Asia 2024

Philippines 🇵🇭 - Day 19, 20, 21, 22 & 23 - Bohol

After I checked out of the hostel in Panglao, I drove directly to my next accommodation in Bohol. It was a 45 minute drive to Loboc, where the guesthouse was.

The room wasn’t ready when I got there—even though I got there at the provided check in time—so I just left my bags there and went for a little drive around inland.

I initially wanted to find a spot where to stop and walk in the forest like area, but I ended up driving for almost 3 hours around the tiny roads of the island.

There were a lot of houses and people living everywhere. I was quite surprised about that, I couldn’t go 200 metres without seeing a construction.

I’m pretty sure barely any visitors ever come where I went, given how small the roads are, and everybody was saying hello as I drove past. After a while, it was time for children to get out of school, so I got even more hellos from kids walking back home.

When I finally got back to the guesthouse, it was already after sunset, and I found the room ready as expected.

The next day after lunch, I went to a beach I’d found on Google Maps on the south coast of the island, further along to the east.

On the way there, I stopped in a tiny pharmacy to find some sunscreen, as the one I brought didn’t pass security at the airport in Paris. 🥲 All they had was a little sachet of sunscreen.

There were other options in convenience stores, but it was all whitening sunscreen. It’s considered more beautiful to be whiter in the Philippines.

It was a bit strange to get sunscreen out of a packet like this, but otherwise it was pretty normal—just a pain once it was open and not empty.

When I was getting close to the beach I had a bit of trouble finding the entrance. A group of young locals saw me going back and forth so they helped me find it. It turns out they were also on their way to that same beach.

Later in the water, they signed for me to come over, so we started chatting and they lent me their goggles to have a look at the fish under the water. We stayed chatting for a while, apparently I’m their first foreigner friend! :)

Once the sun had set, we all left the beach and I went on to find somewhere to eat.

For my last day on the island, I went to see the Chocolate Hills. I saw a lot of things about this Bohol landmark, and also had been told it was a must see on the island.

It was a 45 minute drive from the guesthouse to a free viewing point. Apparently most places you have to pay to go up a hill, but for this one, there's simply a path, and some instructions to follow in Google Maps reviews.

To be honest, I found it a bit underwhelming. I was slightly disappointed, probably because these hills were over sold to me.

Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely view, but it's just a bunch of funny little round hills. You go up in 5-10 minutes, enjoy the view for a few minutes, then back down again.