We're back and what a day it has been! At one point I told our driver, Lilo, that I was pretty sure I was melting! Thank heavens for aircon!!!
The staff at our resort knew we were heading out this morning so had our breakfast cooked and ready for us the minute we sat down. Seriously....a girl could get used to this kind of service! :). At 9:00 Lilo was here and we were ready to go. The sun was shining and everything was shaping up to be a perfect day for our tour. Lilo recommended and we agreed that the best route to follow would be to head to our furthest destination right at the outset and then begin to work our way back so off to the Chocolate Hills we went.
The Chocolate Hills are almost dead centre in the middle of Bohol and they are about an 80 km drive from our resort on Panglao. We passed through little towns like Albuquerque....yes folks we've been to Albuquerque, Philippines but Albuquerque, New Mexico is still on the "gotta visit there" list. Rice farmers were hard at work in their fields (harvesting) and when we stopped to take photos and watch for a few minutes....the whole field of workers began blowing kisses to Lynda! At first it was just a tentative wave and a smile from a couple of them but as soon as she returned their gesture....they kicked it into high gear and the kisses and calls for her to join them were coming fast and furious. I think Lilo was getting a little nervous that he might lose his guests before the tour even really began and so the windows were rolled up and we were off again. The drive was really interesting and beautiful and it was great to be able to see just how the farmers harvest their rice here as opposed to what we'd seen on Luzon. On Luzon they'd used the shoulders of the highways to rake out their rice (still in the husk) so it could dry before going into bags en route to the mill where the husks would be separated from the grain. Here on Bohol the shoulders of the road are gravel so they use tarps of varying sizes laying on those gravel shoulders (and occasionally even creeping onto the roadway). Those tarps are filled to the very edges of a single layer of rice (in husks) drying in the sun. Occasionally we would see a tarp that had something other than rice on it....in those cases it was slices of coconut laying out to dry for 3 days in the sun. Those pieces of coconut meat are from more mature coconuts and once they are dried that meat can be sold for more than 20 pesos per kilo and as much as 40 pesos/kilo depending on the season. Lilo explained this to us as he has coconut trees that he uses as an additional source of revenue. He said that coconut is used for almost everything....from laundry soap to food. He also explained that a coconut tree can be harvested about every 3 months. Rice, on the other hand, can only yield two crops per year. Other products we saw for sale along our way included bundles of wood (for burning). I actually think those neatly piled bundles looked more like artwork. Each stick of wood was the same size as the rest and they were all so perfectly fit together prior to being tied....I wouldn't want to take them apart for burning! There were big bundles of bamboo slats (differing lengths). Those slats might be used for building a wall in your home, or for building a fence, or for hitting snakes....yes....there are lots of snakes here! When asked if they were poisonous Lali explained that "of course they are except for the boa constrictors". He added that as long as you don't step on them they will try to get away from you as soon as they see you and that only during the season we're in now....are they a real problem....coming into people's homes etc. Eeeeekkkkkk!!! (We haven't seen any snakes though) We saw woven panels of some kind of palm frond that would be used to build a roof or even a wall. We watched men at work making knives of all shape and size. What an art! They pounded out the steel after it came out of the fire and once they got the basic shape then the grinding would begin. Their grinding wheels spun and sparks flew....it was actually very dramatic to see. Oh yes...and all of this with no safety glasses or even clothing for that matter. How their skin wasn't burned from the sparks that were landing all over them, I don't know! I didn't look at their feet but I'll bet anything that they were either bare or wearing only flip flops. WCB wouldn't be happy here! Traffic was plentiful but nothing like Manila. The style of driving here is more like we'd experienced in Vigan....where there is give and take on the road. Everyone passes everyone and often there are 3 vehicles abreast on the roadway but always there is a little "honk" to say hello....I'm just right here....or I'm pulling out now.....or I'm pulling back in now. Whatever they're saying to one another....it all works. There were people walking everywhere. For the most part women carry umbrellas to protect them from the sun and men cover up with scarves so only their eyes are showing. I think it must be even hotter under all that fabric but Lilo assures me that by keeping the sun off their skin they stay cooler and as well....the fabric helps to keep their skin from getting darker than it already is.
