Reminiscing the Beauty of Bohol Philippines (Part 1)

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.

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. 

Man-made Mahogany Forest

Man-made Mahogany Forest

A two-kilometer stretched of Man-made Mahogany Forest can be seen along the main road of Bilar. It's the town on your way to Chocolate Hills. This forest is part of the 1960 reforestation program of President Diosdado Macapagal. 

Bohol 

The picture above shows how simple life can be in Bohol. The absence of too much vehicles on the road, leaves room for walking. No heavy traffic means easy ways of going to a place.

It didn't take long and we finally reached the most visited spot in Bohol, the Chocolate Hills. 

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.

Chocolate Hills

Closer look of Chocolate Hills

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.

Wishing Well on top of one of the Chocolate Hills

This is the end of Part 1 of 2 of Reminiscing the Beauty of Bohol Philippines. Thank you for stopping by. Please stay tune for the next part.

Related Posts:
Baclayon Church and Museum
Review of Amorita Resort (Panglao, Bohol)