Easter week is a big holiday period for the Filipinos and the town did feel like everything was shutting early. We strolled round to a restaurant nearby to find it was closed. A guy came out and apologised as he was having some work done on his kitchen. He asked where we were from and gave us a warm welcome and told us he'd worked as a nurse in Birmingham for a few years. He recommended a place to go for a sundowner and a bite to eat, and before we knew what was happening he'd flagged down a tuk tuk and told the driver where to take us and agreed the fare of just 40 pesos which is much less than we'd been paying. Filipinos are just so friendly and helpful.
We were dropped off at the waterfront, but discovered all the places there were closed too. We walked a little way and found some street food stallls and eventually ended up in a pizza place. We were a bit shocked to see its other speciality was Basque cheesecake so we thought it rude not to try it.
The following morning (Good Friday) we hired a scooter for 3 days again and left our main bags at the hotel. The scooter was worn and battered compared to others we'd hired, but Colin enjoyed sitting on the seat......
We headed out of town towards the Chocolate Hills, one of the main tourist attractions of Bohol. We realised we needed more cash for the next few days - we'd not found anyone accepting credit cards for some time now, but of course now couldn't find an ATM that accepted foreign cards. Again, the ever helpful locals came to the rescue and directed us to a town hall that had a machine which I'm sure we'd have missed.
The Chocolate Hills are a series of conical shape mounds composed of grass covered limestone, however the grass goes a chocolate colour in the dry season, hence the name. We parked in a visitor parking area just off the main road, then paid £1.25 each for a transfer by minibus to the viewing area. It was very busy with lots of Filipino holiday makers as well as tourists. We decided to get a cold drink before climbing up to the viewpoint, when Colin realised he'd left his iPhone on the scooter handlebars. He manage to get a tuk tuk driver to take him back to the car park where thankfully his phone remained. Phew.
We continued on through a nice scenic route to Loboc, popular for its river cruises. We had booked a night at a riverside lodge where we hoped to see firefly's in the evening and do a river trip, but not on a big tourist boat. When we arrived we were a bit disappointed to find neither trips were running being Good Friday, but the lady at the lodge made some phone calls and got the firefly trip sorted that evening and a cruise down the river the following morning.
We went out on a small boat with 3 Spanish girls to watch the fireflies. The boat engine was very noisy so it wasn't quite the tranquil experience we'd envisaged, especially as when we did find a group of fireflies they had us clapping to wake them up and glow brighter.
After a hearty breakfast the following morning we went out on the same boat to cruise down the river. It was just the 2 of us this time and we were pleased we'd done it before the big tourist restaurant boats set sail. We passed locals bathing and doing their washing, and ended up at some small waterfalls where we got into the river for a refreshing swim.
On the return journey we pulled in at spring at the edge of the river where locals were swimming and having picnics and barbecues. Colin had a dip but said it was surprisingly cool water. I chatted to a young guy who said he worked at our lodge and was here with his family having a barbecue before he went to work later.
We continued our journey on the scooter which retraced a bit of our route the previous day, taking us past a man made forest . This is actually a mahogany forest planted 50 years ago as part of a reforestation project.
We carried on past the Chocolate Hills to a small town called Carmen (with a good coffee shop), then had a long journey to reach Anda on the south east coast of the island. We were both pretty saddle sore when we rolled up at the place we were staying.
We'd booked a night at a quirky looking place which had individual bungalows. We were met by the owner Kim , a charismatic German guy, and his 3 dogs. The place looked like it needed some tlc, but the accommodation was nice (even though we were moved from the front line bungalow). The place had a gate and steps leading into the sea. Colin wasted no time going out to snorkel, but as the sea looked pretty choppy with the wind I stayed back to test the hammock . Colin was out ages and what I thought were other snorkellers were actually fishermen setting out their nets. When Colin got back I was expecting to hear about all the wonderful stuff I'd missed , but sadly this time Colin said there was diddly squat there - dead coral and no marine life and he'd nearly got tangled in the fishing nets.
We headed down the coast about 5km on the scooter to the town of Anda where the beach was full of locals enjoying their Easter break. We ended up eating at the restaurant of Kim & his wife Shari. She grows organic fruit and vegetables which she uses in her restaurant and we did enjoy a good meal there. It was an exciting journey back to the lodge in the dark getting down the very rough and rocky track to the place. We enjoyed listening to the jungle live sounds around us - lots of unidentified rustlings in the undergrowth and some loud rain on the metal roof.
After a good breakfast the following day we got back on the scooter for a long hot uncomfortable journey back to Tagbilaran. Not long into the journey Colin said he thought the scooter was riding strange, and someone passing us on a scooter shouted that our rear tyre looked low. We remembered we heard a popping noise when we'd left the restaurant the night before. It was Easter Sunday and the road was busy with truckloads of locals heading to the beach. As luck would have it we were near a place with an airline , so we pulled in and Colin found a guy to have a look at the tyre. He tried inflating it but there was a definite puncture. He said he couldn't fix it, but he put a screw in the hole and pointed us to a vulcanising place a couple of kilometres back down the road. We couldn't believe our luck when we pulled up and they set about mending the hole. We were back on the road within 10 minutes and a cost of £2.
