I rented a motorbike so I could explore the Bohol island easily and in peace, without being stuck with a guide and driver.
There were many bike rental shops near my hotel, so I chose the one that had the best reviews on Google Maps. It cost 400 pesos ($7.20 USD) per day, while other shops were renting for 300 pesos per day, but their bikes were fairly new and in perfect condition, so it was worth paying the premium price.
For my first day of exploring I stayed in Panglao, which is the small island that's attached to the big Bohol island by a bridge.
Feeling hungry, I drove to Fortridge Food Park, which was highly rated on Google Maps, but when I got there it was dead. I think I was the only customer there and most restaurants were closed. So it seems like it's an evening place. Don't waste your time, like me, going there in the afternoon.
I ordered a fresh pineapple shake at Fortridge and then a huge thunderstorm started. So I took shelter there until it was dry, and continued my adventure.
I drove across Panglao to the Hinagdanan Cave, which is a popular tourist site in Bohol. It was way too busy though, with a queue of people waiting to get inside.
It was mostly local Filipino tourists who were visiting the cave. Bohol is a popular domestic tourist location, especially at the weekends. Filipinos living in Cebu can easily take a ferry across to Bohol for the weekend.
It was Sunday, and so I decided I'd leave and come back to the cave on a weekday.
It seemed like it was going to be a completely wasted day. With only a couple of hours of daylight left I tried to find something else interesting to visit in Panglao. I found there was seashell museum not too far away, and I could make it there just before they closed for the day.
The Nova Shell Museum in the Poblacion area of Panglao is one of the world's biggest sea shell collections in the world. I was lucky enough to go there when there were less visitors, so I got a private tour of the collection from one of the knowledgeable guides there.
The next day started off rainy and I waited for a dry spell, so I could drive to Chocolate Hills on the main Bohol island.
I have access to the executive lounge at the Henann Alona Beach hotel where I'm staying, I so relaxed in there with some free snacks and drinks for a while.
Eventually the rain stopped and I started the 2 hour road trip to Bohol's Chocolate Hills. But on the way I stopped to visit the tarsiers.
Tarsiers are little monkeys and there's a big conservation area of them on the way to Chocolate Hills. They are nocturnal so they aren't moving around during the daytime but you can see them relaxing in the trees.
The other tourists I met at the the Bohol Tarsier Conservation Area were all heading to the Chocolate Hills viewpoint but I had a better idea. Rather than visit the tourist viewpoint, I found a place on Google Maps that said "Chocolate Hill free view point."
I reached the exact point on the map but there was nothing there, so I had to do a bit of exploring. I thought I found a path but that just led to me falling in a ditch and then discovering a locked gate.
After getting some help from the locals I eventually found my way up one of the chocolate hills, that I got to enjoy all by myself with no tourists to annoy me. Despite the mishap, it felt like a great success!
I looked for somewhere to enjoy some tasty Filipino food on my journey back to Panglao, and found a restaurant called "Don Lechon." Lechon is rotisserie pig - a food that I've been meaning to try since I got to the Philippines but haven't found the authentic one yet.
I thought I'd get the authentic pork lechon at Don Lechon, but it was only chicken. Apparently chicken can also be lechon.
On my last day in Bohol, before returning my scooter, I finally visited the Hinagdanan Cave and I have to say it was underwhelming. It's just a cave with a pool of water. It's cool to look at for a few seconds but that's it. Most people were there to swim, but I passed on that, as it didn't look clean.
I ended my Bohol adventure with a fruit smoothie, made by friendly local woman.
I recommend renting a motorbike if you visit Bohol. It was the best way to explore this amazing island.
0:00:00 Bohol Bike Rental
0:09:13 Fortridge Food Park
0:17:17 Bargaining for a Bracelet
0:24:26 Novo Sea Shell Museum
0:42:08 Rainy New Day
0:46:25 Bohol Island Road Trip
0:52:00 Tarsiers (Little Monkeys)
1:03:22 Chocolate Hills
1:30:48 Lechon
1:51:00 Hinagdanan Cave
1:58:49 Smoothie Lady
2:12:00 Returning the Motorbike
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19 ноя 2023
