Blogs from Panglao, Bohol, Philippines, Asia - page 5

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Asia » Philippines » Bohol » Panglao November 26th 2008

My niece Suzette teased me about my blogging only about my foreign travels, never on my local trips. Gave that a thought, and decided I should have really done some. Not so much for myself, but more for those who may wish to check out some of our local sites. Frankly, I enjoyed these trips around our islands just as much as I enjoyed my foreign travels. Perhaps I only felt compelled to write about my travel adventures when they last longer than 4 nights, never for shorter adventures. But I am changing all that now. So here goes........... From Manila to Tagbilaran, Bohol I actually meant to bring my other niece Mayette for this trip, but she's busy. So, Suzette got lucky. Started our adventure with a mid-morning flight via Philippine Air Lines from Manila ... read more
Panglao Vista
Our Forest Cottage
Breakfast at Bohol Bee Farm

Asia » Philippines » Bohol » Panglao October 22nd 2008

Den gestrigen Tag verbrachten wir mit einer Motorraderkundung von Bohol, besser gesagt, einem Teil dieser doch ziemlich großen Insel. Glücklicherweise liegen die Touristenattraktionen im Südwesten, nicht allzu weit von Panglao entfernt. Da das Essen in unserem Resort nicht sonderlich gut ist, frühstückten wir in Alona, wo ein wahres Juwel erst kürzlich eröffnet hatte. Das Charts Art Café in einem stilvollen, maurischen Komplex mit kleiner Veranda, Cushions und Hängematte macht seinem Namen Kunstcafé alle Ehre. Es gehört von der geschmackvollen Einrichtung her definitiv zu den schönsten Cafés in Südostasien, selbst die Speisekarte ist Gemälde inspiriert. Der Kaffee ist ebenfalls hervorragend, während das Essen eher durchschnittlich und teuer ist. Auf Vorbestellung gibt es jedoch günstige, frische Laugenbrötchen (20 P), und diese mit Eiern und Cappuccino machen ein wunderbares Frühstück. ... read more
Bohol
Bohol
Bohol

Asia » Philippines » Bohol » Panglao October 2nd 2008

Panglao Island, Bohol, The Phillipines This will be a very quick one as Im short on time and also trying to figure out if we can get a bus to where we want to go tomorrow. Sounds simple but it's not! We flew into Cebu in the evening to avoid Manila, and only stayed the one night. Which was just as well as the hotel we found ourselves in was in the bogeyest part of Cebu. We asked the receptionist if it was safe to go out for a wander, and she said yes, just dont take any valuables and proceeded to tell us of other Westerners who "lost" P30,000. We stayed in and watched telly! The next day we caught the boat to Bohol, the next island over and made our way by tricycle to ... read more
Alona Beach, Panglao Island, Bohol
Alona Beach, Panglao Island, Bohol
The view from my towel

Asia » Philippines » Bohol » Panglao July 14th 2008

So maybe this is more information then some of you want to know, but I have stopped shaving my legs here. Taking a bath out of a bucket is hard enough, and absolutely not condusive to shaving, and most of the women I know in this region of the Cordillera don't shave anyway, so I have swallowed my vain pride and stopped altogether. I have been humming and hawing over this decision for a while, usually with the most conviction while perched shivering on the edge of my seatless toilet, struggling to get the hair out of my way too expensive bic disposable in a scrub bucket. I made the final, I feel, bold decision, about a month ago... which now means that I am pretty hairy. Now, I say bold decision for a couple of ... read more
Sun rising as they push the boat away from the beach.
Panglao Bay in the morning
Dolphin Watching... (read: chasing)

Asia » Philippines » Bohol » Panglao April 7th 2008

The Philippines has hit a new low on transport - pre-recorded karaoke on buses! Yes, it's not enough to listen to the stuff live. A recent bus across the island of Bohol played it full blast for much of the trip. Horrendous! As if that wasn't enough, they then changed their music to boy bands. I couldn't quite decide which one was more painful! I have also learned a new life skill - sleeping while sitting completely upright. For the two years I spent living in Japan, I never did quite understand how people could sleep while sitting upright or even standing on public transport. Well, after our 5th almost consecutive day on the road, I have finally mastered it, and for a whole 30 minutes - hoorah! Anyway, back to that busride with the pre-recorded ... read more
Chocolate Hills
Created by a lovesick giant's tears or the uplifting of coral deposits...hmmm, I wonder?!
Not entirely sure that our tricycle driver up to the Chocolate Hills had his license!

