Next on our adventure was Bohol (not pronounced Bo-hole) which is an island east of Cebu. We got the bus north to Argao to get the ferry across to Bohol. An hour on a bus and four hours on a ferry cost about PHP400 each (about £5) I enjoy these journeys in the knowledge that they’re so cheap. We even got some free ice cream on the ferry!
Our hostel was called Sea Breeze and was in Panglao which is to the south of Bohol. It was a small three bed dorm with a sliding sheet of wood as a door so not the best for keeping out the noise. We had a small kitchen outside our room so other people would congregate right outside our door and talk at night and in the morning, not ideal. We ate that night at a vegan place but I think we were all disappointed by the food, I had some sort of Indian burger thing but it was more like curry on some bread with some mediocre fries. Dan and Mary headed back to the hostel but I thought I’d have a quick look around the beach area. It was the most touristy place I’d been so far, it felt like one of those beach resorts in Spain. At one point I even got approached by a lady of the night.
The next day we had a beach day. Luckily it wasn’t as busy during the day so it was a nice relaxing day. We spent a few hours at a reggae bar where I think we listened to the Best of Bob Marley CD at least three times. I also bought some new flip flops as mine had now fallen apart. In the evening we found a place offering live music, cheap mojitos and Mexican food. The live music turned out to be more like karaoke but the food and drink were decent and at least they sang Starship. The thing that made me laugh here was how attentive the staff were, they were hovering right behind you and any time you spilled even one single drop of drink they would be right there to wipe it up for you.
On day three in Bohol we did a day tour arranged through the hostel. It was PHP400 (£5) for transport plus an entry fee for each stop you wanted to participate in. The first stop was a really old church. We decided not to go in but there was a wedding happening so we watched that through the door. The next stop was a tarsier sanctuary, they’re nocturnal animals but they sit low in the trees during the day so you can still see them. Let’s just say they’re a bit cute. Next up was a lunchtime river cruise with a buffet. The food was pretty good and there was a couple playing some live music including an unexpected cover of Breathless by The Corrs. We pulled up to the river bank at one point to watch some singing, dancing and ukulele playing from a local children’s choir, it was quite adorable and Mary joined in. The final stop on the tour was the Chocolate Hills, these are thousands of brown hills scattered across the countryside, a very helpful sign pointed out that they were formed “ages ago”. We went up to a vantage point where you could see lots of the hills and I took some perfect selfies.
