Thank you mama squeak! Sa BQ Mall kami bumili ng pasalubong since malapit lang sa hotel at may 5% discount stub kami c/o hotel.
Dun na din kami bumili ng t-shirts.
We arrived on 4pm Monday & went first to Baclayon Church & Blood Compact Shrine. We rode a tricycle to go there, it was around 20 minutes away lang. Kaso closed na yung church at 5pm. Pabalik we rode a jeep (or a large multicab ba yun?) 8 pesos only and went to mass at St. Joseph Cathedral. On the second day there was not much time so we just went to church at St. Joseph Cathedral & went to Island City Mall.
After our seminar on Thursday we rented a car & went to Panglao Island. In fairness 3pm na kami umalis ng hotel pero nakapasyal pa kami. Malapit lang pala yung Panglao Island sa Tagbilaran hehe
We went to Dauis Church, we saw the chapel that they use for mass (since the church is under renovation) and it was nice, gandang wedding venue! Bought healing water there also. We also went to Bohol Bee Farm & ate ice cream there. Lol. Afterwards we went to Hinagdanan Cave & bought some souvenirs there. Then we went to Dumaluan Beach resort (P25 entrance) to take pics hindi na kami naligo since it started to rain na. So in a span of 2-3 hours we were able to go to these places! I didn't even think we could go somewhere pa considering our schedule. But since Bohol is traffic-free unlike Manila it's a place where an 1 hour is only 30 minutes away.
On our last day (our flight is 4pm) we rented a car again (c/o the driver on our Panglao tour) for the countryside tour. Checked out at hotel at 7am then went straight to Chocolate Hills. But since on the way na rin we went to Manmade Forest & Tarsier sanctuary there (60 entrance). That Tarsier sanctuary is different now since they are in their natural habitat which is good. There was a trail where you have to look for the tarsiers with the tour guides' help. I was quite sad to know that kaunti na lang ang tarsiers. I hope we as tourists continue to support their cause and hope they would be able to breed more tarsiers and protect the existing ones. I actually don't mind not taking selfies anymore since it's better for the tarsiers to not be disturbed & to live in their natural habitats. So kudos to Bohol & its government for their efforts in preserving these precious little beings..
So after that we went to Chocolate Hills at 9am (50 entrance). The sun is up, it was really hot but good since kitang kita mo yung hills. The viewdeck is quite higher & bigger than before. You could see an almost 360 view of the hills. May telescope na rin dun. Some parts are still under construction. I think mas maganda na puntahan ito sa morning. It's still beautiful as before.
Pero hindi ako sure if ganon pa rin karami yung hills like before or dahil natatakpan lang ng trees.
After that we went to Butterfly Farm then went to Loboc River for lunch. Loboc is actually my favorite part of the trip! I just can't miss this everytime I go to Bohol. The entrance fee is P450 inclusive of buffet lunch. The food is good, the mood is festive, the people & the music! I love their playlist as always. I was waiting for the song, "Take Me Home Country Road" and they sang it! Yes, I think this is my song for Bohol. I always hear that song here in Loboc and in the airport.. I dunno why haha. Ironically, I don't wanna go home & leave this place! I guess Boholanos love music that much they love playing music for the tourists.
As the cruise went by you can see some locals swimming & dancing & singing to folk songs & tourists get to dance with them as well. The river, the river! It was still clean & green when I saw it 6 years ago! And so when the cruise was about to end I just found myself dancing as well with the music as the cruise nears its end and the band plays "Beautiful Sunday (Friday)". Loboc River Cruise is really one of the best parts of my Bohol trip as always & a must for every tourist to experience.
Then after that we went back to Baclayon Church & since we can't go inside the church since it's still under renovation, we just prayed inside the adoration chapel there. It was so great to be able to come back to the church though sad at the same time to see the ruins. I saw lots of churches ruined by the earthquake and the Loboc Church was the most badly hurt when I saw it on our Loboc River trip.. But still happy for the Boholanos that they were able to stand up after that devastating earthquake.
After that we went back to hotel na & rode the shuttle to the airport. The Metrocentre Hotel where we went to is very near the airport, just about 10 minutes away. It's in the heart of Tagbilaran & near lots of establishments in the city. By the way I saw the location of the new airport being constructed in Panglao! It was huge! It's great to see they're having a new airport since Tagbilaran Airport is sooo crowded na with the increasing number of tourists everyday. The airport can't handle it anymore so I'm really looking forward to the new airport. It's near the beach so it's a great location. I heard it is 10 times bigger than Tagbilaran Airport which can accomodate only one plane at a time.
Bohol is so blessed, it has almost all kinds of tourist destinations you can think of. They have awesome nature (but they have mandmade forests as well!), white sand beaches, island hopping, cruises, adventures (zip lines, etc.), heritage like ancient churches (Baclayon, Loboc, Dauis etc), caves, Chocolate Hills & Tarsiers which you can only find here, they even have dolphins!
It was a great experience, considering we only have 1 1/2 days free time we were able to go to lots of places! I really love Bohol.. the people, the places & the good vibes I always feel when I am here. I will never get tired of going back to this place.
