Just next to the well known island of Cebu is the lesser known island of Bohol. In February, I did the see-it-in-a-day tour of the main sightseeing spots on the island. I didn’t see everything on the tour due to rain, but I got more out of the tour than most by inviting two locals to go along with me for the ride.
In February, 2007, I found myself for a week on Alona Beach on Panglao Island, just off the tip of Bohol Island in the Philippines. Although my intention was to get a week of work done in tropical comfort, I of course did the one day tour of the major spots on Bohol. While some of it smells of tourist trap, I would recommend it to anybody. And when you do make the trip, make sure you bring along some locals for the ride.
In my case, I had made friends with the staff at a local resort restaurant I ate at. On my third day I booked a taxi, and told the staff that I had two open seats for anybody who wanted to go. Cherryl and Annaliza both said yes, and so we planned to meet at 9AM at my resort the next morning. They arrived on time – Philippino time, that is – 20 minutes past 9AM. The taxi driver was cool about it, and we just spent the time chatting with the resort guards until the girls showed up.
The first stop on the tour was the Chocolate Hills. A group of closely packed peaks – 1268 to be exact – that are all that’s left of an uplifting of ancient coral reef deposits. They are called “chocolate” due to the brown hue they take during dry season. We climbed to the the top of the viewing sight, which is located at the highest peak in the area.
