During my second one-year trip around the world, I decided that it would be a good time to explore Bohol and Cebu as I’ve never been there before. Despite being born in the Philippines, I spent most of my life in Canada. Visiting the country I was born was something that has always intrigued me. My trip to both Bohol and Cebu was interesting; although, the tail end of it didn’t end well.
Read this article to find out how much money I spent travelling to Bohol and Cebu.
Video – Adventures in Bohol to See Tarsiers, Chocolate Hills, and Hike Binabaje Hills
Arriving in Manila from Kuala Lumpur
My adventures in the Philippines started with a flight from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia going to Manila. We would arrive on Christmas day which is great as we can have a meal with my family living in the country.
My aunts decided to take Karen and me to eat different local Filipino dishes.
We wouldn’t be staying long as that evening, we took a flight going to Bohol.
Flying to Bohol
The flight from Manila to Bohol was just okay. We flew with Cebu Pacific which has very uncomfortable seats. It’s not as bad as our flight from Kuala Lumpur to Manila with Cebu Pacific but it’s still not great.
Upon arriving, we learned that taxis don’t exist on this island and the only way to our accommodation is with a shuttle service. Honestly, they were quite pricy but we had no choice but to go with this monopolized transport service.
One funny thing is that the driver was shocked I could speak Tagalog as they thought I was Korean. To be fair, I do look Korean but this became the theme during my entire stay in the Philippines.
Upon arriving at our hotel, we were left with a choice to go on a tour with our airport driver or the hotel. We chose the hotel as their partners had better prices for the customized trip that we wanted to do.
Manmade Forest
Our driver is a really cheerful friendly guy. We really liked him. First stop is the manmade forest just for some quick pictures.
Going to see Tarsiers
Then, we went to see Tarsiers which is an endangered specifies endemic to Bohol.
The picture looks big but these guys are really small.
I had a coconut after seeing the Tarsiers. I’d say seeing these little guys was pretty neat.
Checking out the Chocolate Hills
The next stop is the Chocolate Hills. Our driver helped us cut through the long line up and secure ourselves a ticket.
We drove up to the viewing point. If you didn’t know, the Chocolate Hills is the main highlight of Bohol. In my experience, there’s way too many tourists and it was crowded and annoying. This took away from the experience. The chocolate hills were cool but maybe nicer to see when they’re brown which happens during the summer months of April onwards.
We didn’t linger here too long and off we went for a long drive to Binabaje Hills.
Hiking Binabaje Hills
The drive here took a very long time. Around 4-hours. We also had trouble finding the trail head as this is not a typical tourist destination in Bohol.
We learned that hiring a guide is mandatory so we hired one which we would pay at the end of the trip.
The hike was much harder than we thought and it was also raining making it difficult and uncomfortable.
It was grueling and I was also dizzy as I didn’t eat lunch yet. After much challenge and difficulty, we made it to the top. There’s a rest stop there where we caught our breath.
Shortly after, we walked towards the viewpoint which was simply amazing. This hike was definitely worth it.
Unfortunately, it rained hard on the way down and I was soaked. We didn’t realize it was going to be such a rainy hike so on the long 4.5-hour drive back to Tagbilaran City, Karen, me, and the driver were cold. Our group was suffering the entire time.
We were starving by the time we arrived in the city and I bought Karen, me and the driver Jollibee to eat. Shortly after, we paid our awesome driver and ate our Jollibee before heading to bed.
Getting sick in Bohol
Unfortunately for me, the next day, I started getting sick. Being cold and wet for hours took a toll on my health and as of writing this article, I am still recovering from this terrible turn of events.
Still, we had to do our laundry so we went to a laundry mat to get them washed.
We also ate some food at restaurants which was pretty good.
In the evening, we went to the mall and ate some Jollibee before heading back to our hotel.
Ferry from Panglao to Oslob
My illness was getting worse as I was coughing non-stop. However, we had booked a ferry going from Panglao to Oslob to see the Whale Shark. It was a bit sketchy finding the place because we didn’t know if it actually existed. Lucky for us, many Caucasian tourist showed up and we all boarded the ferry.
The ride took about 2-hours long before reaching the Cebu mainland.
From there, we caught a tricycle (which charged us less than the Caucasian tourist funny enough) to our hostel.
Sick in Oslob
Upon arriving at our awesome hostel called Wayshack Hostel, I was feeling awful. I decided to cancel going to see the Whale Shark which sucks as I wanted to see them. However, I was freezing cold so I didn’t think it was a good idea.
We ended up eating lunch at a place called La Terrasse Restaurant and I’ve got to say, it’s an awful restaurant. Probably the worst place I’ve eaten in the Philippines. It was overpriced, the service sucked, the server was grumpy, and it took forever to get our food. I would not recommend.
Despite being sick, that evening, I decided we would walk 15 minutes to the next closest restaurant. This turned out to be a good decision as the food there was better. I was dying while walking but I just didn’t want to eat at the other terrible restaurant. We also bought some medicine on the way back to the hostel.
My sleep that night was horrible as I was delirious and had a full-on fever.
The next day, we ate at the terrible restaurant again and regretted it instantly as the food once again tasted terrible combined with bad customer service. But, I was too sick to walk anywhere far so we had no choice.
We said goodbye to this amazing hostel with fantastic customer service from the caretaker Kent. If I go back here again to attempt to see the Whale Shark, I’d stay here again.
Driving to Cebu City
The drive to Cebu City was extremely long due to horrible traffic. However, I was glad we opted for a private vehicle as opposed to a public bus. It was more comfortable that way and I was able to rest while being sick.
By the time we reached Cebu City, we had trouble getting into our hotel because there was a parade happening. Karen thought it was cool and she enjoyed watching this little parade.
Resting in Cebu City
For the next two days, my focus was just resting. We stayed at a Best Western hotel which had a sketchy breakfast that made Karen and me have stomach problems every time we ate it.
During our time in Cebu City, we also checked out a mall and ate more Jollibee. We got sick of Jollibee at this point.
The best meal we ate was at this unknown hidden Korean BBQ restaurant. This place is seriously good. I believe the name of the place is Pearl Meat Shop and Restaurant.
Before long, we flew from the Cebu Airport (a nice airport) back to Manila to celebrate the New Year with my family.
Back in Manila for the New Year
It’s always nice to spend the holiday season with family as we had a nice dinner and saw fireworks during this New Year. It was the first time Karen seen New Year celebration in the Philippines and she was excited to see all the explosions.
Road trip to the Philippine Mountain Province
From January 2-5, we did a road trip up the Philippine mountain province with my family. Our stops included Baguio City which was nice although my cough there was really bad. Next was Sagada which made my cough worse as it was freezing there. I also had some conflict with my family as I was grumpy as a result of being sick. We did resolve it and the consensus was we should’ve never done the road trip.
Our last stop was the Banaue Rice terraces which was very nice this time of the year and we discussed how we should have just went here instead.
Flying from Manila to Da Nang
Eventually, Karen had to fly back to Canada to go back to work. I stayed in the Philippines for a few more days before I also took a flight out of Manila and into Da Nang, Vietnam.
Conclusion
My trip to the Philippines started good but didn’t end well as I got sick there. As mentioned, I’m still coughing one month after I got sick; although, it’s improving. One day, I’d like to try and see the Whale Sharks again in the Philippines. As well, I’d love to go to the Mindanao province and hike up Impasugong Bukidnon and also see the Manjuyod Sandbar.
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