The last time I had a long vacation was in La Union. It was in December 2021. After that, I didn’t have enough time to go out of town again. This year started with a lot of deadlines for work, graduate school, personal life, and other hustles. No complaints. It was a ‘happy pagod.’
I intentionally did not book any long weekend trip because it wasn’t in my priority (source: my 2022 Planner). Hence, this Bohol trip was actually a graduation gift and birthday celebration at the same time. It was a reward for all the struggles, adjustments, and other trials I’ve overcome for the past months this year.
Day 1 – Chocolate hills and everything in between
We left Manila at 7:00am. It was one of the earliest flight. We arrived in Bohol after one hour. Then, upon arriving in Panglao International Airport, we were greeted with buses, and private cars offering their services. What we chose was the bus ride instead. We decided that for the first day, we’ll do mostly tourist-y things.
The travel time from Panglao International Airport to Tagbilaran City was about thirty minutes. We reached the bus station. In front of that was the Island City Mall. We ate our breakfast there. I didn’t have any booked tours yet so I looked on Facebook and sent a message to a Facebook page. We hired a driver/tourist guide for 2,900php.
We went first to Chocolate Hills. It was a bit rainy but it was a fun experience. We took the usual photos like what the usual tourists would do.
After Chocolate Hills, we headed to Bohol Tarsier Conservation Area. Another tourist spot in Bohol. We saw some tarsiers which reminded us of our shih tzu, Tyni.
Then, we went to man-made forest.
After some time in this forest, we ate lunch at Loboc River. There were lots of foreigners here. This was one of my dream destinations. Now it finally happened. Thank You, Lord.
Day 2 – Our Lady of Light Church in Loon, Bohol
We woke up a bit late. We took our time because we both agreed that this trip would be a slow travel. Slow yet relaxed. If you’ve been reading my blog, you’d remember how enthusiastic I was before when it comes to ticking places to certain destinations. But now, I promised myself not to rush and take my time whenever traveling. So that’s what I did!
We took the van ride going to Loon. That was about 90 pesos fare. It was more than an hour trip going to Our Lady of Light Church in Loon, Bohol. The travel was worth it. We were able to see this church near the sea.
The church was said to be built by corals. It was destroyed during the war, it was reconstructed by the National Museum later on. Luckily, we saw the sacristan mayor. We talked to him, and he toured us around the church. We even went up to the kampanaryo–which was so amusing. We were able to see century old bells. Bells that survived a war. Wow.
We were able to see (close up!) some bells owned by the church.
Aside from Miagao church in Iloilo, this was one of my favorite churches I’ve seen so far and I thank God to finally visit here.
Day 3 – Panglao, Bohol
After roaming around Loon and Tagbilaran City, we headed to our next destination which was Samadhi Resort Panglao. My friend recommended this place to us. Her recommendation is superb. This resort is so relaxing and great.
It was so relaxing that we didn’t spend time taking photos. We were mesmerized. Period.
It’s me trying to be instagrammable.
After leaving our places in Samadhi, we headed to Alona Beach. We stayed there for a while. Look at the view. Eat kwek-kwek and barbecue. We also had our dinner there. The view was so nice. However, we didn’t try the island hopping. Budget constraints!
We instead had a tour in Panglao. This cost 1,000php. Basically, we went to another church, a cave, and Bohol Bee Farm. Everything was so nice and worth-trying. Pictures were uploaded in Instagram instead. Hehe.
This is my favorite photo from this trip. Our third day in Bohol was the steadiest among my trips. We spent our time at the beach. We looked at the beautiful views. We had our dinner here. We get to listen to kids singing using their natural voice.
We basically just look at the horizons and wonder if God will allow us to travel more.
Our trip ended on a Sunday. We were happy. We were recharged.
I hope you, who’s reading this, will also find the rest and happiness you deserve.
Amen