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Published: December 13th 2006
The next leg of my journey led me to the island of Bohol. The ferry from Cebu took me to Tagbilaron. Just a normal port city with nothing extremely unique, good enough to catch up on some emails and movies. After there I went to the town of Loboc. It is about an hour jeepney ride away and was such an unexpected surprise. It sits at the base of the Loboc River and is a quiet and serene place.
The hotel I stayed at was called "Nuts Huts". It is a Belgian run resort. I wasn't expecting too much from there, but was very well proved wrong. It is a very unique place. They provide extremely clean and well maintained huts on the river. Offer great advice and have many services to offer (restaurant, motorbike and bike rentals, sauna, massage...). I highly recommend that if you're in Bohol to look them up. You can email them at walterken@hotmail.com, jakzwijn@hotmail.com or call them at (63) 0920-846-1559. It is an excellent base to explore the island or to just to stay put and relax.
The first thing I did in Loboc was rent a motorbike. Such a nice break from taking
busses and taxis. I just drove around and enjoyed the beach road to Jagna. The next day I accomplished a little more. I rode to Bilar, where there was a nice, small butterfly farm. I was able to snap some photos and have a tour of the compound. One of the employees, Rufo, was getting off when I was leaving, so I gave him a ride home because it was on my way. Was a good thing to do because on the way, he asked if I wanted to see some monkeys. I said sure, so off we went. He took me to this monkey sanctuary, a former military compound. It was a worthwhile detour. The monkeys, almost on queue, jumped out of the trees and approached us. They just walked by and took a seat for some pictures. After that, I took Rufo home and was off to go see the famed Chocolate Hills. They are 1268 hills in the shape of Hershey Kisses. During the dry season they turn to a chocolate brown. The story goes that they're old teardrops from a heart broken giant. At the hills there is a vista point with a great panoramic view
of them. It is must do if you're in the area. I didn't stay too long because a tropical storm was approaching and i had about a 45 minute ride to get back to Loboc.
The next day it rained most of the morning, but I still walked to town with my umbrella. There I was able to make a new friend, Seutie. I was just wondering around when there were some locals drinking this brown concoction in the glass jug. They said, "Hey you, come drink some tuba with us". Me having no plans, happily joined. Tuba is a coconut wine. It's not bad. They usually mix it with a splash of coke and it has an enjoyable buzz. We sipped that through the night and munched on some dried fish and bbq. When the last jeepney towards my hotel was coming, Seutie asked me if I’d come with him the cock fights tomorrow, i quickly agreed and went home to rest.
So as planned i woke up and walked to town to join up with Seutie. He was very interested in US culture and politics, so I answered many questions for him on the way to
the cock arena. It was sandwiched between a few houses and in the center was the caged, mini-thunder dome looking pit. I was a little nervous at first, but quickly loosened up. The fights were very quick, due mainly to the 3 inch razorblade on the cock's leg. It was sad to see them killed, but at least it was short. At the end, I even placed a few bets and won. Made enough to cover the drinks and food after. It was a memorable experience.
The following day I was back to Tagbilaron to catch the ferry to Cagayan de Oro. Wish I could have stayed longer, but there's so much more to see.
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Katrina
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U R BraveHeart
Hi Erik! I love reading about your trip...it's kind of like vicariously traveling. Miss you! xxo