Undiscovered Beauty

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My friend Dan and I decided to make the quick journey over to the Philippines for our Chinese New Year holiday in January. We wanted to trek somewhere there weren't many tourists. We found a great spot on Bohol Province, called Panglao Island. Dan just arrived in Asia about 2 weeks prior to this trip. I had been living in Taiwan for about 1 1/2 years prior to this trip. If you ever get the chance to go to the Philippines, I highly suggest it. There is some great scenery and there are wonderful people everywhere. The Bohol area is especially beautiful and boasts some of the coolest sights such as the Chocolate Hills and the Loboc River. I will let my pics speak for themselves. Each day and night was a crazy adventure and we rented motorbikes daily to explore the islands. There were always these cute little girls walking around in packs trying to sell seashells to the foreigners. I think there were only about 20 foreigners total on the island and it was completely serene. The beach we stayed on was called Alona White Sand Beach. I did end up getting really sick one night, but I think it was due to the fact that I had way too much to drink and we were eating seafood, freshly pulled from the ocean. I plan on going back here soon and hope to explore some other areas of this beautiful country.

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Photos

Absolute Beauty
This was the view from our doorstep.

Setting Off
These little motorbikes were perfect for exploring the island.

Tagbilaran City
The closest town over the bridge from Panglao Island.

Loboc River
This river was amazing, you could see the snakes swimming by as our boat was being rowed down the river.

The Tarsier
These little guys are considered the smalles marsupials alive. They are amazing! I had to stand really still to keep him on my head.

The Thinking Man
Great small waterfall on the river.

Pondering
Great small waterfall on the river.

Tarsier Up Close
In the backwoods of the mountains.

The Crew
A couple of backpackers we ran into at "Nuts Huts" on the Loboc. Rich is a cool Aussie and Tiffany was from Canada. Ironically, she works in Taiwan too.

Swimming in the falls
We found this great waterfall deep in the mountains near the Antiquera Market and decided to take a dip. Yeah, I'm jumping off the rock, but that was nothing compared to Dan's double flip with a perfect dive, Olympic style!!

Chocolate Hills.........aahhh
take in the view, it was almost surreal!

Chocolate Hills.........aahhh
take in the view, it was almost surreal!

Dan the man!
get em cowboy!!

Chewba
homemade coconut wine.............it's really sweet, this was the night I got really sick!! lol