Exploring Bohol

Monday, May 26, 2008--Tagbilaran (Continued)

After finishing at the cyber cafe, I stopped at a large restaurant half a block from my hotel called Jo's Chicken. It's an open air place with live trees in the upstairs dining area. I sat at a table by the railing and watched the action down on the street below and at the barber shop across the street while I waited for my food. They specialize in BBQ chicken and pork, so I got a combination plate with 1/4 of a chicken on a skewer with a tart lime taste and 5 chunks of pork on a skewer with a thick sweet sauce. Both were good, but the pork was a bit tough. Would have enjoyed having two pieces of the chicken instead. Ate it with rice and a sauce for the rice.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008--Tagbilaran

I was tired all day today. I guess it was due to walking with my luggage so much yesterday--going to the port in Cebu and then searching for a room here in Tagbilaran. I slept until 8:30 and didn't leave the room until almost 10:30. That's later than usual.

I went to the center of town to see the sights. I bought a bottle of water, then I went to the Cathedral, the state capitol, and passed some old homes. I returned to the port to get some information from the tourist office. Then I returned to the room and immediately fell asleep--a deep sleep that lasted over an hour.

Around 17:00, I went out again. This time I walked out the road from my hotel into the countryside. I always enjoy getting out of towns. The people there are usually so surprised to see a tourist walking by, and they also tend to be friendly. Many people said hello to me. I eventually stopped when I came to a church where I could hear native singing. It seemed to be only women and girls inside with the priest, and all the girls were wearing angel wings. I don't know what the ceremony was about, but the singing was beautiful. I sat on a concrete-filled tire beside a man and his child on another tire. After the singing ended, I backtracked into town again.

I ate at Saya's, another big restaurant in the area. They specialize in Filipino food, and the waitress said that the noodles were the best. Therefore, I ordered pancit canton which is one of my favorite Filipino foods (although I like pancit bihon which was not on the menu better). The dish I got was huge. It filled a large oval plate and would have been enough to feed two people. It had egg noodles, green onion, carrots, pieces of meat (probably beef, but maybe dog, horse, or goat). pieces of chorizo (sausage), and pieces of chicharon (fried pork skin). To go with it, I ordered a San Miguel beer. They had one that was grande, so I got that figuring it would be 600 ml the way the large beers are in Brazil and other countries these days. But it was 1000 ml! That was a lot of beer, but it cost less than $1.50 U.S. and it helped me get through a lot of pancit canton!

Back in the room, I watched a couple of films on TV. Then a read a little before going to bed at 23:00.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008--Around Bohol

I decided to go out to some of the tourist sites on the island today. First, I walked to the bus terminal which is out on the edge of town--a 30 minute walk from my hotel. I caught a bus to Tubigon. There I saw the city hall and the church--both nice old buildings. It wasn't as big of a town as I expected, but it had a nice feel about it. It was a small city with a rural atmosphere somehow.

Then I caught a bus going from there to Carmen where the Chocolate Hills, the major tourist site of Bohol, are located. On the trip, I sat with a 23-year-old man who works at a cyber cafe in Tubigon and visited with him. There were plenty of the Chocolate Hills along the roadway so that it wasn't necessary to hire transportation to go out to the the "official" site. I don't think they are anything really special, and had questioned whether to even to go the area. However, it is the major thing to see here, so I went. But I didn't see more than could be seen from the highway. I did like the land around there, however, and decided to take a walk in the area. I chose a country road that took me through small villages and past interesting rural homes with walls woven out of leaves in nice geometric patterns. Eventually, my route brought be out at the highway, and I caught a final bus to bring me back to Tagbilaran.

On the final bus, I sat next to Charlie, a boy I took to be about 7 years old. But he proved to be 12 and to be a good English speaker. We visited the whole way back into town. He lives in Carmen and was coming here for 2 days to stay with his sister while visiting both her and his two brothers who live here in town. He was looking forward to eating at Jolly Bee, the Filipino burger chain. Carmen is too small to have one, so going there is a treat when he comes into Tagbilaran. When the bus stopped at one place, there were people selling food items through the windows. He bought a package that had five things inside wrapped like tamales but using banana leaves. He offered me one. It is a special treat inside made of sweetened and jellied coconut. It was tasty and fun to try.

The day is gone now. And I am tired again. I will find a place to eat tonight and stay inside again, I guess. But it was been a good outing even though I spent almost 6 hours on buses.