Faith, Hope & Love » Bohol

Trip to Bohol, Day 1 (Part IV): Inambacan Cave, Punta Cruz and Dauis Church

Honney — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:16:06 +0000

After our tiring tour at Mag-aso Falls, we headed to Inambacan cave and spring since it’s also located in the town of Antequera. The cave entrance sits above the Inambacan Spring and has active underground river system. When we arrived there, there was a local guy washing his clothes and swimming at the same time. We’re glad he wasn’t naked! LOL. We just took a few pictures and hurried back to the car :car: where Greggy and our tour guide were waiting.

Our next stop was at Punta Cruz Watch Tower in Maribojoc. It was raining cats and dogs when we arrived so we had no choice but to leave Greggy, who was sleeping anyway, in the car again. There’s no entrance fee at this historical tourist spot. It’s like a mini park, but with a great view of the ocean. :love:

From its windows at the top, you can see Cebu, Siquijor, and Mindanao. What a stunning view! :cam: The tower was built in 1796 as a look-out post against pirates and Muslim marauders.

Dauis Church was our last stop. It was built in 1697 and the design was highly influenced by Byzantine and Romanesque architecture. It was past 5PM when we arrived at the church and there was a mass being held. Thus, it was kind of hard to look around. I got fascinated by the interior design of the church, especially the one on the ceiling. I secretly held my digicam up to take one shot, but the priest suddenly looked at me when the flash fired. mg: So out of respect, we just decided to leave. Haha!

We were supposed to visit other places as part of our itinerary for that day, but we’re too tired already. I asked Kuya Tatsky to drop us off at Alona Tropical Resort so we could check-in and rest. I told him to pick us up at the resort as early as 8AM on our 4th day for the Chocolate Hills tour. I also asked him to arrange the sea tour for us on our 3rd day. He was so nice!

To be continued…

Trip to Bohol, Day 1 (Part III): Mag-aso Falls

Honney — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 03:15:58 +0000

Aside from the enchanting Hinagdanan Cave, I was also very excited to see Mag-aso Falls since it’s one of the main attractions of Bohol. So when we’re finally there, I couldn’t help but stare at the lovely trees cascaded everywhere. The entrance fee only costs 10 or 15 pesos per head if my memory serves me right. Kids are free, which is a good thing. :sick:

Climbing down 197 steps to get to the falls was quite a struggle for us. My husband and I had to take turns in carrying Greggy to ensure his safety. It’s a good thing that the steps have metal handrails so we had something to hold on to. And as we got near the waterfalls, the sound of the cascading water became more deafening…

But when we finally reached the waterfalls, we knew that it’s all worth it. There were only four of us there (with our tour guide, Kuya Tatsky) so we had it all by ourselves! mg: My husband wanted to take a plunge due to the humid weather that afternoon, but I didn’t allow him. The current was too strong! :sick:

Mag-aso Falls is about 25-feet tall and is located in the town of Antequera, The Basket Capital of Bohol. more pictures…?

After taking lots of pictures :cam: , we decided to leave the majestic Mag-aso Falls. You can just imagine how tiring it was to climb up 197 steps again! LOL.

To be continued…

Trip to Bohol, Day 1 (Part II): The Enchanting Hinagdanan Cave

Honney — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 05:46:46 +0000

:exclamation: Here’s the continuation of the first part of our countryside tour. :bleh:

When I learned from kuya Tatsky that our next stop would be Hinagdanan Cave, I got pretty excited since it’s one of the tourist spots in Bohol that I’d really like to see. I even searched for its pictures online prior to our trip and was truly fascinated by its unique beauty. :heart: :hearty:

This cave has a very interesting history, by the way. It was discovered in the 16th century by a haciendero (land owner) who saw two adjacent holes on the ground while cutting up some weeds. Thinking that his discovery might lead to something else, he dropped some stones and to his surprise, he heard a resounding splash of water! So that instantly gave him the conclusion that this was a hole leading to a cave. Smartass, eh? :bleh: To gain access to the underground cave, he had to create a ladder. And there he saw dripping stalactites from the ceiling and protruding stalagmites on the ground. Plus, a deep lagoon connecting to the sea!

At the entrance, we were welcomed by the two cave tour guides on duty that day. One of them led us to the steep and narrow staircase going down to the cave. I was soooo excited! (and a little nervous… ):lol:

It was dark inside the cave. It smelled a little musty too. But at least it didn’t smell like urine just like how other travelers described it on their blogs. Lucky us! :bleh:

I glanced up and saw dripping stalactites at the ceiling. My jaw dropped in awe. But at the back of my mind, I was a little worried that those stalactites might drop on our heads! Hahaha. Talk about paranoia!

