This has been a long awaited vacation. We book the flight last year via ticket promo sale online just like most of us ordinary peeps do. I've been looking forward for this trip and been counting days until March 11 came. Aside from the fact that I've never been to this beautiful provincial island in Central Visayas, I also wanted to see the white sand of Panglao, the majestic Chocolate Hills, the nocturnal Tarsier species and the floating restaurant of Loboc and many more.
The flight was 7 in the morning so after my adjusted shift from work since I worked graveyard, I booked a GrabCar to take me to the Airport (NAIA 4). We booked the plane ticket from AirAsia so the Airport was the old one which was okay with me. I've been to this Airport before when all the domestic flights were still located here and 5 years ago when I went to Boracay. I have to say, there's not much of a change though, it still looked the same aside from the Seattle's Best Cafe booth which was kinda new - but as long as it served its purpose then I'm good.
Despite of the vexation my Allergy Rhinitis brought, I was with the good company and everyone was smiling and happy and excited to take this vacation.
Besides, my partner and I, we haven't been in a vacation for awhile so this would be our first for 2017. Oh that was ME by the way with the glasses.
The plane took off and the moment we were airborne, I put on my sun-glasses and enjoyed watching the cloud formation since I was sitting beside the window. The weather was great so the view from the top was heaven on earth.
That was me by the way looking at the window before the plane took off. What was I thinking at that time? Well, I quoted Lestat deLioncourt as he ascended to the sky uttering these immortal lines:
"I walked for hours among
mortals in the narrow old streets of Heidelberg,
and of Lisbon, and of Madrid. I passed through Athens
and Cairo and Marrakesh. I walked on the shores of the
Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean and the Adriatic Sea.
What was I doing? What was I thinking? That the
old cliché was true- the world was mine."
Wasn't he amazing? This is my traveler's mantra every time I take a plane or go somewhere by land. I think he said these lines in the
Tale Of the Body Thief book. It's one of the best Anne Rice books by the way.
The plane left on time so we arrived at the Tagbilaran Airport earlier than expected. One of our companion had relatives from the province of Hagna so she asked her Aunt to fetch us. From the airport, we rented a Van to tour us around the famous tourist spots for P3000 which was actually cheap given that there were 5 of us. We divided the amount and we ended up paying 600 each which wasn't that bad.
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| My lame ass with Airport sign |
From the airport, we went straight to the tour and first stop was called the
Blood Compact.
It was also known as
Sandugo - It was a tribal tradition done by a Spanish explorer
Miguel
López de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna the chieftain of Bohol on March 16,
1565. A ritual to sealed their frienship according to the all knowing
Wikipedia.
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| Me and Bruno Mars |
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| The Gang |
Second stop is the amazing
Baclayon Church.
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| Trying to be cute |
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| Ancient Wooden Door |
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| Can I get an Amen? |
According to my friend Wiki, the Baclayon Church is actually called
La Purisima Concepcion de la Virgen Maria Parish Church that was founded by Jesuit Priests on 1596. Obviously it was during the Spanish Era. The church was so old that during the 7.3 earthquake on 2013, the building facade suffered a major devastation. Inside, the construction to rebuild the church was still on going but despite of the damage there, you could still marvel at how majestic it was. It also has a Museum on the 2nd floor show casing old scrolls and paraphernalia including priests gown and small altars.
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| The Majestic Altar |
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| The high ceiling latin writings |
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| Baroque Pulpit |
3rd stop was the
Wildlife Park.
This was the least of my favorite stop. I just wanted it to throw it out there that I hate snakes or anything that crawls. So seeing humongous serpent made my anxiety wild. But I thought about one of my characters name Gakud, he has four of these attached to his head.
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| Agfa Moment |
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| The biggest Snake I've seen EVAH! |
4th stop was the
Floating Restaurant of Loboc.
It was the most refreshing and relaxing part of the tour. We were already starving after all the picture taking we did and so going to the floating restaurant where they served a buffet lunch and a trip along the entire stretch of the Loboc river with an acoustic band playing novelty bisanyan songs was just perfect. I saw children on the site climbing the highest trees and jumping to the river, it was amazing! The boat ride while eating, the relaxing ambiance and the smile of the people around would take away all the burdens from your back.
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| Starving faces |
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| When Vanity Strikes |
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| Excuse my Beauty |
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| Tree of Life |
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| Scenic |
5th stop was the mystic
Man-made Forest.
Taking picture in the man made forest was very tricky and not to mention dangerous. You see it was in a highway and for you to be able to get that mystic perfect picture, you have to brave yourself and get in to the street while there is no vehicle from both sides. But hey, vanity won all the time. It looked like an enchanting place and I swore the Sang'gres were there hiding somewhere.
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| The road to Lireo |
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| Obligatory Selfie |
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| Staying at the side |
6th stop was to see our nocturnal friend the
Tarsier.
What did I expect? I thought Tarsier were bigger and lively like jumping from tree to tree like a small monkey but instead we were greeted by sleeping little creatures hiding behind leaves and tree branches. They were cute though but I wasn't sure how they doze off with tourists trying to wake them up.
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| The Fat Guy Outside |
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| Sleepy Head |
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| Wake Up! |
7th stop was the
Butterfly Farm.
As if I had stepped into the garden of Eden when we got to the Farm. Wow! I've never seen so much beautiful butterflies in my life. I was in the corner with mouth open in amazement. I suddenly wanted to belt out in a full on Mariah Carey song Butterfly. It was amazing to see how this beautiful species strive.
Last but not the least stop was the breath taking views of the
Chocolate Hills.
The old cliche' must be true and that you save the best for last. It was one of my favorite stopover in the tour. Finally I saw them but first we must climbed one of the hills to see the beauty up above and despite my lack of sleep, I summoned my inner most Glamazon and climbed relentlessly to reach to top. Was it worth it? It was worth my fuckin' kidney! It was beautiful up there and seeing the scenic hills everywhere was amazing. It was the best way to end the tour.
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| My mug |
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| You have to see it with your own eyes |
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| Trying to look adorable LOL |
After seeing the infamous Chocolate Hills, we decided that it was time to go home. Our host wanted us to spend the night in their place and so we did. We went to Hagna, it was a quaint little town with smiling friendly people. It was a long day and it was fun. This was our first day in Bohol. 2nd day, we went to the capital city of Tagbilaran and booked a room at Arabelle Suites then had dinner at
Chicken Ati-atihan along Maria Clara Street.
The next day, it was the Panglao day and I will talk about it in my next post. But if you want to see some videos of this trip, please check out my
YouTube Channel.
Xoxo
