Day 126: Bohol Island Tour

Island tour today! Started with another hotel breakfast (mango pancakes - yum!), then meeting the van at the tourist information office around the corner at 9am. It was a surprisingly full van - myself, a pair of Chinese women, a young hipster American guy, a semi-bogan Australian girl, an older English guy, a Spanish couple, and an Italian couple. We all piled into the van and headed off.

First stop was the python sanctuary which most people declined but I headed in - it was only 45 pesos which is like $1.20 AUD! The largest python in the Philippines apparently, which is perhaps noteworthy? It was a giant snake though! They had a few other ones which the workers kept trying to put around my neck but I kept declining - I'm sure they're very tame but I don't see why you'd want to put an animal perfectly designed for strangling around your neck. Asking for trouble IMHO.

Next stop was the Chocolate Hills; an area of central Bohol where there are hundreds of these large conical mounds. They're so named because in the dry season the vegetation dies off and the hills turn brown, making them look like Hershey's Kisses. It was the end of the rainy season though, so they were lush and green. They were an impressive sight, though perhaps smaller than I was expecting from photos. And they have the problem that once you scale the viewpoint, take a few photos, that's basically it. Hope it was worth an hour in the van :)

Next stop was the Tarsier sanctuary. Tarsiers are the world's smallest primate, roughly the size of a large mango. They're incredibly small, and have giant eyes (the same size as their brains!). Apparently they were the inspiration behind the design of ET for the movie. They're also entirely carnivorous, eating tree insects and sometimes bats, snakes and spiders as well. Very cute little animals, though depressing to find they're heavily endangered and difficult to photograph as well (small, hiding under leaves, not much light etc). Good stop though.

Penultimate stop for the day was the Loboc River, where we had a cruise for lunch with a buffet and some light entertainment from the locals. Thankfully it was non-karaoke singing and dancing, and it was on a dock so the boat didn't stick around long. Nice food, and it was good to have a long chat with some of the others in the group!

Final stop was Baclayon Church, the oldest in the Philippines. Or at least it was, it's currently in ruins following a devastating earthquake in 2013. Reconstruction work was happening though which was good, so hopefully they get it back up and running.

Finally after a long day of driving, we arrived back at Alona Beach around 3:30pm. A few of us who'd gotten on well (myself, the American guy, the English guy, and the Italian couple) agreed to meet up for dinner a bit later, since the American guy knew a good seafood place on the beach which was quite cheap.

I retreated to my room for an air conditioned rest followed by a swim. Evening rolled around and I headed into town to meet the others. Just as we met up, the American guy yelled out of his hostel window. It was the hostel's first birthday and they were throwing a party, complete with free food and drink, and we were all invited, so up we went! Had some very tasty suckling pig and a couple of other Filipino dishes, plus the requisite birthday cake. Didn't stay out late as most of us booked for a snorkelling tour tomorrow, leaving at 6am (!!). Early to bed, and still no alcohol for me.Read more