Day 2. We’ve had a full day on Bohol touring hte main island. So, first thing in the morning we hopped in our hired car, with our driver, Yano. He first took us to the Chocolate Hills which is about 1.5 hours away from Alona beach. On the way there, we drove through different barangays in which Dan seemed charmed by all the homes. We also drove through an extremely dense man-made forest containing mahogany trees. Before we knew it, we arrived at Chocolate Hills, which is probably the most significant natural tourist attraction (aside from the beaches).
There was a short hike up some stairs which gave us a great vantage point of the rolling hills. These hills are also featured on the 200 peso bill. The overlook was pretty crowded (as with most tourist attractions) and we had to shimmy our way to the edge to get a photo that looked like we weren’t sharing the hill with 100 other tourists.
Our next stop was a butterfly sanctuary, where our guide, Mark gave us a short educational tour. It was also hands on, because we were allowed to touch and hold the caterpillars as well as the butterflies. By the time we were done going through the sanctuary, it was lunch time, so our driver took us to a floating restaurant in Loboc, which is a pretty neat idea. You first load up on a large riverboat with about 50 other patrons, then the boat moves over to a nearby boat station, where the restaurant staff receives the fresh and newly cooked food for the buffet. Once that’s done, the live band starts playing and we take off down the river, enjoying the view, music and food. The boat also docked in an area that held a huge group of kids and adults, who serenaded us with traditional filipino song and demonstrated one of the dances, called the tinikling. It was a very cool way to spend your lunch and we think that it would be just as cool as a night cruise (which they do offer).
After lunch, we then went to a hanging bridge made mostly out of bamboo. I nervously crossed it and sometimes it felt like it would give at any moment. One of the locals was behind us and Dan jokingly asked if there were any crocodiles. The guy smiled back and returned the comment with, “No sir, just pirhannas”.
Our next stop was at a mini zoo which featured the small and gremlin-like monkey, called the Tarsier. I knew they were small, but didn’t quite expect them to be as small as they were. One would easily fit in the palm of hand, or my pocket. They looked very soft and cuddly, but we weren’t allowed to touch the animals. The only thing that took away from their cuteness were their bulging yellow eyes, which looked like that of an owl. Although they weren’t in a sanctuary, which we would have preferred, they were at least unconfined.
|
|
|
|
Our last stop was at the Baclayon Church, which is one of the oldest churches in Asia built entirely of coral stone. Inside the church was a neat contrast between the opulance of the altar and the distressed walls of the church. Unfortunately at this time, our camera batteries ran out, which was probably good timing anyways.
To end our full day, we are now sitting on the beach enjoying a drink (or two) and the sunset. Tomorrow will be our last full day here in Bohol and will likely be used to relax.