriously trekking withstanding the heat of the sun to reach the top. I also experienced riding a habal habal, one of their means of transportation (riding in a motorcycle with 2-4 passengers). I also got to taste the mouth watering shrimp-like or more of a small lobster called "Takla" (crayfish) so yummy and delicious and the original famous pasalubong of Bohol "Peanut Kisses" (peanut and egg white cookies).

We start our tour proper at Sabayan Peak, to view the most popular, signature attraction of Bohol which is the Chocolate Hills ( a numerous mound of limestone formation). This can be viewed better at Municipality of Carmen where you can have a panoramic view. It is colored green starting to get brown in some, but during full dry season it will turn out brown. Our next destination is Loboc and we got to see and passed by the man-made forest. In Loboc there's a mini sanctuary for monkeys, bat and tarsiers. Tarsiers are so cute, it has large eyes and clings on branches. They are indigenous to this island. But if you want to see lot of tarsier you can visit the Municipality of Corella. We havent tried the floating restaurant at Loboc River because the station is too far so we decided to rent a boat instead, to experience viewing the river and see the Busay Falls. After this we proceeded to Albur Sanctuary were Marimar and Prony is the main attraction. Prony is a female python, the anaconda of Bohol which is one of the largest python captivity and has been featured in television by Jessica Soho and Korina Sanchez. Aside from the python, there are a couple of small snakes, crows, myna birds and flying lemurs hanging upside down in a cage.The following day is a schedule for our swimming bound to Panglao Beach. Got to see and collect so many starfish and we form our names out of it. Play in the water throwing the fine and white sand of the beach. Enjoy riding in a Kayak late in the afternoon and check out the nearby private beaches. Truly Panglao is a home of finest beaches.

The next day, we went to Cebu about 2hours from Tubigon pier. Our first stop is at Magellan's Cross then check out the famous Sutokil to have lunch but since it is quite far from downtown (Lapu-Lapu) and there's a heavy traffic we just take a lunch in a nearby place who offer Sutokil. After lunch, we visit the Taoist temple. We proceeded at the Market place to buy dried fish (danggit) and dried pusit. Dropped by at shamrock to buy Otap, mamon tostado etc.

Though it was just a semi-round visit at Bohol, I really enjoy my stay here and I have a great time. People here are soft spoken, kind and friendly. Thanks to Tita Lydia, Tita Alma, Kuya Emong, Ate Grace, Rudy, Mel and Rommel for the hospitality, free food, accomodations and for the transport from the tour and all the way to airport. Thanks to my friend for bringing me here. Hopefully, I can go back again to explore other areas here in Bohol like the caves (eco-adventure), river treking and rappelling at Danao's , dolphin and whale watching, Panglao's finest beaches such as Bohol Beach Club, Alona, Balicasag Island Dive resort , structure of old churches etc. There'll be no second thought to revisit this place and recommend Bohol, a treasure island of natural wonders. So what are you waiting for? Come and see for yourself and be amazed and captivated with the beauty of Bohol, a pleasure at its best.....