Bohol, the Tarsierville

June 4, 2010-- The much awaited Bohol hassle-free tour. After experiencing dismay from the aftermath of tardiness (see Bantayan story),we woke up sooner than the break of dawn, earlier than the early bird and quicker than I've imagined we could wake up after all that fatigue of the day before.

At exactly 4:15am we were up and ready to take a shower and get out of the hotel. As the cliche goes, we learned it the hard way, paid for it dearly and now ready for a brand new day.

As a refresher,(since, I've forgotten to log for about a week now, which is like gazillion years in cyber time) my trip to Cebu was made unorthodox by the way we traveled as tourists. I.e. we rode a padyak, a jitney, a tricycle, and a van for its fun, unconventionality and its affordability. But today we decided to go the easy, costly and well, slothful travel package.

For starters, a jitney station's distance from our hotel was walkable (Remember, how close Crowne Regency Plaza was? 4 blocks away? Yup, that's where we only had to get a jitney) . But as we descended the stairs of Westpoint Inn we decided, at the last minute, (or on the last step) to take a cab just because it was hassle-free and our minds were still fogged by looming sleepiness.

We reached Pier One not more than 15minutes tops. Oh, yes before I forget (since this is important to the whole travel story and I've told versions of this a tons of times in the real world), let me tell you the story of the Libre-balik tour we were not able to avail. Here goes, Ziel and I, on our first day of Cebu tour (June 2, 2010), tried booking seats for the 6am travel scheduled June 4 (the Libre balik story actually goes way back when we were looking for promos weeks before). However, due to the fact that we enjoyed ourselves too much in the massage room that day etcetera whilst the clock at Pier One strikes 5:30pm, when we finally arrived at around 5:45pm, a post from the booking window says "Libre-balik promo 5:30am to 5:30 pm ONLY!)". The time element can never be disregarded as nuisance.

The Libre-balik promo offers seats for early bookers who reserve seats one/two days or one/two/three week(s) ahead to get a ride back free. So it was a 400peso round trip while your 400 pesos on a regular fare can only bring you to Bohol but not back. If you could only fathom our frustration. Nonetheless, we still hoped for our promo (talk about stinginess).

Since the next day (June 3,2010) would be dedicated to Bantayan, my good friend Joe volunteered to check the promo for us just because she's pretty and she's my friend that way. (hahaha!). But the bad news, it actually was fully booked even (a) day(s) before. (I guess they only give limited slots to Libre-balik promo bookers). Turned out, even if we did reach Pier the day before, we still wouldn't be able to avail the promo. Yey for the fact that we didn't spend anymore time wasting well, time.

Back to present day (June 4, 2010). We ended up paying for the full round trip price. (We even thought of pretending to be students, hello 20% slash. Note we only thought about it but were too civilized to do it a.k.a we just thought about it after paying.)

The Oceanjet ferry scheduled at 6am had a slight delay (or maybe it was normal and I wanted everything done as per scheduled) and undocked the Pier One port at around 6:30am.

After around 2 hours, another comical going-about happened. Since many fora and websites estimated one and a half hour travel time and two hours have passed and the ferry didn't seem to have the slightest inkling of docking on any island, we had another wave of sudden anxiety. Talk about preemptive panic.

It was me who actually panicked for the most part. Looking at islands passed, if you were me and had no idea where Bohol is, I bet you'd feel the same anticipation.

Good news Paula! (I say to myself) we arrived in Bohol, yes Bohol for crying out loud and Kuya Francis was waving a short coupon bond with my name on it "PAULA JOAN GARCIA". We were pretty astounded (though we did not show it) that our travel tour involved a white airconditioned sedan. Now we are honestly revamping our definition of hassle-free tour (a.k.a original sin for diy travelers).

Okay so let us start the blog tour. Bohol is the tenth largest island of the Philippines, and lies in the middle of the Visayas.

The Bohol Strait (that has two hour travel time distance.) separates it from Cebu.

which pretty much backs up the :2-hour plus plus minutes" delay.

Here's a rundown of the places we've visited. Photo Captions describing each landmark extensively was taken from Bohol Countryside Tour website.

First stop: The Blood Compact Shrine

This commemorates the first treaty of friendship between the white and brown races. Spanish conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and local chieftain Rajah Sikatuna sealed the treaty by drinking wine mixed with blood, thus it was called the "Blood Compact" or "Sandugo."

Kuya Francis asked us to pose with the background of the Bohol Strait for people to enjoy the scenic beauty of the tranquil waters.

SECOND STOP: Baclayon Church

Built in the 16th century, shortly after the arrival of the Spaniards, Baclayon Church is one of the oldest stone churches in the Philippines. Religious relics and cultural artifacts can be seen in this historical landmark.

Cameras and camcorders are not allowed in the museum. So our eyes were feasted with history, sadly could not offer it to you. Tsk.

THIRD STOP: Chocolate Hills

Baclayon Church is 62 kilometers away from the Chocolate Hills and that made the aircon- condition of the car worthwhile. It took about 45 minutes for us to reach our destination and then another 15 minutes to climb the flight of stairs to the top of one of the hills. As it turned out, it was the commercial view deck for the half-open chocolate coated hills sight-seeing.

On the top of the viewing deck there're the overpriced photographers who make you jump or make hearts with your hands that'll create the illusion of pretty photographs of you in the renowned Bohol Chocolate hills. But that delusion is overrated, the hills are beautiful by themselves. (Call me purist, well not really, call me pragmatic then you're onto something.)

