Beautiful Bohol: Panglao Island, Chocolate Hills and more

One of my dream beach destination is Bohol. I heard a lot about the beauty of its beaches. And yeah, I can attest to that! The beach sand is literally white, and the water - blue. The historical province is as lovely as its white beaches. And the chocolate hills is a wonderful sight to see, it's as is with the pictures I saw in post cards. :)

My friends and I checked-in in Lost Horizon in Alona Beach, Panglao Island, it was a quick ride from Tagbilaran City. We arrived late in the afternoon, no more activities and tour to do when we arrived, so we opted to go walking by the beach.


Lost in Lost Horizon :)

The sight we saw from upon arrival in Panglao

The next morning, we were early and ready for our jam-packed day tour. The beach by the way is lovelier at this time of the day. Perfect time for contemplation and quiet time :)


Day 2: Early morning in Panglao

muni-muni time by the beach, before we head off to our tour.

First stop: the Blood Compact "Sandugo" site in Tagbilaran. The sandugo was sealed on 1565, wherein both Legazpi and Sikatuna dropped blood from their arms and mixed it with wine, which they both drank, up to the last drop. It was the First Treaty of Friendship (in our country's history) made by two different race and religion, based on respect and equality.


at the Blood Compact site.

The first treaty of friendship by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Rajah Sikatuna in 1565.

Next stop: Baclayon Church a well-preserved architecture that was declared a national historical treasure in 1995.  The church was made from coral stones cemented using egg white (I'm pretty sure, that's got to be millions of eggs used there) Built in 1717, it is considered to be one of the oldest churches in the country. They say that church has a dungeon that witnessed the cruelty experienced by the natives who violated the laws imposed by the Spaniards. Baclayon, by the way is the oldest municipality in Bohol. Also another interesting trivia, Bohol has a number of old churches, and most parish churches (pala) were located near the shoreline, for easy transporting of coral stones, which is the main material used for building the churches. Nice!

Inside Baclayon Church

Outside the church, you would notice an image appeared in one of the panels, they say it was Padre Pio. Who's Padre Pio, by the way? haha. I didn't get to know anything about him since we're running out of time for our next stop.

noticed the image on the pillar, locals said it was Padre Pio

The Loboc River cruise experience, is a must for Bohol trippers! The perfect time to go cruisin' is during lunch, were we enjoyed a delicious Filipino buffet with matching local "serenade-ers".


Our boat for the Loboc Cruise





Delicious Filipino Buffet Lunch while cruising :)

Children dancing at one of the stops of Loboc Cruise





Cruisin' me baby..haha

Next stop after the lovely Loboc cruise and the sumptuous lunch buffet, is the Philippine Tarsier and Wildlife Sanctuary. Home to the Philippine tarsier - one of the smallest primates in the world. It's a rare experience seeing such small creature, though I find them creepy..haha Some people were so fond of them, but for me, no :| I imagine, they're the type that has long fingers with very strong grip and won't let go of my hands that easily once they got a grip on me. Nevertheless, again it's a rare animal sight experience.



sleeping tarsier -.-

Tarsier - smallest primates in the country

Buying 'kalamay' in the Philippine Tarsier and Wildlife Sanctuary

Next stop to: The Man-made Forest in Bilar. Locals planted thousands of mahogany trees to prevent soil erosion. It is now one of the many tourist destination of the province

at the man-made forest of Bilar



To wrap up our day tour, we headed to Carmen for our last stop - the famous Chocolate Hills. Of course it's a must to see! What for we're in Bohol if we don't get to see this? The chocolate hills are grass-covered limestone domes that are almost identical in shape and height. The greeny hills will turn to a somewhat 'chocolatey' in color during the dry season. Thus the name!

at the Bohol Chocolate Hills Complex view deck

 

Day 3: Went Island Hopping, Snorkeling, Dolphin Watching, etc.

Our third day was spent mainly in Panglao, we're up early in the morning for some water activities. We met dolphins on our way to our first hop - Balicasag Island. The dolphins we're a little bit shy at that time, so we only got to see a short show from these known friendly sea creatures.

At Balicasag, we rented snorkeling gears including water shoes necessary for the many sharp corals along the way.

Balicasag Island



Ready to go snorkeling in Balicasag  :)

 

Next hop 20 minutes from Balicasag is: the Virgin Island. This is an uninhabited island with sand bar, where we walked approximately hundred meters away from the island. This long stretch of narrow bar disappears during high tide. :)

  



The island hopping tour which includes the dolphin watching costs around Php1500-2000.



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Bohol is absolutely a beautiful and rustic province filled with a rich history, colorful marine life and stunning natural and manmade landmarks. :)