Bohol Country Side Tour: Part Deux

Below is the Bohol countryside that I saw. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

• Blood Compact Site

  
  
  In 1565, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna performed a blood compact in the native-Bohol style to symbolize their friendship as part of the native custom. This is now being commemorated as the Sandugo Festival. Personally, I don't think there's really much to do here except get your picture taken at the shrine. Others will disagree, of course.
  

• Baclayon Church

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Baclayon Church is said to be one of the oldest stone church in the Philippines. Some would say that it is the second oldest church in the country but that actually depends on who you've read. I am no historian, but based from the literature on it, Baclayoon Church was originally built in 1595. But if you think of the church in its present structure, then the church was built in the 17th hundreds, from the coral stones which are cut in blocks, piled on top of one another, and poured with egg whites to make the whole structure stick together.
  
  I have this fascination of churches, specifically the centuries old ones (evidenced by the number of pics I took of this). There is so much to see and a lot of history behind each. I would sit in the pew and imagine how it would have had been sitting there centuries ago, the people dressed in something I would now call a costume and just be overwhelmed by the faith that moved people to create these huge relics (statues and the church itself). Baclayon Church is no exception. Only, the church in itself is old and I don't see it being maintained. Hopefully, the government will do something about this so that future generations could also come and see and feel history all at once.
  

• Loboc River Cruise

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Now I don't know the history of the Loboc River Cruise and how it all started. This experience for me was, unfortunately, a disappointment. I was very excited when it was time to go to this attraction. Imagine, meal on a boat while being serenaded, gentle breeze keeping you cool, and lush greenery on the riverbank for company...
  
  Let's backtrack a little. Getting on the cruise with includes a buffet meal will cost you PhP 300.00. We got on and I was so excited because I saw shrimps (small ones but shrimp nonetheless and those who know me can attest my, ahemm, love for shrimps) included in the menu. I didn't mind the barbecued pork, fried chicken, grilled tuna, ginataang langka, pinakbet, seaweed salad, and cucumber salad. My eyes were on the shrimps! Unfortunately, it was no longer fresh. The tuna wasn't fresh as well. I'm not going into details on the food here anymore, suffice it to say, I wasn't happy with it, specially when I take into consideration the price . And the icing on the cake was that beverages weren't unlimited as well! You're only entitled to one bottle of water/soda and after that, you have to pay for it. What a disappointment!
  
  After that, I didn't enjoy the rest of the ride. I even failed to enjoy the performance of the Loboc Children's Choir and the Busay waterfall at the end of the Loboc river. I just chatted with the onboard performer and asked him who operated these Loboc River cruises. Turns out that though you see lots of these Loboc River cruise boats around, there are actually only three families running this gig. The driver later on explained to me that in reality, the owners were raking in PhP 200.00 per person after taxes, expenses, and let's not forget, share of the drivers (Of course, he didn't include this).
  
  I was glad when we headed back. We were even more hungry when we stepped off than when we stepped on the boat.
  
  TIP: I read somewhere that there are smaller boats offering the Loboc River cruise without the meals for PhP 50.00. These can go nearer to the Busay waterfalls compared to the bigger ones (those who offer meals on board).
  

• Tarsier Encounter

  
  
  
  Initially, I thought that we were actually going out into the "wild" to see them and was disappointed to see a small make-shift shelter made of bamboo and nipa where the poor tarsiers are displayed. This actually just along Loboc River so it's not far from where we got off the boat from the Loboc River Cruise.
  
  These little tykes are so adorable! It was my first time to see one and I was actually hesitant to touch it lest I do it some damage (which eventually I did when I took the first photo forgetting that the flash on my camera was enabled and I ended up blinding the little tyke). I also didn't want it perched on my arm because I don't think it'd like that, you know, be moved from one place to the next.
  

• Chocolate Hills

  
  
  
  
  Finally! I saw the world-famous chocolate hills! Thousands of land mass jutting out of, well, land. Hahahaha! You have climb many steps to get to the viewing decks and get a decent view of this world famous tourist spot. There isn't much to do after taking pictures though.
  

• Bohol Butterfly Farm

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I so enjoyed my time here. There was a guide and he walked us through the life stages of a butterfly. They have quite a number of species in their collection (forgot the number). They have displays of preserved butterfly, they also have displays of cocoons (live ones), and an enclosed area where one can have really close encounters with the butterflies (since they couldn't really fly far off). Eventually, they release these butterflies out into the real world. This is a private farm, and according to the guy, is a product of one person's love for these beautiful insects.
  
  TRIVIA: Do you know how to differentiate butterflies from moths? Butterflies, when they are still in the caterpillar stage have vibrant colors. This is because, ahemmm, vibrant colors in nature means poisonous and since they really don't have any weapons, this is their defense mechanism. And it's not the butterfly caterpillars that causes one to itch, it's the moth! Also, butterflies are day creatures, moths nocturnal! Now I know that all those nights that we had a butterfly in the house, those were actually moths. Aaahh... Maybe you know these things already. Oh well, now I know too! :P
  

After seeing all these, we called it a day. We passed by the Man-Made forest but I was already too tired to get off that's why I have no pictures of it. Biker, on the other hand, already had his fill too specially since he had no sleep the night before. We dropped him off at Nuts Huts (a backpacker’s hideout located in Gotozan, Loboc, Bohol), well about 750 meters walk from Nuts Huts since there's no road for the van. I, on the other hand, was left with the driver, to go back to Tagbilaran City where I've decided to stay for the night.