Philippines is made up of 7,641 Islands - sadly we didn't have time to visit all of them, so chose to visit the popular and beautiful Bohol Island in the South. First visiting the 'jungle vibes' Loboc then the gorgeous white sands of Alona Beach on Panglao Island. We then spent our last day in the Capital Manila wondering around Asia's largest shopping centre - SM Mall (woohoo -happy Hayley!) before heading home to Bangers!
Our Hotel, was situated on the along the river front and although painted a sickly green colour and undergoing renovations - it was not a bad hotel! It served a pretty good breakfast, had a fantastic bar selection and comfy beds. The manager was super friendly and insisted on driving us 2 min down the road to our first activity - The Floating Restaurant Cruise! I'm always hungry and up to trying the local cuisine and since this is the only place you can get lunch is Loboc - we kinda had no choice! The cruise/ lunch ticket cost 100 PHP (
£1.63) and we were whisked onto the next available boat and set out for a 1hr cruise along the river, with a buffet table and live one-man band. There are 20 boats that go up and down the river from 11.00-16.00 every day, there used to be evening ones too, but they have stopped since the earthquake.
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| Long River Cruise Floating Resto |
Lunch was interesting! Lots of random things were squashed onto the buffet table - something for everyone on there. I opted for some BBQ chicken, some kind of fish, noodles, rice and other random bits... and to top it off I added a Crab! I've seen plenty a travelling show on TLC on how river crabs are super yummy...I was on the river so why not!?! NEVER AGAIN!!!! Firstly his eyeballs were eyeballing me...and not in a good way! Then I couldn't figure out how to open him up and when I did a furry, feathered brainy mess awaited me! It freaked me out and I couldn't eat him! (I have a new appreciation for supermarket crab sticks!) The dude next to me seemed pretty interested in him so I donated my crab to his plate taking note as to how he dismantled him. The views along the river were just stunning, we stopped a few times along the way to listen to songs the locals had prepared for the tourists. A freaky highlight was watching a Python cross the river in front of us...eek...but that didn't stop the locals from jumping in to cool down.
After the cruise we took a tuk-tuk (painted in our Thai football team's colours I may add...Go Port FC!!!) to the Loboc Adventure Park to zip line across the river! The zip line costs 350PHP (
£5.72), it's 120m high and 520m long. It took under a minute to fly across but the views were spectacular and I thought it was super fun! Kev on the other had was no so excited...he started looking a bit pale when we arrived and by the time we had climbed up to the launching point he was slightly green! There are 2 lines, so we could zip across the river together, once strapped in, helmet on we flew across the river - me admiring the views and Kev screaming in terror! Kev opted for the Cable cart return as he couldn't stomach another flying stint! Hmm...perhaps zipping again would have been the best option as the rusty old cable cart (not so much cable cart - more like a bench on wires!) felt like it was gonna drop out the sky any min! I suddenly remembered my fear of heights and as we rocked from side to side my lunch threatened to re-appear... and it didn't help much that the Korean couple next to us kept joking we might fall and 'go splat'! Anyhoo - we made it across, both a little pale but happy to be back on land again! We then opted for the 30 min walk back to the Hotel to get some colour in our cheeks and check out the area. For dinner we hit the one and only restaurant open for dinner in Loboc - The Pizza House! I was hoping for an authentic Philippines cuisine experience as lunch didn't quite fulfil my culinary expectations, but hey you take what you can get! The pizza was pretty good... the beer was great!
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| The 'go spat' ride of doom... |
On day 2 we caught a local bus called a Jeepney to the Chocolate Hills! The Jeepney was cheap and cheerful, pumped local music all the way there and randomly stopped on the side of the road for pick-ups and drop-offs. So much more fun that taking a tourist bus!
