Touristy shit really isn’t my thing, but when you are one, what else are you gonna do? The road tour we signed up for yesterday would have normally been an eight-hour engagement. Luckily, it wasn’t a group tour, so I vetoed a couple of stops along the way and brought it back down to a more reasonable four-hour journey. One thing I did want to see for sure was the famous Chocolate Hills, about a two-hour drive from Panglao. I also enjoyed the countryside as we passed through Bohol’s mainland. Peaceful, clean, and beautiful.
The first stop on our tour was a Catholic sanctuary dating back to 1595.
As I said, this was a standard tour package with several stops. When the driver pulled into this tourist trap called “Python and Butterfly Garden,” I told him, no thank you, and he turned around. I also had him skip the miniature monkey park. Someone had warned me that the monkeys were so tiny they were hard to see.
The final stop on the tour was the “Blood Compact Shrine,” commemorating a ritual that led to a peace treaty between the Spanish and the Bohol natives. I was unfamiliar with this history and found it quite interesting.
Then it was time to head back to the hotel. We paid the full price for our voluntarily shortened tour, but it was still a bargain for only 3000 pesos. We had lunch at the hotel, and the owner was there having a meeting with someone at a nearby table. I didn’t want to intrude, so we took a seat at the bar and ordered our grub. And then the Facebook memories feed popped up on my phone.
I sent Chris the photo to remind him, and as I left, he said, “I was trying to remember where I met you.”
As usual, when it was time to head out for the evening, we made our way to Alona Beach. We really enjoy the vibe there, and next time we visit Bohol, we’ll be staying somewhere nearby (sorry, Chris!).
We walked the beach end-to-end and didn’t see anywhere we liked better than our favorite hangout. I guess there is just no avoiding Escape.
We decided to have dinner somewhere, even though we weren’t all that hungry. The vlogger I follow, Reekay, lives in the area, and he messaged me with some of his favorite venues. One was practically next door, so we gave it a try.
Reekay suggested the Thai food, but I’m more of a grilled meats kinda guy.
And so ended the next-to-last night on this trip to Bohol. There will be future visits for sure.
From the March 2019 LTG archives is a post where I recount my rebellious teenage years. I was wild in the streets back then, but I somehow managed to avoid going to jail.
Today’s YouTube video claims ancient humans only worked three hours a day. Hmm, was everyone retired? Kind of interesting to think about how they filled the time before beer was invented.
There ain’t no getting around these:
And now it is time to prepare for the rest of my last day in Bohol.
Tell you all about it as soon as I can. We have an early morning flight back to Manila. I’m a little worried that finding a Grab car at 6 am on a Sunday might prove difficult, but we’ll figure it out. Or miss our plane. So, hopefully I’ll be writing tomorrow’s post from Barretto, but you’d best check back to be sure.