Day 1
After my shift and without any sleep yet, I went to Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 all giddy and excited, Im on my first ever solo trip! ^_^ I thought that I was not good at planning trips, I didn't have to do it before, I relied on friends for itineraries and I just tell them the important stops I want to make, but this one is all new to me, I made all the plans and researched the places that I would go to and stay. One thing i failed to do was to make hotel reservations ahead of time which kind of worked to my advantage anyways so that I would be more immersed in the "backpacker" culture or atleast a part of it. :)
Arrived at Tagbilaran airport at around 10:00 AM, I asked the Airport Guard where the Tricycles are at and he pointed me to the direction where the Tryc (Tricycle) terminal was. I asked the tryc to bring me to Nisa Travellers Hotel and since I saw that there was an ad on his tryc that he does tours as well I asked how much for the COUNTRYSIDE TOUR, He was giving it to me for Php 1800 for the whole day and I haggled, after all its just me! :) We got settled with Php 1100, I had a feeling that it could still go down to Php 900 if I begged with tears.. (haha :P ) The guy I was talking to referred me to Kuya Victor my then tour guide. He was nice and really helpful all throughout the trip. His contact info is in the very first picture of this blog if you want to reach out to him for a tour. :)
First stop is at Nisa Travellers Hotel so that I could check in and drop off my bag. Remember I told you I didn't have any reservations, I had to wait a good 30 minutes for them to clean the room that I'd be staying in. I'm not complaining, they accept early check ins so yeah I LOVE NISA TRAVELLERS HOTEL! :) hehe nope aside from that this place is awesome its not a 5star hotel but it served its purpose to me. I'd make a separate review for the hotel. After that since its almost lunch time Kuya Victor told me that we'd visit the Blood Compact Shrine and Baclayon Church before heading to Loboc River Cruise and Floating Restaurant so that I could get lunch there. I was a bit hesitant to get lunch from there because I heard that its so overrated. I dunno bout' you but I enjoyed every bit of the Loboc River Cruise and floating restaurant.
Check out my Countryside tour below.
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| Roadtriiiiiip!My sweet ride for my Tagbilaran Countryside Tour |
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| Blood Compact Shrine |
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| The Sandugo was a blood compact, performed in the island of Bohol in the Philippines, between the Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna the chieftain of Bohol on March 16, 1565, to seal their friendship as part of the tribal tradition |
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| Baclayon Church this church is considered to be one of the oldest churches in the Philippines |
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| A beautiful church destroyed by an earthquake back in October 2013 |
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| Restoration in progress |
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| Loboc River Cruise and Floating Restaurant. |
Right now, its literally a River Cruise "and" a Floating restaurant. Its so bummer that you eat lunch at the Floating Restaurant then after your meal you transfer to another boat for the cruise. Oh What a joy it was if it was the same thing as before :(
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| Buffet style set up for Lunch |
The buffet in the Floating restaurants have different offerings I was not able to take a picture anymore so sharing here with you is my plate. They have different viands that consists of different vegetables, they had pork, chicken and seafood. I didn't notice any beef in the buffet. They have seaweeds which I liked best paired with the crabs and make your own salad from the vegetables available. For dessert they have fresh fruits.All for Php 450.00
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| River Cruise.. with me baby... <3 hehe |
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| Natives Performs for you at one of the stop during the cruise |
Even if I was alone in this trip and the guy singing in the cruise sang mostly love songs from the OPM genre to the oldies song, I didn't feel sad, in fact I enjoyed this part of the trip. Just chilling with music in the background and the river. I found myself singing with the people in the cruise and just having fun. I know its weird but I cant really explain it. I was happy. :)
Had I known earlier that this place is NOT AN OFFICIAL TARSIER SANCTUARY, I would've asked my guide to bring me to Tarsier Research and Development Center in Corella, Bohol also known as The Philippine Tarsier and Wildlife Sanctuary instead. I felt bad because knowing how fragile this little fellow is they should be well taken care of as there's not much of them left. Please help conserve these cute lil creatures and go to the official Tarsier Sanctuary where we know they are safely kept and taken care of.
