Best Christmas Vacation: Bohol!

Where in the world is the island of Bohol? I did forget to mention this in the early days of this blog so I'm very thankful to Treasures-by-Belinda for raising this to me. Being a Filipino living in the Philippines for the rest of my life, I truly did forget that though how much effort our tourism department places on promoting the Philippines there are really around 7,200 beautiful Islands. Thus I will be introducing you to one of the 7200 beautiful islands by giving you the location of it and well this blog.

The Philippines is divided into 3 different divisions Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Luzon's where Manila is located and Manila is the capital of the Philippines, the Philippine summer capital Baguio city, and one of the contenders of the 7naturalwonders of the world Palawan's Tubbataha Reef and St. Paul's Subterranean River, it's the home of the Philippine bureaucracy, the president lives there, senators and congressmen too. Second division of the Philippines is called the Visayas, home to the world famous Boracay Island. The Visayas has also been dubbed Tourism super region of the Philippines, due to the fact that most of the places here centers their businesses to accommodating tourists. One of these places in the Visayas is Bohol. It has white sand beaches, hotels and well, malls. The last division of the Philippines is Mindanao, who can forget the Food Basket of the Philippines? Mindanao is home to different pineapple plantations, and fruits, lots of them. Mindanao is also home of the Dakak beach resort and Siargao, the surfing capital of the Philippines. Mindanao is also the traditional home of our brother Muslims, though our brother Muslims can now be found just anywhere in the Philippines.

So that's where you can find Bohol.

Bohol is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, consisting of Bohol Island and 75 minor surrounding islands.[1] Its capital is Tagbilaran City. With a land area of 4,117.3 square kilometers (1,589.7 sq mi) and a coastline 261 kilometers (162 mi) long, Bohol is the tenth largest island of the Philippines. [2] To the west of Bohol is Cebu, to the northeast is the island of Leyte and to the south, across the Bohol Sea is Mindanao.

(lifted from wikipedia ) (photo lifted from Map of Bohol)

There are a myriad of things to see in Bohol. As you can see the one in the picture does sum up a few of the places I've been to in Bohol. These consist of different Natural or man made structures that offers a wonderful experience or basically have stood the test of time.

To name some:

*** Chocolate hills - Hills which turns chocolaty in summer and green in the rest of the year.
*** River Cruise - with an all-you-can-eat buffet, takes you from one part of the Loboc River to its very source.
*** Panglao - offers resorts with white sand beaches.
*** Hanging Bridge - made out of bamboo and cables, suspended on top of a river!
*** The Butterfly sanctuary - offers you a welcoming view on different colored butterflies!
*** Man-made Forest - Through the efforts of the people of Bohol the man made forest came to be a preserved area
where tree planting activities had been conducted by students and ended up becoming one of the most renowned forests
in the Philippines.
*** Baclayon Church - The Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Baclayon is considered to be one of the
oldest churches in the Philippines.

--- If I have time all of these will have their own sections in this blog.

Thousands of years of work Mother Nature came up with one of the worlds best landscape. The around 1,776 Chocolate Hills are spread over within the interiors of the Island of Bohol. This is one of the most magnificent scenery to be viewed in the Island. It's colored green for most of the year but when the clock strikes summer they turn into chocolaty hills, more like gigantic Hershey's kisses, nonetheless it has become one of the most visited spots in Bohol. While these hills are loved in the provincial community, it's also gaining supporters on the national and international levels where, they have been declared the country's 3rd National Geological Monument and proposed for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The Cruise isn't really that short or very long, but I assure you it's going to be the best one. The cruise will take you from the Loboc Church up to the source of the Loboc River. It's a relaxing treat for the workaholic and a great reward to the urban trekker. For the right price you get to ride on a cruise either day or night, dine in an all-you-can-eat buffet and get treated to an entertainment Boholano Style. All these for the right price!

A beach is a beach filled with broken corals. Boring sand, boring waves, but when you're in Bohol think again. Panglao Island offers a host of powdery white sand resorts, best for those people who wants to get away from all the hustle and bustle of city life. Here in Panglao Island it's all cozy, warm sunny beaches lined with palm trees and most of all pure powdery white sand beaches. The sand here is so fine, you'd think your stepping on powder (Quite an exaggeration, I know! But there's truly no other way to describe it!) Panglao Island does boast of a lot of Beach resorts from the cheapest to the most expensive. All these for the weary wanderer and at a price any traveler would appreciate.

One of the short stops of the trip from or going to the Chocolate Hills. This is filled with a few butterflies & moths. Caterpillars and Milkweeds are the stars in this Butterfly sanctuary.

And all these bees do is have fun, reproduce, and work to produce the sweetest thing for any sweet tooth! HONEY! and well, well, well! So, taste this sweet golden treat which is safe for me and you! Try it! They have bread spreads of different flavors mixed with honey...

A Tarsier or known as Tarsius Syrichta is a small monkey that inhabit the islands of Southeast Asia, but in the Philippines it enjoys life in the Philippine Island of Bohol. This little critter is one of the most famous animals in the Philippines. Considered to be endangered, Boholanos united to keep this little source of joy. Now the Tarsier is bred in captivity by different Tarsier breeders and is NOT FOR SALE as pets, gifts or anything. So when you get to Bohol don't forget to remember and stop by to see this little critter in action!

I do accept the fact that I do not know everything about Bohol. So here I've listed down some related information about Bohol which may help you if you decide to stay in Bohol. Read the statements I have quoted directly from their sites and click on their links.

1. Bohol-island
Welcome to Bohol-Island.com! , The Boholano Web Portal. Connecting Bohol to the whole world - since 1999. Created by Boholanos and Made in Bohol, this is the ultimate place to look for anything and everything about Bohol - The Philippine's #1 Tourist destination. And discover for yourself why Bohol proves to be a paradiseSandugo Festival. Meet friendly and hospitable Boholanos who are always ready to give a smile! The famous Tarsier found in Loboc, The Chocolate Hills, Pristine white-sand beaches at Panglao, spectacular marine life are even few of the wonderful sights and sounds you can dicover in Bohol!

Select a link to visit on your left and explore Bohol-Island.com!

»See the wonders of Bohol online. Go Sightseeing! and check out the Gallery for more pictures of the sights and sounds of bohol in the TOURISM section - bohol-island.com

2. Bohol Provincial Government
A showcase of information about Bohol, its government officials and their projects!

3. Bohol, Philippines God's Little Paradise
Allows you, the user to take make a search and view the different municipalities of Bohol not only the ones published on this blog but also other municipalities.

4. Wikitravel Guide
So how do you really get in and out of Bohol, depends on your location, location, location. Most of the people who visit Bohol do come from either Manila or Cebu

5. Bohol Board
This is another site which offers a very different glimpse of Bohol. One that showcases the beauty of Bohol from the Exterior Route.