Thursday 7 June 2007

Pinoy travels: Camiguin -Panglao -Bohol -Cebu

06May- 13may07

Melinda drove Jon, Elayne and I in her super-cool Owner Jeepney to the port to catch our overnight ferry. I have to admit that during the process of buying the economy ticket and walking to the vessel in the still, dimly lit night was met with quiet trepidation, as I've never actually travelled on a boat over night before and have heard dreadful sinking stories prior to this point. Thank goodness for Jon and Elayne who had prior experience on sleeper ferries.





The trip was awesome! It was a smooth run and really pleasant sleeping with a gentle sea breeze. Got to enjoy the sun rise over the Bohol Sea.....


.....before arriving in Cebu harbour.

Jon and Elayne convinced me that there are more relaxed, interesting places to go in the surrounding area other than Cebu City. So, that morning I decided to go to Panglao, a small island adjacent to Bohol, seperated only by a couple of bridges.
This meant a 2hour fast boat ride to Tagbilaran -the main city of Bohol.
Cebu being one of the major sea gateways of the Philippines has an enormous port. The next pier isn't just 200meters away - it can be 2kms away! So of course, I arrive in pier 2 and was told the vessels that leave for Tagbilaran depart from pier 1, only to get there and be told that I need to go to pier 3. I made sure my tricycle driver earnt his fare - poor thing.


Ok, so ferry ride to Tagbilaran....







....and made my way by taxi to Panglao. Sadly, time got away from me when I realised I had no photos of where I stayed -Bohol Divers Resort. My room was right up the back of the grounds, but the resort was on the beach, and as the name suggests, it had diving fascilities.

We went scubadiving around Balicasag -a small island not far from Panglao. I went with a group of experienced divers so this "intro" diver was left to her own divices for a while to snorkel around the island which was awesome! It was a good group, met some interesting people.

Next set of pics are from a day trip around Bohol.

Tagbilaran cathederal. Original state. Never been renovated.

Famous Chocolate hills. They really are round and scattered all around! Aparently they were formed after the sea receeded -mainly calcite deposits so thats why there's hardly any vegetation on top of the hills.Kids helping to bring in the cash. Lunch river cruise on Lomboc riverNative Tarsier Also went to Hinagdanan Cave on Panglao before going to Tagbilaran for a ferry back to Cebu City.


Had a couple of days in Cebu and visited Carbon Markets,





and Casa Gorordo Museum as well as taking in the city vibe












...before taking off for Manila




1 comment:

yvonne said...

I can't wait to hear about your scuba diving adventure!! How awesome!!