bye humans and thanks for the fish!

ok. as much as i wanted to prolong my stay in bohol, i’m now back to my cluttered little house in the big city. it was a really relaxing experience, and i’ve never been to a local destination where nature preservation is strongly practiced. anyhoo, what’s a trip without picture souvenirs? :D here are a few details and travel tips if ever you decide to visit panglao.GOING THERE

before november kicks in, airlines would usually give out cheap travel packages to tourist destinations nationwide. normally, these tour packages would take up 3 days and 2 nights only, which sucks if you intend to relax and really absorb the local atmosphere. planned a 4day-3night stay. we chose to take the route going to cebu instead of going straight to tagbilaran because there are a lot of available flight schedules. tagbilaran has only two direct flights to manila daily, both before lunch.

when we reached mactan airport, we hired a taxi to take us to the sea port. if you’re going to travel on a weekday, expect a little traffic; travel time is 30-45 minutes. the traffic is not as horrible as manila’s, so don’t worry :) if you know where to get cheaper taxi fares outside the airport, do so. there are only two fastcrafts available in cebu city going to tagbilaran, which is weesam express and ocean jet. supercat has temporarily discontinued its cebu-tagbilaran route. oceanjet normally charges P500, but would match weesam’s P300 whenever they have the same schedule. there isn’t much difference between the two, except that ocean jet has wifi enabled terminals. fastcrafts will only take 1 and a half hour to reach tagbilaran, while slower ferries take around 4 hours.

the waters between cebu and bohol was as placid as a lake’s, you don’t have to worry about getting seasick. when we reached tagbilaran, our resort’s driver picked us up since we have pre-arranged this before coming. you can opt not to have them pick you up if you wish to take the scheduled jeepney ride going to panglao, which would only cost you P30 per head, or hire a driver recommended by the local tourism there. airconditioned transporation pickups would charge you P400 - P450 one way (to your resort); this is worth-it if you go in groups.

AT ALONA BEACH

the long stretch of white sandy beach of alona. the sea is normally still, much like a swimming pool, lapping gently at the shore.

**TRIVIA: this popular beach area in panglao, bohol was used to be called tuwala beach. back in the 1950s, fernando poe jr. and an actress named alona alegre made a movie here. so the story goes, the natives would usually say, “let’s go and see alona” or “let’s go to alona’s”. the name became part of their dailys that they decided to change it from tuwala to alona beach.

we stayed at alona kew.

the water in most of the resorts in panglao is salty; your shampoo, soap or facial wash may not lather that much. if your resort happens to have a pool, that water was probably transported from bohol because it’s already treated. the only resort that offers fresh bathing water is alona palm beach (i think this is the most posh resort along alona). the reason why panglao is not getting fresh water from bohol is because of the thick politics going on between the mayors of panglao and bohol.

there are other classy resorts in panglao, but they’re not necessarily in alona. some would be on the other side of panglao like the ananyana *drool*, or panglao island nature resort in dauis.

WHY SNAP N’ GO WHEN YOU CAN EXPLORE?

when you travel around bohol, it would help if you did your research first. your driver cum tourguide might skip some areas that are worth seeing. HAGGLE as much when looking for a car to rent. i won’t really suggest getting a tourguide because it’ll cost a lot. the drivers that come with the rented cars underwent tourism seminars so they’re as knowledgeable as the licensed guides. plus, you get to go around whichever part of bohol you want without an annoying guide to hurry you up for the next destination.

we went to see the dolphins at 5:30 in the morning. there were LOTS of them playing at the surface, some even pirouetted in midair. some would be really near your bangka because some groups were accustomed to being fed by divers. so each time they hear motorboats coming, they think about the free fish hehe. but i think the local government has recently prohibited the feeding to encourage the dolphins to hunt for their own food.

we proceeded to balicasag island to go snorkelling in the marine sanctuary. it’s good if you can bring crackers and bread so you can feed the jackfish at shallow water. the wall goes down directly to about 45 meters deep. if you want an exotic dive, try doljo beach or cabilao island. it is not, however, advisable for snorkelling. oh by the way, if you’re “lucky”, you may encounter hammerheads *heh*. interested? more info? click here.

my mom *heh* at first she chickened out when she was informed that it is a 35 meter sloping wall. but when i said it was gorgeous, she put on a crappy mask and went down to take a look.

the underwater ladder. down to 30 meters deep, then 45, then 80..

“please don’t touch me, i’m too soft for your touch!”

there are 4 tarsiers in this photo. tell me if you can spot the fourth one. XD

the sta. monica church, the only church with a bell-tower at the center. and if u noticed, there are no crosses. there is a bridge directly connecting the church from the convent. hmmm, i don’t know which to believe: the fat priest who had difficulty crossing to the other side, or the easy access to the nun’s? >:)

manmade mahogany forest planted by local university students to prevent erosion. it’s really pretty and serene there, better stop and take pictures :)

the loboc river cruise. the river is usually emerald green, but because of the rain, it’s coffeemate in my coffee! buffet food is not that good, you’re actually paying for the experience. the cruise is one hour, upstream and downstream.

see the aqua colored water area?

the bridge of anomaly. the philippine government stopped this japanese-funded bridge from being completed as soon as they discovered the jap’s hidden agenda. bars of gold underneath the foundation.

leaning belltower.

baclayon church. made from corals, eggwhites and limestone. not much to see in the museum.

loboc hanging bridge. it’s just there for the experience of crossing a bamboo bridge.

why do i get the feeling that we’re being surrounded by boobs?

RANDOM PHOTOS

the masseus from hell..

..and her wicked concoction *heh*

first dinner at an expensive turo-turo -_- P500 for a lapu-lapu? are you kidding???

a starfish, a swimming askal, a kaong plant and lowtide sunset.

buried pink ginger toes

just came back from the sea. my skin was starting to get really dry, itchy and BURNT. hehe, yes, i turned into a red lobster. (my tan’s really weird.. i don’t turn brown or bronzed. i turn indian red *heh*)

SOUVENIRS

the trinkets you’ll see here can be found in manila. there’s not that much variety, only abalone shells and stuff. buy a tarsier merchandise instead.

* * * * * * * *
so.. that’s all there is. i could go on blabbing about the trip, but i don’t want to bore you with the details hehe. thanks to gordon’s wow philippines, bohol’s tourism boomed. if you’re not the beach party type, maybe bohol is for you :) it also helps if you know a little bisaya, so you can haggle some more! hehehe!

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