I was surprised at how knowledgeable our tour guide was when he started telling us about the cave. He was very nice and took the liberty of taking our photos and adjusting our camera settings so that we could still have nice shots inside the cave despite the darkness. Thank you, Nards!

More pictures here.

Our next stop is Mag-aso Falls in Antequera, Bohol. To be continued…

:exclamation: Travel Tip: You’ll find the cheapest tarsier ref magnets, key chains and T-shirts at Hinagdanan Cave. Don’t forget to buy these items there.

Trip to Bohol, Day 1 (Part I): Exploring Dumaluan Beach Resort and Bohol Bee Farm

Honney — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:19:42 +0000

Just last month, my family and I spent an unforgettable six-day vacation in Bohol. We did the first part of our Countryside tour as soon as we arrived at Tagbilaran Airport. Why? To save time and money! I got that tip from my online friends. That’s what tourists usually do since taking a taxi from the airport to any resort is really pricey. :car:

Anyway, our flight via Cebu Pacific was delayed for more than an hour so we arrived there at around 10:30 AM. Kuya Tatsky, our super nice driver and tour guide, was patiently waiting for us at the exit. And as requested, he immediately toured us around Bohol.

Our first stop was at Dumaluan Beach Resort where we had our early lunch. Dumaluan is one of the most popular beaches on Panglao Island. It has a nice beach front. The sand, as expected, is powdery white. Its public resort has a couple of nipa huts standing a few meters away from the beach. :hearty:

Dumaluan Beach Resort (public)
There were some local families occupying the nipa huts when we arrived so it was a bit crowded. My son Greggy immediately ran to the beach to swim. I couldn’t blame him. It was lovely out there. I convinced him to just look around while waiting for our food and he obliged wholeheartedly. That’s my boy!

The weather was a bit uncooperative that day. It was raining a little eventhough the sun was shining. Unbelievable! :sigh:

view from Dumaluan Restaurant (private resort)

After eating, we headed to Bohol Bee Farm Resort and took lots of pictures. This resort is popular for its organic products and restaurant that promotes healthy living. Everything they sell in their shop is made of veggies and they offer free food tasting! From home-made malunggay spread to salabat to squash muffins – name it! I ended up buying two packs of tablea coz it’s my favorite chocolate drink. Its aroma was undoubtedly enticing. Love it! :7:

A great spot for sun bathing and swimming at the cliff…The view from the farm was magnificent! k:

If you wanna go swimming, you need to go down from the wooded platform. The beach is a combination of corals and sand. But I won’t advise anyone traveling with kids to stay at this resort because the beach has no shore at all. Kids will be scared to swim.

We also visited the Hinagdanan Cave, Mag-aso Falls, Inambacan Cave and Spring, Punta Cruz Watch Tower and Dauis Church that day. But I’ll post about them next time. :bleh:

To be continued…

Our photos in Bohol

Honney — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:42:26 +0000

I’m finally done uploading all our vacation photos to my Multiply account. Click here to view them.

Anyway, I’m still very busy with work that’s why I can’t blog about our recent trip yet. Bohol is such an interesting place. Needless to say, it’s amazingly beautiful. You’ll miss half of your life if you don’t go there. I swear.

If you’re planning to go there in the future, let me know and I would be happy to send you the details of our travel expenses and itineraries.

The early bird catches the worm

Honney — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:27:52 +0000

I already booked a flight to Bohol three weeks ago. My husband and I went to Cebu Pacific to purchase the tickets but the line was too long that we ended up going home instead. It’s a good thing my mom-in-law has a credit card. She let us use her card to purchase the tickets via Cebu Pacific online and we just paid her in cash. She really made things easy for us!

:exclamation: Note: Deleted some private information for security purposes.

My original plan was to take a flight to Cebu, spend a day there to visit the famous Taoist Temple and ~~Kawasan Falls~~ in particular, then take a ferry going to Bohol the next day where we’ll be spending the remaining days of our vacation. But I had a sudden change of heart. I realized that it will be very tiring for the three of us.

So even if I wanted to see a glimpse of Cebu, I made a decision to just stay in Bohol with my family so the trip won’t be too tiring for us. We’ll be staying on Panglao Island but I’m still searching for a nice resort. I’ve already made some online inquiries regarding the cost of accomodation, airport transfers, island hopping and country side tours but haven’t made any reservations yet. Our trip is in January anyway. No need to rush. I’ll take care of everything when I’m no longer busy with work.

I’m so excited! I’ve heard so many good things about Bohol.

Can’t wait to be there!