God's Paradise

MANILA, Philippines -- Bohol, one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the Philippines, deserves to be called God’s Little Paradise.

In a media familiarization tour organized by Stratos Public Relations and Travel Village, I had a taste of this paradise.

After more than three hours of airport protocol, flight, and road travel, we checked in at Hennan Resort, the newest acquisition of the Henann Resorts group of hotels. They own and operate the Boracay Regency Resort and Spa, Regency Lagoon and Boracay Garden Resort.

We had lunch at Christina’s, Henann Resort’s famous restaurant which originated in Boracay. Christina’s offers international cuisine especially prepared by experienced chefs. During the free time after lunch, I chatted with my colleagues in media while strolling along Alona Beach and resting in one of the lounge beds with umbrellas at the beachfront.

Our itinerary for the next day was full so I decided to stay in and just watch the hotel’s LCD TV. Hennan serves breakfast with a totally overhauled menu — a variety of local and international dishes and beachfront dining.

Travel Village took us to the historic Baclayon Church and Museum in Tagbilaran City. Tagbilaran is the capital of Bohol, and its only city. Built by the Jesuits in 1569, Baclayon Church is one of the oldest stone churches in the Philippines and the oldest in Bohol. The church still has its original wood-carved altar with gold leafing.

Most of its antique religious icons and religious artifacts are on display in the church and in the museum beside it.We visited the Tarsier Research Center in Corella town next.

The tarsier is one of the world’s smallest primates found only in Bohol. In the Tarsier Sanctuary, tarsiers are observed, protected and freely live in their natural habitat. With a tour guide, we walked trails and pathways and saw tarsiers jumping from tree to tree.

Lunch time was a buffet feast while cruising in the Loboc River on a raft. While eating, we were serenaded by local performers. The leisurely cruise took us upriver to a water cascade. Loboc is one of the oldest towns of Bohol and is traditionally known for its Loboc River Cruise and for being the “Music Town” of Bohol.

We also went to the Bohol Forest, a man-made mahogany forest in a two-kilometer stretch on the borders of Loboc and Bilar towns. The big trees looked amazing because of the uniformity in their height, spread of its branches, thickness and design of leaves.

A trip to Bohol is never complete without seeing the world-famous Chocolate Hills. We arrived at the Chocolate Hills Tourist Complex in Carmen, a government-run hotel and restaurant. They have the best spot to view the landscape of more than a thousand extraordinary hills that turn brown like chocolate during the dry season, transforming the area into endless rows of “chocolate kisses.”

Our last stop was the Blood Compact Monument in Tagbilaran City where the Sandugo or blood compact ceremony between Spanish explorer Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna was performed in native Bohol style in 1565. The ceremony is considered the first international treaty of friendship between two people of different races.

We were pressed for time, but there were more places to visit and more activities to enjoy in Bohol. Panglao has whale or dolphin watching tours, island hopping and excursions. Around Panglao and the nearby islet Balicasag are some of the best diving spots in the Philippines. Another town, Dauis, is known for the Hinagdanan Cave, a small underground lake surrounded by stalactites, while Sevilla has the famous bamboo hanging bridge across the Sipatan River.

The Raja Sikatuna National Park is a 9,000-hectare nature reserve in Bilar town where one can go trekking, study interesting lime-rock formations, visit caves, observe animals and go bird watching. For the adventure-seekers, Danao is the place to go, with its Extreme Adventure Tour that offers ziplet, sky ride, plunge, suislide, river trekking, river tubing, river kayaking, wall climbing, village tour, organic farm visitation, camping, rappelling, root climbing and caving.

Other Bohol towns have beautiful waterfalls like Mag-Aso Falls, Inambacan Falls, Kawasan Falls, Dimiao Twin Falls and Busay Falls.Pristine white beaches like Alona Beach and Dumaluan Beach, Bikini Beach, Momo Beach and Doljo Beach also make Bohol a paradise. Bohol can also be called “Cave Country” as more than a thousand caves can be found here.

Three days in Bohol were not enough to be able to do all the activities that await us, but the spots we visited were more than enough to leave lasting memories of Bohol.

(The media familiarization tour was sponsored by Henry O. Chusuey, chairman of Henann Hotel Management Inc.; Jhing Romero and Rhea of Stratos; and Lourdes Tuyor-Sultan, managing editor of Travel Village.)

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