Philippines Expat and Travel Blog February Archive

Bohol Tour Part 2

By ProTraveler at 02/12/08 22:09

I told you before I will share with you more of my trip to the beautiful Island of Bohol.

After the boring conference around 3pm, me and my friends went sightseeing and looked for something good to capture. But fate is not with us that time. My camera is out of battery, Jeon's camera is suffering from its regular not-functioning-mode, and his friend's camera is not equipped with an SD Card and our cards will not fit in it because its a different platform.

Sadly, theres nothing we can do but just go back to the airport and wait for the flight back to Cebu. As we were on our way, we notice something different. We notice we were going the wrong way! Oh my God! We're lost. Its a very remote area, and one thing I hate about it is that theres no vehicle on sight. We were standing in the middle of a four-line intersection road, and is choosing which path to take. Its already 5pm when we reach a small village and smiles began to appear on our faces.

To our surprise, none of the people we asked about the right way to the airport can talk Tagalog or English. Luckily there is one girl who looks a bit modern, maybe a student from the city who approached us and told us the right direction.

Woo, a sigh of relief. The lone tricycle in the vicinity took us to the highway and there we found a taxi that led us to the airport. That's really one adventure I will never forget. A tiring one, but generally I can say it was fun. Sometimes you need to be lost to be able to know that indeed we don't know all things.

Guimaras Island

Guimaras Island is known for its white sand beaches and its splendid nature. Despite of its small land area, it is one of the Philippines major manufacturer of mangoes for exports. Their products are globally distributed so whenever you eat mangoes, consider you might have eaten a Guimaras' mango already.

There are also lots of attractions you can find in Guimaras. One of them would be their festival called Pagtaltal sa Guimaras (Pagtaltal in Guimaras). It is a Lenten presentation, a re-enactment of Christ’s suffering patterned after the Oberammergau in South Bavaria, Germany. This celebration is known locally and attracts many tourist as well. So if you're planning to go on a vacation for the Lenten season, consider Guimaras Island as your destination.

If you are an adventure seeker, then Guimaras is also for you. An annual contest called "Paraw Regatta" is also being held here. It is a race of small boats or bancas from both Guimaras and Iloilo, a neighboring Island. They build boats especially for the regatta and the look of it must resemble the boats that were brought by settlers from Borneo in 1212 A.D.

Definitely a stay in Guimaras is a must to be included in your list. The rich culture, warm people, colorful festivities, great adventures, finest beaches and more are all in Guimaras. An all in one paradise. As soon as you make your first step to Guimaras, it will be marked as one of the places you will surely never forget.