Eventually we arrived at the Chocolate Hills only to discover that to get to the lookout....there were 214 stairs! Complicate that with the fact that it was already 37 degrees and about 100% humidity and that is a LOT of stairs! But...we did it and what a view it was. As we were hauling our butts up that long flight of steps there were a team of workers who were hauling bags of rock atop their heads as they ran up the hill beside the stairs! OMG...how they are doing that I do not know! They have their heads and faces completely covered and sun glasses on top of their face covering so even the slit in the fabric that is there for their eyes is hidden. They literally loped up that steep hill never losing their footing and all the while carrying the extra weight of the bag of rocks on their head! The reason they were carrying everything to the top is that they had a construction site at the top. I'm not sure if they are building a new larger viewing platform or what but whatever it is....it looks like it is all going to be made of concrete. As much as I sound like I'm complaining about the 214 stairs (or should I say 428 cuz you gotta go down them too!) but honestly....it was worth every step. The view is fantastic and the hills are so unique. I can imagine that if we were seeing them when they're brown...it would look like mounds of chocolate out there. By the time we got back to the bottom we were both ready for a drink so a cool cup of fresh coconut water sure hit the spot. Yummy! There was no rush for our departure so rather than hopping back in the car I decided to take advantage of a trio of massage therapists who were working at that location. All three of them were blind and it was interesting to learn that in the Philippines there is a program for blind men and women where they can train or retrain as massage therapists. My guy used to work as a welder and in construction and he has embraced his new work with great success as was evidenced by the great foot massage I enjoyed while taking in the unique views of the chocolate hills. By the way...Bohol used to be underwater and the hills are coral that has a specific type of vegetation growing on it. That vegetation turns brown at a certain time of the year - hence the "chocolate" descriptor.
The next once in a lifetime stop was at the tarsier sanctuary. Those little primates are born with fur and the ability to see immediately. There are only 114 of them left in existence and we saw 6 of them today! The tarsier was inspiration for both ET and Yoda from Star Wars. He is tiny - maybe 5 or 6 inches long with a skinny tail that is as long as his body. He is nocturnal and so all we got to see them doing today was lazing around in the safety of a tree. But...don't feel badly for us....we got to see him up close! Each of them was only about 6 or 7 feet away from us so we had a really great view....they're just really really small. Getting to see this little creature who is so close to extinction was an amazing treat...hopefully something will be able to be done to save the species. Oh ya...I forgot to mention that in order to get to where the tarsiers were perched in the trees we had to climb many many more stairs and none of these stairs were man made or evenly spaced so traversing them required strict attention to where you were putting your feet! It reminded me of a stop in Cairo at the pyramids where our guide instructed us to look down when we walked and then STOP to look up. This place deserved that same instruction. It would have been downright dangerous not to pay close attention to where you were walking and the temptation to look for the tarsiers in the trees was soooo great!
Another interesting stop was at the 2nd oldest church in the Philippines. It was in the town of Loboc and was badly damaged by the earthquake a couple of years ago. There are massive repairs underway but we were still able to wander through the building that houses both a museum and the chapel. Half of the chapel was closed to the public however but we were still able to see the workers atop their perches high in the scaffolding. Once again, safety concerns to not drive work conditions and the young men working at 25-30 feet in the air wore flip flops on their feet and no safety harnesses were in sight. They would jump from bar to bar on their scaffold and looked more like they belonged in a circus than on a worksite. Other than how interesting it was to watch the workers, the age and size of this church was pretty impressive too. The floors upstairs (yes...there were more stairs at this stop too!) were absolutely gorgeous. The floorboards were at least 12 inches wide and solid wooden planks that had been polished by the boots of the million feet that have walked here over the past few hundred years. In the chapel the stained glass windows where the highlight for me. We happened to be there at just the right time so the sun was shining on the perfect angle to shoot rainbows of colour onto the walls inside the chapel.....it was really beautiful.
Another wonderful stop was our lunch break. We decided to splurge and go for the floating restaurant which included a one hour cruise down the Loboc River, a full buffet lunch that boasted a wide variety of Filipino fare, onboard musical entertainment, and a special stop where a local group welcomed us to their shores with a traditional dance and songs. It was very pleasant to be out on the water, the lunch was absolutely delicious (even the little deep fried fish that looked like skinny croutons with eyes) and I especially enjoyed the young jackfruit that had been cooked in coconut milk. That was the first time I'd had jackfruit that way and I look forward to the next time I see it somewhere! I should add here that yes...there were stairs at this stop again! We had to hike down a flight to get to the boats and then at the end of our hour it was another flight back up to the car park area. And really....it's not fair of me to say "splurge" on this stop as the total price was 450/person which works out to about $13 and our lunch was worth more than that!
Although we decided not to stop at the Manmade Forest, but rather to "just take pictures with our eyes" (this description made Lilo laugh!) it too is worthy of mention. It is acres and acres of mahogany trees that were planted sometime in the 50's and that today give the feeling of being in a massive park. The temperatures are lower, the trees are perfectly spaced, and there is not a native palm in sight...it's just a perfect mahogany forest.
By the time we hit the final stop of our tour at the "souvenir shop"....I almost cried when I saw more stairs. Whoever built these places should be shot! OR....I should just stop whining and hoof it up and down them. :). The souvenir stop didn't really appeal to either of us by that point in the day so we decided to cut that stop very short and head back to the resort where we were greeted by a group of kids, who live across the street, and who were all climbing the same tree. There must have been 10 of them in that tree....it looked like the tree was losing the battle but it also looked like those kids were having a ton of fun. It is great to be back to our "home" and we are both looking forward to a day of poolside again tomorrow.
Till then,
L & L
Thanks for sharing another great day!!!
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