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Philippines, Travelinds

Bohol Country Tour

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21 January 2014

The Bohol “Country Tour” is a standard tour offered by most travel agents (private and franchised) for exploring the inland attractions of Bohol island.  Most tour agents you speak to (willingly or not) will show you the same brochures and quote you the same starting price for this tour.

The tour we settled on was for just the two of us, going to:

  • The Blood Compact statue
  • Baclayon church
  • Loboc River Cruise for lunch
  • Chocolate Hills complex
  • Butterfly Farm
  • Tarsier Sanctuary

We travelled in an air-conditioned van and our tour guide was very professional and knowledgeable about all the attractions that we went to see.  We declined going to the zip-lining and the zoo as we wanted to spend unlimited time at the Tarsier Sanctuary, which was one of our main reasons for travelling to Bohol itself.

Blood Compact
The Blood Compact Statue – a statue dedicated to the pact made between the people of Bohol and the Spanish.
Baclayon Church
Baclayon Church – a very old, very large church which at the time (Feb 2014) had been very badly damaged by the earthquake in October 2013. It is beautiful. Stained-glass windows, large stones etc and there is a museum inside.
Loboc River Cruise
Loboc River Cruise – 450 pesos each will get you a ride on a boat and a buffet lunch, for two hours. The river is a fantastic turquoise colour and the scenery along the way is serene. We saw a couple of colourful birds like kingfishers, a monitor lizzard, a water buffalo and some small houses.
Chocolate Hills Complex
Chocolate Hills complex – the famous landmark of Carmen, Bohol. A must-see for its World Heritage status. The hills turn brown (like chocolate) in the summer because the intense heat kills the grass. They stretch as far as the eye can see, 360 degrees. The viewing platform was severely damaged due to the earthquake but a temporary one is in place.
Butterfly Farm
Butterfly Farm – this was a fun little detour into a butterfly sanctuary. The guide we were assigned to at the butterfly farm was a lively character who even magically transformed us into butterflies ourselves! The homemade ice-cream bars here are delicious!

 

Tarsier Sanctuary
Tarsier Sanctuary – the highlight of my holiday to Bohol was finally meeting the tiny Philippine tarsiers. Cute, furry and nocturnal, it was worth the effort to catch a glimpse and a few photos of these incredible creatures. We’re proud to have supported the conservation efforts for these endangered animals in some way. Read more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a very interesting day with so much to see and admire. The earthquake damage reminded us of the devastation that this community had to endure only a few months before our holiday and it was good to see the work that has gone in to rebuilding and moving forward.

TIP: Ask your guide to stop at the Bilsar Public Market on your way to/from Chocolate Hills complex.  Look for ladies selling sayre (rice bamboo treats) in small plastic bags.  These are DELICIOUS! Our guide stops there every tour day to buy himself some of these snacks.  It is like sweet&herb rice cake wrapped in bamboo leaves (about 5 cm long).  A real local delicacy. Try it!

Read more about Bohol here.

Buy Local

This was the Loboc church before and after the earthquake.  The damage to the interior part of the island is extensive and rebuilding is slow.  Supporting the tour guides and spending money on ‘silly tourist’ things like the River Cruise and the Butterly Farm will help boost the local economy as they rebuild homes, businesses and lives affected after the earthquake of October 2013.

Bohol church beforeBohol church after

 

Philippines, Travelinds

Bohol Tours

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20 January 2014

While staying at Alona Beach (Panglao Island, Bohol), we booked a snorkel tour and a country tour with one of the local tour agents (the ones who walk around bugging you all the time).  We had priced a few and settled on one that we were happy to support.  Toto gave us a good deal for two days (one day snorkel tour, one day country tour) and agreed to all the little details that we insisted were deal-breakers (we needed snorkel equipment, guaranteed air-conditioned van, only two of us on our boat and in the van etc)

The tours were great fun and helped us to see a good deal of Bohol’s attractions that we may not have got to had we tried to wander around on our own.

The standard tour choices available all over Bohol are:

  • Country Tour:
    • Choose all or some: Zip-line, Tarsiers, Chocolate hills, Butterfly farm, Lunch River Cruise Loboc, Baclayon church, Blood Compact statue, Zoo and a few other little stops.

Toto was true to his word (but only because we insisted that he sort things out before we got on the boat – like there was no snorkel equipment?) and overall, we had a very enjoyable two days. The driver on our country tour was Toto’s cousin/friend and he was a wonderful tour guide and great conversationalist.  He was so professional and that made all the difference to us getting the most out of the day.

The total cost for both days (for two people, excluding lunches) was 2,000 pesos (about $45 US) but don’t let that stop you from bargaining with the vendor.  You will also have to pay extras for all the entrance fees during the country tour and buy lunches (ask about the cost of the attractions before you decide on which ones you would like to do).  To be honest, the “extras” didn’t come to that much either.

If you only have a couple days in Bohol, I highly recommend that you do these two tours, especially if seeing the main attractions on the island is one of your priorities.