Day Four: Bohol City Tour
28 August 2011
I knew the sunrise can be seen by the beach side of Dumaluan Beach Resort, so I set the alarm of my cell phone at 5:30am so I could see it. Satisfied with my sunrise pictures, I also walked to the beach side of Bohol Beach Club, to take some pictures. Mom and her colleagues were also out early today to have an early walk / jog.
We knew we were scheduled to do our City Tour today, so by 7am we already went to the dining hall to eat our breakfast. One big change at the resort - they now serve breakfast buffet, which was something I was thankful for. They offered three dishes: meat, egg, and vegetables, two rice varieties (steamed and garlic fried rice), as well as fruits for desserts, and two kinds of drinks: juice and coffee. For light breakfast eaters and foreigners who aren't used to eating rice for breakfast, they also offer sliced loaf bread, fruit jam/marmalade, and butter.
By 9am, we were all ready to embark on a tour around Bohol. The resort had a set list of places to see, so I will just share a picture from each places, in chronological order.
Blood Compact Site. Way too many tourists today, and it was way too difficult to take pictures! It was one hot, sunny, day, but good thing I was able to take a picture of the site without any people. A Korean couple was actually about to come near the site, but I managed to ask them to stay away for a while. I only took two pictures, but I was happy with it.
Baclayon Church. In 2008, I wasn't able to take a good picture of this church's facade, so knowing my companions were going to see the museum (I knew pictures weren't allowed there), I just told mom I'd go out and take a picture of the church's facade, and I would just meet them at the van.
Loboc River Cruise. Too many tourists today made us wait more than an hour before we could ride the floating restaurant. Each ride has its own stopover, and for this time we stopped over a hut to watch the people of Loboc sing and dance. Of course, mom and I didn't pass the opportunity to dance with them. :)
Tarsier Sanctuary. Very few tarsiers awake that time (well, they are nocturnal animals), but I was able to take enough pictures for my other blogs.
Man-Made Forest. It was a very short stopover, but at least I had good pictures now - in 2008, my pictures were all crappy - because it was way too dark and it started raining. :)
Simply Butterflies Sanctuary. Typhoons visited the country a few weeks before may be the reason why there weren't that much butterflies, but the whole visit was very worthwhile, thanks to our witty tour guide.
Chocolate Hills. Well of course, you've never been to Bohol if you didn't check out the Chocolate Hills! :) One major mistake I did was to go on a trip with camera's battery at 25% and taking just one pair of spare battery, which I didn't know yet how much its juice can last. By the time we reached Chocolate Hills, my spare battery was already showing the "low batt" sign, so some pictures from here were taken using my cell phone, including this picture.
Hanging Bamboo Bridge. This was one of my dream places to visit in Bohol, and I was thankful this was part of the tour's itinerary. My companions crossed the bridge before I did - not because I was scared, but because mom wanted me to take a picture of her crossing the other bridge. :) Crossing this bridge was so fun, but because it wobbled a lot, by the time I crossed the second bridge, each step I took was a bit wobbly, too. Hahaha.
Blood Compact Site. Way too many tourists today, and it was way too difficult to take pictures! It was one hot, sunny, day, but good thing I was able to take a picture of the site without any people. A Korean couple was actually about to come near the site, but I managed to ask them to stay away for a while. I only took two pictures, but I was happy with it.
Baclayon Church. In 2008, I wasn't able to take a good picture of this church's facade, so knowing my companions were going to see the museum (I knew pictures weren't allowed there), I just told mom I'd go out and take a picture of the church's facade, and I would just meet them at the van.
The Huge Python. I got to see magazine show that featured this animal, and because of its size, it has then became a tourist attraction. This wasn't the first time I touched a python so I wasn't afraid of it.
Tarsier Sanctuary. Very few tarsiers awake that time (well, they are nocturnal animals), but I was able to take enough pictures for my other blogs.
Simply Butterflies Sanctuary. Typhoons visited the country a few weeks before may be the reason why there weren't that much butterflies, but the whole visit was very worthwhile, thanks to our witty tour guide.
Chocolate Hills. Well of course, you've never been to Bohol if you didn't check out the Chocolate Hills! :) One major mistake I did was to go on a trip with camera's battery at 25% and taking just one pair of spare battery, which I didn't know yet how much its juice can last. By the time we reached Chocolate Hills, my spare battery was already showing the "low batt" sign, so some pictures from here were taken using my cell phone, including this picture.
On our way back to the resort, we realized that we will be eating dinner at the resort, so to save up on food cost (food at the resort was quite pricey), we bought roadside roasted chicken - one for mom, Ms. Nerie, and I... Ms. Claire also bought one for their family. However, when we reached the resort, Ms. Fe's nephew was already waiting for us because they wanted us to eat dinner at their place, as this was Panglao's fiesta. Since I was already tired and that we already bought chicken, I told mom I won't be coming with them anymore - and that I'd just buy rice at the resort's dining area. I had a great dinner at our room, watching Gordon Ramsay (Hell's Kitchen) on Star World. :)
We all called it a night early... we have to be ready at 5:30am tomorrow because we will be having our Sea Tour.
