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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Bohol: Tracing a not-so-distant past

I gathered the bits and pieces of a not-so-distant past trips I had in Bohol. Men, that wasn't easy! These I believe are the common denominator of all travel bloggers; backlogs! Backlogs of stories meant to be shared at a point in time; preferably just right after the trip; but kept in memories until some were half-forgotten.

'twas an agonizing memory check on my part. But, my Bohol experience keeps hunting me up to this day.

My first trip in Bohol was a year ago; and one of the most treasured trip I had. My mom was with me! With her heart condition at that time; travelling far wasn't a good idea; but, she was overwhelming with enthusiasm that she would be able to to enjoy the trip as much as we would. And,she did. :)

My mom and I; both excited with our Bohol Trip
We took an hour and a half flight from Manila going to Tagbilaran. Since I was with my mom, flying would be a little expensive as she would only fly if it's Philippine Airlines. I dunno; but, she has this stigma that other airlines will never be as good as PAL. I hate to argue with her; thus, I abode like an obedient child. Well, she didn't know that we grabbed our tickets from a promo that PAL offered that time. I even mistakenly booked us going to Tacloban and not Tagbilaran that cost me more fortune than what I should have been spending. She didn't know all of these. She was too excited to be with me on this trip; for me to utter a single problem at all. By all means, this vacation should be perfect. That was all in my mind.

We were with my friends in the office and so everything was arranged. From the transportation to the hotel bookings up to the tours; everything was planned.

We booked our accommodation in one of the resorts in Panglao, the Whites and Greens. 

Upon arrival at the resort; I readily saw where the greens of the hotel name came from. The trees and the landscape comprise the greens. I wondered; where the white was. Passing through the greens; moving forward revealed the sand that covers the shore. Fine white sands; comparably or even more beautiful than what Boracay can offer. Okay; so, this is where the whites came from. :)











Since we arrived a little late; we opted to enjoy the beach and its surrounding place. My mom's smile never ceased. She was having a time of her life then. And just seeing her that happy was the best a child like me can treasure.

The following day, we were fetched by our tour guide as early as 6am. We need to make the best out of the 3 days we had in this island; and rising early, as un-preferred as it seems was a necessity. I still couldn't recall which tour comes first until now. But, the pictures revealed the places we'd been to.


We went to Sandugo Blood compact, a landmark revealing that we had mutual agreement with Spaniards to conquer us for 400 years. JOKE! hahaha.. Okay, blood compact was (I don't know if it still is) a tribal tradition to bond friendship. It was done by Datu Sikatuna and a Spanish Conquestador, Miguel lopez de Legaspi that formed a treaty between Spaniards and Filipinos. Tourists like us never forget to take a picture of landmarks like this. It would have been more memorable if we were to re-enact the scene ei? LOL



We also went to Baclayon church. One of the oldest churches in the Philippines that has great old relics. I recall that I was apprehended to enter the church due to my revealing clothing.. Haha! They wrapped a garment around me before they let me in. The relics gave me an interesting history of our religion. The place  gave me a goosebumps too! Dunno why? But, it did.




We also went to Corella; and visited the smallest primates, the tarsiers. They look cute and adorable in size; just don't look at the eyes. Their eyes could deceive you that they are fierce. Hmm...


 We also went to Mahogany man-made forest. I supposed to show you our jump shots; but, we looked hilarious; so I chose a more decent pics we had there. I remember the fun we had in taking those jump shots. Each time a rushing vehicle approached; we ran like children on loose! Then gathered back again and gave our wackiest smile ever.



The best tour ever was visiting the Chocolate Hills. This was also the tedious tour ever as we had to climb hundreds and hundreds of steps to reach the top and to see the entire hills. My mom, with her heart condition stayed in the van. We just shared with her the pictures. Nyay!







At lunch time; we headed to Loboc river to experience dining while cruising around the river. We rode the floating restaurant and it glided in one of the cleanest river I'd seen. We made a stop to listen to a beautiful serenade from the Loboc Children Choir. My mom took the opportunity of buying honey in there. She loved it; as we loved the experience. The food though was bland. nyek!



At noon, we went to Sevilla and crossed in its famous bamboo hanging bridge. On the other side of the bridge; we bought our "pasalubong" at a very cheap price. I bought lots of handicrafts there, too. My mom and I shared fresh coconut before going back. 

As we were moving back; my mom felt a chest pain. I was nervous as she left the medicine in her bag inside the van. We hurriedly get the med and made a long stop. I was about to ask the driver to bring us back to the resort; but, my mom stopped me and said she will be fine and she just needed some rest. We were nervous. I knew that the nearest hospital was in Tagbilaran and it was a long drive. I prayed that she would be okay.

We were supposed to go to 4 more places; but, we opted to just visit "Prony", a very large python. My mon and I didn't join the gang in seeing the python. For mom, she needed the rest;while, for me, I didn't want to. I was and still now am suffering from ophidiophobia. 

Late noon marked the end of our tour and so we headed back to the resort. My mom quickly recovered and  enjoyed a walk in the beach. Maybe, just maybe she preferred to be near the sea.

I knew she enjoyed this trip more than I did. I hope to bring her more often with me in my tours. But, since last year; she had a multiple angioplasty; having her with me, travelling the world, would take some time :)

I visited Bohol early this year; but it was an exact opposite on what I had with my mom and friends. It was more glamorous and expensive. I tell you more about this on my next post. :)

Thanks for dropping by!

5 comments:

G at gfootsteps.com said...

Big thanks to Jay-R, Gladys, Rose, Sam and Erven for the pics :)

Leah said...

yep, bohol is indeed amazing!I hope one day to comeback!Nice photos specially the one with your mom:)

G at gfootsteps.com said...

Thanks sis :)

Rah said...

I enjoyed my trip to Bohol not so many years ago. Bohol na siguro ang pinaka malinis na province na napuntahan ko. People are very friendly, too. Hindi ko lang masyado natry yung food nila. Nice pics btw. :)

G at gfootsteps.com said...

OO isa sa pinakamalinis na province sa Phils ang Bohol pero number 1 pa din ang Palawan :)