We left Puerta Princesa and arrived in Cebu on the 12th.
Cebu is a large industrious city, developed out of the huge port they have. We
got a cab to the hostel expecting to only be a few mins away… over an hour
later we arrived, and we were still in the middle of the city. Luckily we
spotted some celebrations going on for Sinulog festival near to our hostel, so
we dumped the bags and hopped in a jeepney to go join in. There was a big
roundabout with a park in the middle, covered in tents serving drinks and all
manner of foods, mostly barbequed unthinkables and unidentifiables. I happy
knawed away on some… I don’t know, but it was similar to pork. Also tried some
sausage thing which we couldn’t figure out if it was raw or not. Found some
chicken which Jo was happy with, so sat down with that, some beer and listened
to the locals warbling away on the stage in the centre.
Following morning we got up early and to the port for a
ferry to Bohol. Managed to nail a bargain on the boat, but bit bemused that not
a single other backpacker was to be seen in the terminal, but as we’ve
discovered; the Philippines is not on many backpackers traditional South-East
Asia route.
Bohol is an island which was hit by an earthquake October
last year, and also got affected by the typhoon in November, but the damage was
really quite limited. Nothing was visibly closed or shut off or deserted.
We decided to base ourselves in the main city, Tagbilaran.
This has no beaches or anything, but is more central as opposed to where most
people go to on the Southern Island of Pangyao, making reaching places on the
island a little easier, and also meaning we were paying a lot less for a room
and getting a lot more for our money. Found an amazing guesthouse called Nisa,
with free breakfast and huge areas to chill out and mingle in. Just to be on
the safe side we spent the afternoon exploring the island of Pangyao, and after
seeing the expensive resorts and pretty heavily developed beaches, we were
happy with our choice.
On our first full day, we rented a motorbike. Normally they
take your passport as deposit, but as I refused the guy was happy to take my
PADI Open Water card, bit weird, but off we went! First stop was the Tarsier
Sanctuary which is a big swathe of jungle fenced off (to man anyway, the
tarsiers could escape easily if they wanted) where the staff go out every
morning to spot them, then take the tourists round for 10 minutes pointing them
out. Very quick, but this isn’t a zoo, and these little furballs are tiny and
fragile, so it is the morally and environmentally right way to do it.
Next stop was Loboc for a bite and then onto Chocolate
Hills. Well, that was the plan. We found that the most damage of the earthquake
here where several buildings had partially collapsed, as had the bridge across
the river, so it had been made good and only open to foot traffic. To get
across the river was now going to require either a different route or getting a
group of locals to lift the bike across the bridge. As getting lost is a big
hobby of mine, we opted for the former. We spent the rest of the afternoon
flying around paddy fields, jungle, man-made forests and tiny villages,
occasionally stopping for photos and debating whether we’d lost the road and
were now completely off-piste. Great craic, I loved it. Didn’t find the Chocolate
hills proper, however, at one point we did appear to be riding around some hills
very similar.
Next morning was more of the same, but taking another route,
this one along the coast to cross the river at a different point. Made it to
the Chocolate Hills in drizzle, took a few pictures, bought Jo an amazing
jumper because she was cold, and got back to the important job of getting lost.
Didn’t take long, and before we knew it we were slewing all over a muddy track,
covering ourselves in mud. Thank god the bike was only a little 125cc, any more
weight and I’d never had kept from dropping it! This lead to what the map
showed as a major road, but in reality was a rocky track, incredibly steep, but
thankfully dry. Tentatively we made our way down, and found the coastal road
again. Got back and chilled out and had the same Chicken Inasal for 3rd
time in a row, which is barbequed chicken leg and breast, rice, shredded radish
and chillis and lime.
Our final day in Bohol was boring and rainy. Aside from
overpriced places serving bad immitations of western dishes on Pangyao, there
is very little cuisine here at all. In fact, the 2nd best place
recommended on TripAdvisor is Pizza Hut… so that’s what we did. We got takeaway
pizza, went back to our hostel and ate it watching Harry Potter on the laptop.
Rock n roll. Did a bit of wandering about, but with intermittent rain, and
little to see, we played a lot of cards and drank a fair bit of coffee.
Following morning we got the boat back to Cebu and cab from there
straight to the airport for our flight to Kalibo for hopefully some sun!
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