Sights and Spices: Sights: Beautiful BOHOL

Bohol is considered one of the most beautiful places in the Philippines. After being here, i now understand why, everything is beautiful indeed.

Panglao Beach

There are two beaches which you can choose from: Panglao beach, a quiet and serene place where one can enjoy nature as it is and Alona Beach, a 'boracay' type of beach where bars and different restos lights up the night sky.


Panglao

Since we were not the 'nightlife' type, we decided to stay at Panglao. The beach was absolutely beautiful. Powdery white sand and crystal clear sea water. One of the advantages of staying at Panglao is the beach is not too crowded.

Bohol doesnt only boasts of its beautiful beaches, it also has a lot of sights to see. You can contact different tour services and they will take you around to see the whole island.

1st stop: The Blood Compact site. This site was made in honor of the Spaniard Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and the Filipino Rajah Soliman. As a sign of unity, they slit their wrist and mix their blood in a cup of wine where they equally drank from.

Blood Compact Site

2nd stop: Baclayon Church. One of the oldest church in the Philippines. Beside the church there's also a musuem which houses different statues and figurines of martyrs and saints.

Baclayon Church

Look at the stained wall behind, it forms a face, locals claim it resembles Jesus' face.

Baclayon Church's Altar

Baclayon Musuem

The Different Statues found in the Museum

3rd stop: Clarin Ancestral Home. The owner Don Aniceto Clarin was Bohol's governor before while his son Jose Clarin became a senator. The house was built around the 1800s and still stands til now.

Living Room

Bedroom

A very old China

4th stop: Loboc River Cruise. Float, cruise and dine on Loboc's calming and soothing river.

Loboc River Cruise

The food was not to my liking, so make sure to choose the right caterer/service before boarding the raft.

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Though the food was below par, the experience of seeing the river and the beautiful greeneries is still worth it.

During the cruise, the raft would stop by 'entertainment stations'.

5th stop: Man Made Mahogany Rainforest. A spectacular two kilometer stretch of mahogany trees and different kinds of vegetations. As we passed by this stretch, it suddenly became dark. As we stopped and look up, the sky was colored with green and brown. The air was colder and fresher. Amazing!

A two kilometer stretch of Greenery

Sky was covered with leaves and branches

The Rainforest

Let's paly Spot the Monkeys...

6th stop: Hanging Bridge is made up of bamboo poles. Cross if you dare.

Hanging Bridge

Bamboo poles

At the end of the bridge, fresh coconuts stands as rewards for those who crossed.

7th stop: The famed Chocolate Hills. I've seen this in pictures but stil nothing compares to seeing the actual thing. I had goosebumps when I saw the small little hills, I didn't expect to see so many of them. It was a spectacle to behold!

Too bad though cause it was raining and it was foggy.

Syoti is trying to make the Sun appear

8th stop: Prony the Phyton. Visit Prony and its famous companion, a funny quirky gay guy who tells Prony's story. Aside from Prony, the place also houses different varieties of birds.

Just look how big and scary that snake is. For a fee, you can go inside the cage and have your picture taken with Prony.

Prony

Different birds:

9th stop: Take a dip in the cool refreshing water of Hinagdanan Cave (stairway cave). You have to go down on a flight of stairs to see this wonderful enclosure. As you go down, you'll feel the sudden brush of coldness and hear the eerie sound of water droplets dripping. We had no plans of taking a dip inside but as soon as our feet got wet, we knew we absolutely had to plunge in.

Down we go

Inside the Cave

Fresh Water inside the Cave

10th stop: One thing Bohol is famous for are the cute creppy looking Tarsiers. It breaks my heart to see these captive creatures trapped inside an enclosure. But come to think of it, this is one way of preserving the soon to be extinct creature by creating an awareness among people.

From what I know Tarsiers are nocturnal animals so its not unusual to find a sleepy one.

But to my surprise there were also the wide awake, wide eyed ones.

"Don't worry little one...I won't eat you..."

With the permission and help of the handlers you can actually hold and pet these adorable creatures. You can also have a picture taken with them, just make sure you leave a donation.

Cute Kid playing with the Tarsiers

After exploring Bohol the whole day, we decided to visit Alona Beach and dine at Hayahay's Pizza. The pizza tasted ok, nothing extraordinary.

Four flavors of Pizza

The next morning we were scheduled to go on a sea voyage.

At 5:30 in the morning the current was strong. As the bangka sails and jumps around to collide with the violent seas head on, water splashes at you. The wind was biting cold and the weather is chilly. You start to wish your back at shore sleeping on the comforts of your warm bed. The seconds turns into long agonizing cold minutes.

Then suddenly the roaring engine of the bangka whispers, it halts as you scan around and see other bangkas at view. Current is getting stronger then suddenly you'll hear the bangkero (boatman) scream "Ayun oh! (There it is!)". Two dolphins just pass your sight. Now its gets exciting, it feels like you're a predator patiently waiting for your prey to pop out of view.

Then out of nowhere 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 dolphins comes into view. The bangka's engine roars as you're pushed back and the chase is on. The other predators also saw them and its a full blown chase just to get a closer view of these wonderful adorable creatures of the sea.

After seeing the lovely dolphins, we were taken to Balicasag Island. A remote island that stretches long and wide.

The eagles has landed

"Haaii yahhh"

One hand hand-stand.

To complete our sea voyage, we went snorkeling at Bohol's Marine Sanctuary. The sanctuary was the most beautiful snorkeling site I've been to by far. The abundance and varities of underwater life are incredible. To those who doesnt want to get their feet wet, one can even choose to stay on the bangka and admire the different kinds of fishes from above.

One of the notable places to visit is Bohol Beach Club. Located in Panglao beach, this resort boasts of its chic landscape and villas. For a fee of 350php which is consumable, you can roam around the grounds, take a dip in the pool and eat at the restaurant.