The world-famous Chocolate Hills is a must-see when visiting Bohol. Thousands of green and brown hillocks dot the landscape as far as the eyes can see, truly a natural wonder that can only be seen in Bohol.

It was a good thing I decided to wear colorful stuff that day, look how well I stood out. HAHAHA.

I was trying to take a photo of the butterfly and ended up taking a photo of another composition which I was kinda pretty don't ya think. Not artsy fartsy enough but pretty.

Here's the wishing well and bell on top of a chocolate hill. Drop a quarter, make a wish and ring the bell."I wish I could travel forever." the woman said.

I don't really know the name of the Virgin Mary here but well I don't know so just look at the photo. Located at the side of the aforementioned Chocolate hill slash view deck.

You're visit to Bohol is not complete without a complementary tarsier photo so as a precautionary measure we took a photo of ourselves just to be sure. Pausier.

And TarZiel.

Right after our Chocolate Hills tour we went down the beautiful pavilion for pretty little things called, the Butterfly Conservation Center, where one may witness the preciousness of God-given nature. Though, I'm fond of looking, please people stop letting me hold on to so many insects even if their the cutest things you've seen.

FOURTH STOP: Butterfly Garden

Home to hundreds of preserved and live butterflies, the Butterfly Conservation Center gives you a glimpse of the country's diverse butterfly and moth species. You'll find it amazing that our elementary lessons had so many flaws (Philippine education...sometimes...tsktsk)

These are hermaphrodite butterflies. It was said that there's only one in a million of its kind. In order to decipher a hermaphrodite butterfly from the rest, one wing must be smaller than the other.

Butterflies have this thing that they use for nectars. I was just half listening since I was so worried about the many many insects in the pavilion. Zo zorryyy.

Here are the butterflies before they are trapped in a chrysalis which I think is the politically correct term for them. They're not those itchy fur-coated whatever they are insects that make me cringe even just by looking at them in theory.

I was so scared it obviously shows.

Look at the butterfly earamajig. Gah, it tickles me fancy.

FIFTH STOP: Bilar Rainforest

Before the downpour of rain in the man-made rain forest (how appropriate rain by the rain forest), we got a chance to do poses. And be wood nymphs for a while. The Bilar Rainforest is passed by along your way to the Hills provided you are using the normal route for cars,vans and buses.

In Bilar town, you can find the famous Man-made Forest. As the name implies, the forest is man-made as its trees are planted by the locals. But rest-assured, the pink nymph was implanted but God-gifted. Yes I am. Supreme Being Lawyered.Even Kuya Francis had a hard time keeping up with our vanity as we asked him to take our, "looking for the right direction" pose.

SIXTH STOP: The Hanging Bridge

Feel the adrenalin rush on the Sevilla Hanging Bridge! We dare you to cross this bamboo bridge suspended over a river and feel the adventure.

Truth be told, adrenaline of falling off had a low fill-up point but I felt a tad irritated and alarmed with adrenaline surge of slapping those kids on the head who were yugyuging (? can't find a better word, fill it in for me please) the friggin' hanging bridge that kept me off my travel mantra.Ziel, who had the decency to keep her cool. hmph. Lovin' the pose on you BTW.

SEVENTH STOP: Loboc River

Now we arrive at Loboc River banks for lunch!Yes, lunch that we had to wait for 30minutes to arrive. And now I know the rondalla band was there for a reason. To bring out the best (or worst) of every exhibitionist within the perimeter.

The Rondalla Give Love Lolos where amazing :)

This guy was the exhibitionist I was talking about. One thing for sure, whenever you become a foreigner in one place, you tend to loosen up, break boundaries and show the dimples on your butt cheeks to the tune of the Rondalla players' "Lets' get loud". Rest-assured, his public display of talent and a bit of (in)decency earned the players more money and a lot less bore as he made the long 30-minute wait more bearable. Thank you Lord for crazy foreigners who look a lot like a Bohemian Adam Sandler.Be mystified and captivated by the enchanting Loboc River Cruise. Take a ride on one of the floating restaurants and treat yourself to an afternoon of relaxation and enjoyment, along with a sumptuous lunch and traditional local music.

This was a Chinese gay I loved to talk to but unfortunately had no opportunity to do so I went all out paparazzo and had his not-so-flattering pose. Sorry Chinese person.

Here's this kid having THE time of his life. It's his best portrayal of Livin La Vi Da Loca. Beat that Dancing Adam Sandler.

EIGHTH STOP: Tarsier

The tarsier is widely considered as the world's smallest primate and is also deemed as an endangered species. With its large eyes, the tarsier hunts small insects for food and climbs from tree to tree. The tarsier can be viewed in a small hut on the side of the road from Sevilla Hanging Bridge. For those people like me who expected forest hikes in search for tarsiers you've been wronged. But worry not my friends, these little cuddly snobs with smiling lips as default face are worth the minus-hiking thrill.

Kismet. Wee! My tarsier photo! <3>

NINTH STOP: Prony, the largest python

Last stop, Prony The largest python in captivity can be found in Alburquerque, Bohol. Named Prony, this python is over 25 feet long and is fed one small pig a month. Imagine celebrating captivity. How ironic.

It is honestly a thrill-killer to use conventional airconditioned vehicles during nature tours. But Kuya Francis made the travel more of an adventure with his snippets, excerpts, own experiences, and of course, his easy switch lighter to bum out some time.

Who's the man? Mister Clean aka Kuya Francis.

Until we meet again Bohol. Bidding Adieu at the Tagbilaran Port.

- pau