Most tourists head to Tagbilaran City, the capital of Bohol Province, if they wanted to see the renowned Chocolate Hills itself. Usually, it is tagged on a package tour which goes to the “tourist belt” in southern coast. However, if you are doing DIY (Do-It-Yourself) tour or just want to avoid the influx of tourists heading to Tagbilaran, head on to Tubigon instead. In a matter of an hour or so, you’re right at the heart of Chocolate Hills—outside the tourist trail!
Bus heading to Tubigon from Carmen…a usual sight in rural Bohol. For more photos of the road trip in Bohol, click on the image.
There are direct flights to Tagbilaran City or taking the usual fast craft from Cebu to Tagbilaran, which costs more or less PhP 400 on regular fare, one way (and usually gets full). However, most tourists don’t know about going to Chocolate Hills through the town of Tubigon in northern Bohol.
Chocolate Hills of Bohol
Sagada is such an outdoor-oriented place. You won’t enjoy its beauty if you’ll just cuddle on your room or “not in the mood” to walk. Indeed, going to this town would burn up your calories! One of the best things to do it is to go all the way to Bomod-ok Falls. Going there is not like bring your car and a walk in a park. It’s all about the best of nature’s works, cultural exposure, and some good old exercise.
Bomod-ok Falls of Sagada
It wasn’t my first time cruise in the sea between Cebu and Bohol. Back in 2006, we had a wonderful yet thrilling ride with the waves of Hilutungan Channel, with habagat winds raging on. This time, we enjoyed the calm sea and the beautiful tropical weather, hopping in the coral islands. This is island hopping, sun, sea, and sand without driving far away from Metro Cebu…well in fact, the islands are within and at the fringes of Metropolitan Cebu (technically speaking)!
Hilutungan Channel of Cebu and Bohol
If I had flown (or zipped) fast and furious in B’lakayo in Gensan, I guess I have defied gravity in Lake Sebu, still in South Cotabato. This S3X Tour hasn’t been more adrenaline-laden than before. The day before, we went to one of the fastest. This time, we’re going to take one of the highest ziplines in the country—and boy I would want to have more!
The Seven Falls Zipline of Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, Philippines
Lake Sebu is well known to be a placid mountain town, the cultural domain of the T’boli people. While most would associate this place for the tranquil lake, the people with colourful t’nalak cloth, the brass bling blings and that famed tilapia, many Mindanao townsfolk flock here every weekend to enjoy one of the Philippines, if not Asia’s highest zipline, flying over Lake Sebu’s three of the famed Seven Falls.
It was my first time travelling beyond La Trinidad Valley and into central Benguet and all the way to Mountain Province in the Cordilleras. I was excited since it is also my first time heading to Sagada, and first time travelling in one of the most scenic, highest, yet (perhaps) precarious highway in the Philippines—Halsema.
Halsema Highway’s Landmark
Halsema Highway, or also known as “Mountain Trail,” spans more or less 150 kilometers between Baguio City, Cordillera’s regional capital, and Bontoc, the provincial capital of Mountain Province. The highway was named after Baguio City’s mayor, James Halsema, who led the construction of the road that connects Baguio to Bontoc and was eventually opened in the 1930s.
It is a widely known fact that Mount Apo is Philippines’ highest mountain, home of the rare but mighty Philippine Eagle, and located in Mindanao. However, a lot of people don’t know that the “King of Philippine Mountains” is also a volcano! And evidence that would prove that this mountain is alive is the boiling Lake Agco in its foothills.
Lake Agco in Mount Apo – Click on the photo for more images of the Lake
Tuka Marine Park Beach Number Three
It was just a random weekend when my friends and I went to western Sarangani for some relaxation. Out of random places, we went to Tuka Marine Park in the town of Kiamba, an hour and a half drive and 15 minute boat ride from General Santos City. Relatively an unknown to most outsiders of Soccsksargen, this is Sarangani’s alternative to the popular white sand beach of Gumasa in the town of Glan. Tuka is also a protected park, hence you’ll get to see its natural beauty, without much of the crowd.
Escolta and Carriedo
I was supposed to write about my personal Visita Iglesia last Holy Thursday, but I couldn’t help but notice the journey that we took, the characters and faces that the streets of Manila shows that Thursday. In this blogpost, I would like to go back to two streets which are two streets that are contrasting with each other, yet a mirror of Manila’s character: Escolta and Carriedo.
Manila has been the capital of the islands since the Spanish colonial era, and it has been a hub of political power and of commerce. From the northern banks of Pasig River, just across the walled city now called Intramuros, this became Manila’s economic hub because it’s near the docks. Between the districts of Binondo and Santa Cruz, Escolta’s prominence rose. On another side, connecting Quiapo to Santa Cruz is the busy street market of Carriedo.
Leap of Faith...well, it looks like a wide-body aircraft trying to lift off from the runway!
Call me a nomad.
Since birth, I have been roaming around the Philippines and was perhaps destined to roam the country and perhaps the world–how I wish. There was no event in my life that didn’t involve traveling. It is part of me and my family. It wouldn’t be me if it wasn’t for those frequent “family-work oriented excursions” that we had back in my childhood days or my adventures into the unknown.
Traveling is part of my system, and the way that defines Berniemack and HabagatCentral.