So - the Chocolate Hills...I had visions of chocolate coated hills, with Mars bars and Snickers growing on trees, but nah...the boob shaped 1,260 plus hills are called such as they turn brown during the rainy season - giving them the name 'Chocolate Hills'. What makes these hills so popular is not only the incredible views but the mystery surrounding them as to how they got to be there - my favourite theory is that they were formed from tears of a giant! (obviously having a major crying wobble because someone ate all his chocolate!) When we arrived, the rain decided to make an appearance and showed us the Chocolate Hills in true form...the rain poured and the mud flowed - just like a chocolate fountain!
We headed back to Loboc via the Tarsier viewing point. I'd never even heard of these little big eyed things before... I wanna call them monkeys, but apparently they not! They are very tiny - the size of my fist - and they are ugly too! They have big googly eyes, massive hands and kinda remind me of the Bush Baby's weirdo miniature cousin! They are the smallest known primate in the world and their eyes are bigger than their brains! It was an amazing experience to see in their natural habitat...even though they were fast asleep! (there are signs everywhere asking you not to wake them up and not to poke them with selfie stick!) These cheeky little chaps are so popular in Philippines they even appear on the PHP200 note!
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| The 'not-so cute' Tarsier |
On day 3 we left the lovely luscious Loboc for Panglao Island for some tannage and chilled-out beach time. We were the first on the Jeepney and within 6 pickup spots it was jam-packed! The journey took about 40min to get to the bridge that takes you to the island. Mr Jeepney driver came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the highway and gestured for us to get off - I guess that was out stop! Once we squeezed past all the passengers an
d manoeuvred our luggage out the window we then had to run across the highway...all safe and sound we then hailed a tuk-tuk to Alona Beach.
After the cruise we took a tuk-tuk (painted in our Thai football team's colours I may add...Go Port FC!!!) to the Loboc Adventure Park to zip line across the river! The zip line costs 350PHP (£5.72), it's 120m high and 520m long. It took under a minute to fly across but the views were spectacular and I thought it was super fun! Kev on the other had was no so excited...he started looking a bit pale when we arrived and by the time we had climbed up to the launching point he was slightly green! There are 2 lines, so we could zip across the river together, once strapped in, helmet on we flew across the river - me admiring the views and Kev screaming in terror! Kev opted for the Cable cart return as he couldn't stomach another flying stint! Hmm...perhaps zipping again would have been the best option as the rusty old cable cart (not so much cable cart - more like a bench on wires!) felt like it was gonna drop out the sky any min! I suddenly remembered my fear of heights and as we rocked from side to side my lunch threatened to re-appear... and it didn't help much that the Korean couple next to us kept joking we might fall and 'go splat'! Anyhoo - we made it across, both a little pale but happy to be back on land again! We then opted for the 30 min walk back to the Hotel to get some colour in our cheeks and check out the area. For dinner we hit the one and only restaurant open for dinner in Loboc - The Pizza House! I was hoping for an authentic Philippines cuisine experience as lunch didn't quite fulfil my culinary expectations, but hey you take what you can get! The pizza was pretty good... the beer was great!
So - the Chocolate Hills...I had visions of chocolate coated hills, with Mars bars and Snickers growing on trees, but nah...the boob shaped 1,260 plus hills are called such as they turn brown during the rainy season - giving them the name 'Chocolate Hills'. What makes these hills so popular is not only the incredible views but the mystery surrounding them as to how they got to be there - my favourite theory is that they were formed from tears of a giant! (obviously having a major crying wobble because someone ate all his chocolate!) When we arrived, the rain decided to make an appearance and showed us the Chocolate Hills in true form...the rain poured and the mud flowed - just like a chocolate fountain!
We headed back to Loboc via the Tarsier viewing point. I'd never even heard of these little big eyed things before... I wanna call them monkeys, but apparently they not! They are very tiny - the size of my fist - and they are ugly too! They have big googly eyes, massive hands and kinda remind me of the Bush Baby's weirdo miniature cousin! They are the smallest known primate in the world and their eyes are bigger than their brains! It was an amazing experience to see in their natural habitat...even though they were fast asleep! (there are signs everywhere asking you not to wake them up and not to poke them with selfie stick!) These cheeky little chaps are so popular in Philippines they even appear on the PHP200 note!
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