This post is long overdue. I visited Bohol with my husband before the earthquake of October 15, 2013. My heart was torn apart after seeing the ruins. But it felt great after hearing few days ago that Philippine government is allocating Php 5 billion for rehabilitation of Bohol province.
I hope that it won't be long before we see the beauty of the island again. Looking back to our trip, here are the places and spots we've been.
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| Sandugo |
Sandugo is a Visayan word that means one blood. It was a blood compact symbolizing the peace and friendship treaty between the Spanish Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and local man of Bohol Datu Sikatuna.
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| Man-made Mahogany Forest |
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| Man-made Mahogany Forest |
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| Bohol |
It didn't take long and we finally reached the most visited spot in Bohol, the Chocolate Hills.
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| View of Chocolate Hills from a car |
In Carmen, Bohol lies 1,260 hills. Although there are more than 1700 hills all over the area, not every hill is not considered as part of the Chocolate Hills because they didn't reach certain height. Why is it called such? Because during dry season, all the grass of the hills turns to brown making it looks like a chocolate.
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| Chocolate Hills |
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| Closer look of Chocolate Hills |
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| Panorama view of Chocolate Hills |
There's a Chocolate Hills Complex in the area where you can gain access to top of one of the hills. There you can see the real beauty of Chocolate Hills as shown in the panorama view above. Sadly, this hill was destroyed by the earthquake. Hopefully, this will be reconstructed soon.
There are different legends about how these hills were formed. My favorite one was about the giants who are fighting and throwing rocks and sands to each other. It lasted for days and when they got tired of it, they ended up friends. They left the place but they also left the clutter they did, giving rise to the Chocolate Hills.
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| Wishing Well on top of one of the Chocolate Hills |
Related Posts:
Baclayon Church and Museum
Review of Amorita Resort (Panglao, Bohol)
Bohol is my homeland .. its where my grandfather is originally from. I was crushed knowing about the recent earthquake that hit it. I haven't even been there but one of my goals is to travel there someday :( I hope they get to rebuild it though. It used to look so beautiful in photos especially the chocolate hills. Now I can't even appreciate it cause all I see are photos of what the earthquake did to it. Thanks for sharing these though. Bohol was beautiful and maybe within time, It will be again:)
ReplyDeleteTruly Beautiful! I really love the Chocolate hills photos, the clouds are my favorite kind but those are beautiful shots of Philippines!
ReplyDeleteBohol is the place hubby and I wants to visit when given a chance.
ReplyDeleteI was really heartbroken when I saw pictures of some of the hills crumbling due to the earthquake. It's one of those places I would like to visit some day. Hope everything goes back the way it was.
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