Asia » Philippines » Bohol » Panglao January 5th 2008

Forgot to mention in the last blog that we went and saw the Chocolate Hills and Tarsiers on Panglao Island. We were told that Tarsiers only live on this island and are protected by the government (as they were becoming fewer and fewer). They are nochturnal so sleep during the day but seemed to wake up to eat some crickets that we were feeding them. They are about the size of a big fist and can jump up to 3 metres - unbelievable! The Chocolate Hills is an unusual geological formation in Bohol, Philippines. It is composed of around 1,300 perfectly cone-shaped hills of about the same size, spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometers. They are covered in green grass that turns brown during the dry season, which gives them their name. ... read more
Sunset in Bohol
Dancers
Day of the wedding

Asia » Philippines » Bohol » Panglao January 4th 2008

Our flights from Chiang Mai was to leave at 9 PM which would give us ample time to catch out 1:00 AM flight from Bangkok to Manila. We got to the airport and were informed by Air Asia that our flight was late by an hour. As we waited, we had two more delays and didn't board the plance till 11:00 PM. We were all thinking there is no way we can make this connection and would hope to get on the next flight tomorrow (although we would miss the wedding). I pleaded with the ticket counter lady saying Mike was in the wedding and that we HAD to make the connection. She said sorry ma'am I do not think you will make it. So grumpy and frustrated we got on our plane. We arrived in ... read more

Asia » Philippines » Bohol » Panglao December 11th 2007

One of the reasons I chose to travel to Bohol was to see the Tarsier - a crazy monkey-bat like creatyure with huge eyes and a rotating head. The animal is endangered and Unique to the philippines. Bohol is also famous for the chocolate hills - a crazy mound of hills made from Coral over thousands of years. I suggested the trip to John - he agredd to split the taxi. Then Sharon from London came along, and we met another Girl called Anna, who also fancied the trip, so that was great! Cheap trip - split 4 ways!!! Result. Also went to the Loboc River on a cruise which was really funny - a slight tourist trap, but funny all the same - we were serenaded by laods of people in a south pacific stylee! ... read more
Loboc River cruise with my new friends
Chocolate Hills
Chocolate Hills

Asia » Philippines » Bohol » Panglao December 7th 2007

So I went for my next day of dives with the Dive shop on the beachfront. We wet to 'the sanctuary' just of Alona beach. The clarity was amazing and the variety of fish just brilliant. I was calm and serene watching the fish swim by. Then my breathing became very difficult - from my training I realised it was likely to be C02 not being removed from the aqualung, so I breathed deep and calm. It just got worse until I could not breathe. I made this clear to my instructor and unfortunately he didn't realise that I was having big problems. I knew I needed a clear air supply and the feeling I had was so bad. I then grabbed him and he still would not give me assistance. He then decided to make ... read more

Asia » Philippines » Bohol » Panglao December 4th 2007

Finally got to Panglao Island, off the coast of Bohol by taking a ferry from Cebu City. I travelled with John - a Scottish guy who (believe it or not) had just been stabbed in Manila by 'hold-uppers'. Being a Scotchman he decided not to let go of the money belt even after being faced by a knife. Instead he had a scuffle and got stabbed in the leg. The hold-uppers got away with just blood. He had to go to hospital for a few stiches and was a bit worried about being in the philippines cos this had happened within hours of him arriving. So after meeting a friendly face in Cebu, he decided to come with me, to a place he'd never heard of. Panglao Island was a nice surprise - easygoing, very quiet ... read more
Alona beach sunset
Alona beach sunset + me




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