Colin knew the fix wasn't a permanent one, but hoped it'd get us back to Tagbilaran, however after less than half an hour we heard a strange noise, and when we pulled over we found the rubber fixing had melted on the hot concrete of the road. This time we were a way out of a town, however when Colin wandered down the road to a parked up tuk tuk he found it was a tyre place! The guy had a look at our tyre but said he didn't have an inner tube required to fix it. Our hearts sank, but unbelievably he said he'd put the scooter in the back if his tuk tuk and take us to the next town where he knew someone who could fix it.
We pulled up at a small workshop and woke the guy up who was having a nap. He said he could fix it with an inner tube, and showed us the state of the inside of the tubeless tyre - it should have had liquid in it to seal punctures, but it was clear this had never been replaced by the hire company. We again couldn't believe our luck finding these guys to help us on an Easter Sunday. We gave the guy with the tuk tuk some money for petrol and settled up with the guy who'd done the repairs, and set off again, this time feeling more confident the tyre would hold.
We continued on to the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary.
There are 2 conservation areas in Bolhol where you can see these little mammals - one of the worlds smallest and oldest primates - but we chose the not- for-profit sanctuary rather than the one where most tourists get taken on tours hoping it would be quieter which it definitely was. There were just 6 of us on our tour. Tarsiers are only found in four South East Asian states, and their numbers have declined significantly over the past 50 years largely due to loss of habitat as a result of deforestation. This sanctuary was set up in 1996. They are nocturnal creatures so during the day when the visitors come they are generally snoozing in trees. The workers in the sanctuary locate them each morning. We were slightly amused that after being given a briefing that we must not speak or make a noise while on the trail, the 4 tarsiers we saw were within feet of the visitor centre and you could here people’s voices from there. They are only 118-149mm long in total and have enormous round eyes, and they can swivel their neck 180 degrees like an owl.
They were incredibly cute - I think they look like the mogwais in the film Gremlins.
From here it wasn't too far back to Tagbiliaran where we returned the scooter, picked up our luggage and took a tuk tuk to a hotel in the resort of Panglao where we'd booked a hotel for the last three nights of our stay in the Philippines. Panglao Island is separated from the main island of Bohol by a narrow strait with two bridges connecting it. There is an airport here where we had our flight booked back to Manila. Although a popular place for tourists due to it's white beaches and good diving sites, we'd been told by most travellers it is too touristy and built up. Certainly that was our first impression as we drove through the centre with a big Mac D's sign. Our hotel was at the end of a long rutted track, but was next to Alona Beach, a beautiful stretch of white sand lined with bars, restaurants, and resort hotels. Colin got his final dives of the trip booked for the following day. We found a nice sunset bar (where we went all three nights of our stay) and dined at a Thai restaurant (of the ISIS Bungalow Resort) that served fresh grilled seafood sold from a separate stall (where we dined two night of our stay).
Colin enjoyed three dives - he saw lots of turtles and some beautiful puffer fish. I had a gentle day walking up into the town (where I had an amazing pancake) and reading my book on the beach in the shade. The sea got progressively rough through the day, and by the time Colin's boat returned it was quite challenging for divers and crew to get off on the shore.
We had planned to rent a scooter for our last full day and explore Panglao Island, but decided there probably wouldn't be much more of interest to see. After a healthy vegan breakfast, by lunchtime we were regretting our decision as we're not used to sitting around with nothing to do other than get our bags and gear sorted for our long journey back to the UK over the next two days.
We had a final sundowner, this time serenaded by two young children, and reflected on what a wonderful six weeks we have had in the Philippines. We definitely weren't ready to come home, and we have left ourselves plenty of places to come back to.
The following day we had a one hour flight back to Manila, then had a four hour wait for our flight back to the UK via Doha which was about 18 hours in total. We arrived back at Heathrow dazed and confused at 6.30 in the morning to a heavy grey sky and rain. In 6 weeks we'd only known clear blue skies, with the only rain being one night while we slept.
We have loved everything about the Philippines. The people are wonderful - so kind, friendly and helpful. Each island has a different feel and stunning sites to visit. For travellers it is very affordable too. We stopped in some lovely places, spending less than £30 a night on average (our cheapest being £13 in Cebu). We hired scooters for £4.50 per day. We had been told by Asian standards the food wasn't going to be up to much, but most of our meals were tasty and relatively healthy - fresh seafood and rice. The food and drink were also so cheap - if only we could get 10 scallops for £2 and a beer for £1 in the UK. The fruit is off the scale delicious - the sweetest and juiciest mangos ever. We do have withdrawal symptoms from mango shakes.
We now have a few weeks to gear ourselves up for our next trip in Lolly - three months in Scandinavia (Norway, Finland and Sweden). We also have a small matter of moving house - yes, we sold our beautiful home of 33 years and bought another one in Northamptonshire while we have been away, ready for the next chapter of our lives. To be continued.......