Blogs from Tagbilaran, Bohol, Philippines, Asia

David here... The 2 hour ferry journey over to Bohol and Tagbilaran was alright. We were given water and a biscuit and entertainment was provided by a film being shown (aptly, Battleships). My only complaint is that if you have signs up saying no smoking and mention it in your safety video, enforce the rule. As we approached the pier area to dock, a huge Brahminy Kite (in Australia apparently it's known as a Red Backed Sea Eagle, which seems more apt for such an impressive bird) swooped alongside us. We'd seen these birds before, on Koh Chang, but not this close. It used the air currents to circle round and then dived down towards the waters surface to catch a fish. As it flew back up it dropped the fish. It was an amazing sight ... read more

Negenentwintig dagen, twee tyfoons, een moesson, heel veel muggenbulten en mierensteken (het zijn niet alleen de rode mieren die steken), talrijke vlammende zonsondergangen en dubbel keer zoveel mangococktails en tientallen keren "Feliz navidad" later, is het tijd voor ons om het Filipijnse archipel te verlaten. De mensen zijn bijzonder vriendelijk, het water heerlijk warm en helder. De reuzeschildpadden vinden dat ook en genieten van het zeegras, wij van de aanblik van die vriendelijke slome grazers onder water. Toch, zonder onderwatercamea (cadeauhint) kunnen we jullie geen beelden zenden lieve lezers, van wachten tot de regen voorbij is met vervellende ruggen kunnen we geen spannende verhalen maken, we gaan verder, op avontuur! Bangkok. 29 Tage, 2 Typhoone, ein Monsoon, viele Mücken- und Ameisenstiche (nicht nur die roten, auch die schwarzen stechen), zahlreiche flammende Sonnenunt... read more

Moving on from Cebu, it was a 2h fastcraft to the neighbouring island of Bohol, where its capital Tagbilaran would be my staging area. Tagbilaran might as well be tricycle capital of all of Philippines, with its innumerous noisy critters scooting around what really isn't that big a town to begin with. I'm not quite sure why there seems to be a particularly high concentration of tricycles here, considering the population isn't that great, given the size of the island. But anyway, pretty much everyone who comes to Bohol has two things in mind -- the Chocolate Hills and tarsiers. The Chocolate Hills are a scattering of some 1200 regularly-shaped and roughly even height mounds in central Bohol, which were supposedly formed by the uplift of coral deposits and the action of rainwater and erosion, though ... read more

Day 59 (Sun 4thNov) Woke up early again, starting to become a bit of a habit. Was showered and fed and out the door by 8. Walked to the bus stop where I was told there were minivans going to Baguio City, from there I could go up the west coast to Vigan. Hopped on the minivan, paid and waited to leave Banaue. Once the minivan was filled we left. I’d been told it was 6 to 6 ½ hours on good roads. Funny that as it ended up being nearer 8 and the road was terrifying. It seems there’s a huge mountain range in between where I was going from and too. The road was very windy and had horrible drops off the side, at some points off both sides. The drops in areas were ... read more

So today was somewhat of an adventure. We walked to hand back in the beer bottle, got back our 10 pesos, and got a trike for 30 pesos to the bus terminal. There we got a bus for 50 pesos each to take us to the Chocolate HIlls, a 2-hour journey. The bus was absolutely packed -- three to a seat, some hanging out the sides, and a couple on the roof. We went through some pretty scenery and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride there. We were dropped off on the side of the road and started walking up a hill. There we had to pay for tickets to enter, then kept walking up to find a little restaurant, souvenir shop, and a couple lookout points. We walked up to the top, snapped a couple of ... read more