The Bohol Countryside Tour Experience

Last October 2012, I and my friend, Alyssa, met in Cebu and went to Bohol. It was my second time in Bohol, first was when I was still 6 years old. My father's side came from Bohol and we have many relatives there. Unfortunately I had no time to meet with them the last time I went there because I was with a tour group. It was a cheap tour but very very satisfactory.

From our hotel in Cebu, Alyssa and I rode a taxi going to the pier.

From the pier, we rode a fast craft, basically a fast boat, going to Cebu for 2 hours.

Upon arrival at the Tagbilaran port, we were welcomed with our tour guide. She gave us initial souvenirs and helped us towards out bus.

Our first stop was the Loboc River where we had a river cruise in a boat where we had a buffet lunch of Bohol's delicacies. The coconut juice was just so refreshing. There was also a native band who played with us at the boat throughout the cruise.

From Loboc, we passed through many ancestral houses going to the Chocolate Hills. They literally looked liked chocolate kisses. The looked beautiful that I did not care much about taking pictures but just looking at the view as it mesmerized me.

After our tiring Chocolate Hills view-watching, we went to Butterfly farm where we learned many facts and trivias about butterflies. The tour guide in the farm was so funny. We had great time. I'm sure he got plenty of tips from those foreign tourists. We also ate their home-made ice cream which tastes deliciously great! I had their ube flavour ice cream since ube is Bohol's native product.

From the butterfly farm, we went to the Tarsiers. Bohol is popular for the chocolate hills and the tarsiers. Our tour guide gave us guidelines to observe while on the tarsier area. I found out that tarsiers are very noise and light sensitive. No flash from cameras are allowed since it could blind them. We also had to be silent and observe low tone of voices because it might cause deafness to the creatures. They weren't as cute as I thought they were; as a matter of fact, I think they look scary with those hands and very big eyes!

It was already 4pm when we arrived at the Baclayon Church. It is a popular church in Bohol since it was built during the Spanish time in the Philippines. It's very old and looking at it could really bring you back to the past. It still observes some of its traditional rules, so we had to wear a "sarong" over our legging and shorts. You are not allowed to go inside without proper attire. Bohol is really a conservative place.

After Baclayon, we went shopping for souvenirs. Alyssa, who is from Bataan and is currently studying medicine in Manila, bought plenty of Bohol's delicacies. I did not buy anything since I already tasted most of their delicacies whenever a friend or relatives goes to Bohol and returns to Butuan.

It was almost sunset when we arrived at our last stop: the Sanduguan shrine. The shrine was built to commemorate the blood compact done by a Spanish and a the datu of Bohol way back years ago. It started the friendship between Spaniards and Boholanos. We had a dark shot with our tour-mates at the shrine.

Our tour bus dropped us back at the Tagbilaran port by 6:30pm. We had to say goodbye to our tour guide and tour mates who became part of our lives for a day. We immediately went inside the port to wait for our fast craft going to Cebu. We were tired after the day, but we had a great time and it was one of the best experiences we had!


The tour was c/o Skip Trip Travel & Tours
Go to superferry's website to know more about the tour.