I have a week left in Asia. A WEEK. Holy balls. I can already taste America. It's a lot like apple pie. & super fattening. YES.
So, I'm in back in Cebu. I just checked into my hostel after a 2 hour ferry ride, during which I watched Batman Dark Knight. I would have preferred to watch the ocean, but they tinted all the windows of the boat to paste up huge advertisements. LAME. So no beautiful sunset on the water for Bina & the other passengers. Womp. But I did get to watch the Joker make a pencil disappear. (Miss you, Heath!)
Looking out the windows of my cab as we drove from the pier to the hostel, I felt thankful that I had ditched Cebu early & extended my stay in Bohol, a schedule shift that has left me with just one day here. Now, I'm sure Cebu is a nice city, but it really is just unfortunate timing that it should be last on my travel itinerary, as I'm more than exhausted with big, Asian cities at this point. And I don't think my lungs can handle much more of the urban pollution. I feel like an 80 year-old smoker, wheezing & hacking. You have to admire the locals' lungs of steel!
Bohol was a lovely island! I stayed in the capital city, Tagbilaran, also known as the "City of Friendship." (Dawwwwww!) It's located in the southwest corner & was Bohol's first city, developed because it was the most ideal point of entry onto the island. The streets are narrow, the buildings small, the people lively & friendly (thus the name), and the city has an overall quaint & cozy feel. Well, as cozy as you can get in tropical heat. Zooming out from Tagbilaran (which is such a fun word to say, btw!), I was overwhelmed by all there is to do & see in Bohol. But I managed to narrow my list to the Chocolate Hills, tarsiers & the Loboc River.
I checked out tour packages first. Finding them all super expensive (2000 pesos! Eeegad!), I visited them on my own with the help of the lovely internet & the hectic but efficient (hectically efficient, if you will) public transportation system. (I think, though, that I just find public transportation in the Philippines crazy because I'm used to the mapped out subway systems, & scheduled bus routes. Even in the absence of maps & schedules, the locals love & use the jeepneys & buses just fine without any problems.) I ended up spending less than half what I would have on the organized tour, which allowed me to, without any guilt, splurge on pasalubong (souvenirs, that are usually food, given to friends & family). I bought otap, peanut kisses, rosette cookies, peanut & chocolate crunch rolls... ohhhh man! Friends & family in America- GET EXCITED & HUNGRY! But anyway, back to the sights of Bohol.
First, the Chocolate Hills. I took a 2 hour, scenic & breezy bus ride through & to the center of the island. The bus had no windows & I stuck my head out wanting to know why dogs love it so much (& because I could). I TOTALLY get why now. The old woman next to me, Lola Eunice, laughed then offered me a banana as if in payment for entertaining her. Awesome! Anyway, we passed through many towns & small villages, rice fields (my favorite!) with water buffalo, colorful streets of houses with equally colorful clotheslines hanging out front, women setting out rice grains to dry on bright tarps... the Philippines is so beautiful!
The bus dropped me off at the entrance to the Chocolate Hills complex. I walked up a dusty road then continued on hiking to the observation deck at the top of a central hill. The road wrapped around the hill, one side bordered with trees & wild flowers while the other opened up to a splendid view of the hilly & chocolaty landscape. (Though they aren't particularly chocolaty right now. As it's the rainy season, they're lush & green these days.) At the top, I climbed a long, steep staircase to the deck. The view from there was spectacular- palms slow dancing in the wind, blue skies with cloudy pillows, & these strange hills, peeking through natural & cultivated terrain. There are over a 1500 hills & they extend for over 20 square miles. & they are so adorable! I never thought hills could be adorable, but there I was, swooning & wanting to nuzzle them. (& they made me think of Super Mario World. Teehee.)Alas. All my roomies are asleep & I feel awkward with my computer screen blaring in the darkness, & the sound of my keyboard thundering in the quiet. Time for bed! I shall continue later! Good night, world!
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