Hills made of chocolate and kooky critters.
Sadly the hills in central Bohol, Philippines weren’t made of chocolate, but it was home to one of the kookiest creatures I’ve ever laid my eyes on. After leaving the tropical paradise of Anda I headed inland to the town of Loboc on the the Loboc River where I stayed with Filma and her two children Joshua (9) and Isabelle (6) in another homestay through the Philippines Homestay Experience. This was quite the step up from my homestay in Anda. Filma had a cook and a maid and the shower was inside the house and it was actually a shower instead of a bucket. I spent my time there cruising down the river in a floating restaurant, riding a clapped-out scooter through the lush countryside and eating delicious food served up by Filma’s cook. Here a few pics from my time in Loboc and beyond…
Filma’s cheerfully-painted house in Loboc, Bohol
The view from Filma’s front gate (the house on the right was where I ‘hired’ my scooter from.
The view from the back door!
Filma on her way out to work at a cable TV channel in Bohol’s capital Tagbilaren City (one hour away by bus).
The maid, the cook and the kids.
The Cook in the outdoor kitchen.
The dining room (my bedroom was just off to the left after the doorway).
Filma’s next door neighbour who every morning at around 8 o’clock would ask if I’d like to come over for a drink. As in whiskey or beer. ‘Come on, let’s get drunk!’ he would say when I declined every morning.
My floating restaurant on the Loboc River (one of many!) and…
…the large and tasty buffet.
The very green Loboc River and a local band and dance troupe waiting to perform (each floating restaurants pulls up to listen to a couple of songs).
The Chocolate Hills (sponsored by Cadburys). Actually they are called the Chocolate Hills because the turn a chocolate-brown in the dry season.
This is a tarsier – the kooky little critter fits in your hand has eyes that are, by scale, 150 times bigger than a humans. They call also jump 40 times their own body length and eats frogs, birds and bats. They are endangered, but I went to a tarsier sanctuary where they had around 40 of the little fellows.
The delightfully decorative Filipino Jeepney (public bus). This is the one I took from Loboc to the capital Tagbilaren City.
I stayed in Tagbilaren City for a couple of days and hired a scooter and rode to Panglao Island, Bohol’s biggest tourist destination. It was full of tourists and tourist restaurants and bars (which was a little bit of a shock haven’t not seen any for a couple of weeks), but the main beach area was still stunning. And no high rises have popped up…yet.
I think I need another research trip back in the Philippines VERY soon.