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| ..and all along I thought they were tiny creatures :P |
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| Pardon the picture of the Tarsier my phone could not really get a good picture of this cute lil creature. |
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| Bilar Man-made Forest |
Bilar Man-made Forest is a 2km stretch of red and white Mahogany trees, located in the border of Loboc and the town of Bilar. This place is hard to miss, especially if you are heading for the Chocolate hills. You'd know that you are now entering the place because lush green trees would envelope the road and once you are inside this Man-made forest it would be a lot cooler inside. I love the temperature in this area.
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| Buwis-Buhay Shot! ^_^ |
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| Bohol's most famous tourist attraction |
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| Chocolate Hills |
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| It would've been a much more epic scenery if they were all brown <3 from someone who love chocolates ^_^ |
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| The viewing deck is still being restored because it was badly destroyed by an earthquake. Nonetheless the view still took my breath away. Figuratively speaking and Literally speaking. |
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| This is what I meant when I said the Chocolate Hills view "Literally" took my breath away upon reaching the peak and energy too! It was a long climb. So if you're someone who doesn't exercise regularly, this is your heads up! :) |
Just a tip before heading to this place make sure you got yourself a bottled water as you would need it. Im not kidding, its a really long climb. They sell water before you enter the place and also inside the place for Php 50.00 so if you want it cheaper buy one before you go here. Luckily I got a bottled water from my hotel which I stashed in my bag before leaving ^_^
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| Shiphaus |
Shiphaus is another attraction in Bohol, It is a uniquely shaped as a shipping vessel thus the name. It is said to be owned by Capt. Gaudencia Dumipias who came from Butuan and became a successful mariner. You can actually tour the inside of the Shiphaus but because I was running low on energy and I was tired from the trip, I had to pass.
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| Bohol Habitat Conservation Center |
Bohol Habitat Conservation Center previously known as Simply Butterflies Conservation Center is a Butterfly Sanctuary where butterflies are enclosed in a net structure free to feed on plants, play and breed. The place and the tour was short and sweet and a memorable one. I had Wendy for my guide and she was very entertaining all through out the tour. She was very proactive with taking my pictures and adding filters too! (I just had my Iphone during this trip) She can't believe that I was all alone in this trip. She was really bubbly and pretty to boot! I super enjoyed this trip here. Php 40.00 well spent! :)
The Bamboo Hanging Bridge is what they say a tourist trap. Its just 2 long stretch of bamboo bridge for Php 20.00 entrance fee, at the end there will be a souvenir shop and some photographer who would offer to take your picture. I had to pass on it since I have Kuya Victor as my official photographer/driver/tourist guide for this trip. Its a bit scary to cross the bridge because it moves with every step you make and also if there are other people on the bridge too, All along I thought that this wasn't sturdy as I held on to the railings for my dear life carefully placing my feet so as not to step in any crack or open space. Then I found out that below the bamboos was a base made of metal so it was sturdy after all. Kuya Victor also told me that infamous "Buko King" lives in this area and sometimes would be seen stripping coconuts using just his teeth.
There were a few parts that I had to skip from the countryside tour:
- Largest Python in Captivity - Snakes. Nope. Ktnxbye.
- Danao Adventure Park (Zipline)
- Chocolate Hills ATV ride
- Firefly watching - which I totally regret not going to but I was really dead tired from all of the day's adventure. (Aside from the beaches of Bohol, this is one of the reason why I'am coming back)
Check out my Instagram (ohhmygeeitsme) for more pictures.
This blog post is part of my Wandering through Bohol article. Check it out by clicking on the title link.
Thanks so much! ^_^
IG: ohhmygeeitsme
Facebook: /OhMyGeeItsMe
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