Work. Save. Travel. Enjoy. Repeat.
Tagbilaran, Bohol
Central Visayas, Region VII
Philippines
18 - 22 July 2015
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Man-made Forest
It's on the shirt-- THE SHIRT. 😆
DAY ONE - MNL TO TAG (18 July)
We chose the earliest flight out at around 5am and arrived at Tagbilaran airport at around 7am. Air Asia rarely gets delayed in the morning, so it's best that you keep to your time rather than risk it and pay more.
Good Morning, Bohol! :D
From the airport, we've already pre-arranged a day-tour with a friend of a friend who owns a car rental service. The driver will serve as our tour guide/driver for a fee of 3,500 inclusive of gas but not of entrance fees. So, doing a quick math:
3,500 ÷ 4 = 875 PHP/head
That's not bad at all to start with. However, if you want something cheaper, you can actually plan a DIY though I will advise against it especially if you're pressed with time. It would be okay to do a DIY if you are going to spend overnight in Bohol but if you aren't then I guess your options will be limited.
The places we visited were:
(1) The Blood Compact Site - This is also where we bought souvenirs in Bohol so we wouldn't have to worry about it post the day tour.
It's a tourist site so expect it to be crowded.
(2) The old Baclayon Church - This church was decimated during the earthquake, but steps are being taken to rebuild it while ensuring that the ancient parts of it will, more or less, still be visible. Unfortunately, we weren't able to enter the main church because it was closed. We went to the museum instead. You're not allowed to take pictures inside; and entrance fee is 50 PHP/head.
Before the Earthquake After the Earthquake :(
July 2016, The Museum
And, uh... oh yeah, these are available for sale too:
Bags full of NOPE. 😰
(3) Exotic Animal Park (AKA the Python Sanctuary) - Entrance fee is 20 PHP/head. Since Prony the Python had been dead since 2013 (RIP), we were introduced to other pythons that probably weren't up to match with the legend's gargantuan size, but were still HUGE nonetheless. The care-takers were all encouraging us to enter the pen, but NOPE. I am not a fan of reptiles, most especially snakes of any kinds! Particularly BIG ones! Geez. Just thinking about it is making my skin crawl. 😰
Nope nope nope. >.<
The bravest one of all.. 😬
And no, that's not the biggest in the pen.
Aside for pythons, there were also birds and monkeys abound. The reptiles were just the main attraction, I suppose. Then again, if you go around Bohol, you'll notice that there are a LOT of python sanctuaries. When I asked our tour-guide/driver about it, he simply told me that people in Bohol are just generally fond of pythons.
As for me? I simply fail to see WHY.
(4) Loboc River Cruise - They offer buffet for lunch and some sort of local entertainment. It's nothing really special, but you'll be really in it for the experience. Hahaha. Fee is 450 PHP/head, buffet with unlimited iced tea but if you want water, you'll have to buy a bottle for 25 PHP.
Buffet! 😁
(5) Tarsier Conservation - As the name suggests, this is home to the tiny little monkey-like creatures with big eyes. Entrance fee is 50 PHP/head.
Spotted: as of our visit, holding the tarsiers aren't allowed anymore
Entrance fee? None. Just keep the place clean. ^_^
This was actually my favorite part of the trip. :)
Upon entering, you'll immediately notice the climate difference between
urbanized locations and places like this.
(7) Butterfly Sanctuary - Nothing but butterflies and other insects. :) Entrance Fee is 50 PHP/head, and a tip for the funny tour guide who took our pictures. 😅
(8) Chocolate Hills - It's not really chocolatey when we visited because it was already way past summer. Still, it's something to behold; especially, if you think about the times in elementary school when you just see pictures of it in books. Word of warning: you would have to climb up-hill to have an awesome panoramic view. You also have the option of doing an ATV ride to go near the hills, but since we were pressed for time, we decided not to (and it turned out to be the right decision).
Fees to pay: 50 PHP/head; for the ATV, if I remember correctly, our driver quoted us a rate of 500 PHP/hour but I've read somewhere that they were charging 750 PHP/hour.
We finished at around 4:30pm and drove all the way to Tagbilaran Port to buy our boat tickets. The original plan was not to stay overnight in Bohol, and catch a late afternoon boat ride to Argao, Cebu via Loon Port. Unfortunately, Loon Port was still under construction from the recent earthquake that devastated the area, so we had to travel from Tagbilaran Port to Cebu Port instead. From there, our friend would pick us up with a rented car which we would use to head down south to Argao (and for the rest of the tour as well)
When we reached the port, we were told by a bystander to take the Oceanjet boat because they have hourly service to Cebu Port. So, we did.
For more details on Oceanjet boat schedules and fees, click HERE.
I think we paid around 400 PHP/head on that boat-ride (open air/tourist class), plus terminal fees for 20 PHP/head. If you ask me though, I'd rather go for business class because it's air-conditioned! 😬 After that, we waited for boarding time (kind of like what you do in airports as well), and then boarded the boat when called.
After two hours, we finally reached Cebu Port.
It was around 6:30pm-ish, I guess? :)
Our friend picked us up at the port and we spent another 2 hours on the road, heading down-south to Argao. We didn't rent any place. Her family was just kind enough to accommodate us in her home for the entire duration of our vacation, so our budget that was supposed to go for hotels was used instead to rent a car that would make our lives easier. 😁
We reached Argao at around 9-10pm; had dinner, and then slept to start the next day early to head further down south to OSLOB.
We are going to watch 'em whale sharks! 😆
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Up Next on Vacation 2016 Series: BOHOL-CEBU (Part II)
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