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Philippines, Bohol and Siquijor story
Philippines are almost ideal destination for every tourist.
A wide choice of islands with from luxury to bargain, quite affordable resorts and accomodation options makes this country a perfect vacation place for travellers with different requirements and interests.
Let me tell you about my vacation in Philippines in March 2010.
We spent 1 week on Bohol and 1 week on Siquijor. After landing in Cebu, Philippines, we hired a taxi to get to a pier for fast ferry. There are several ferry companies servicing destination to Bohol and Siquijor from Cebu port. Way to Bohol by fast ferry lasted about 3-4 hours. Please note, it's very cold on the ferry due to air conditioning. Philippians like to be freezed.
Bohol
The best vacation place on Bohol is Panglau, it's a small part of this big island which is rather good developed for tourism, but it's still not spoiled by massive tourism, so the prices there are quite affordable. Compared with such mass tourist destinations like Goa or Thai, it's almost a wild zone. But there's nothing to fear at all. Indeed, people in Philippines are very friendly, sincere and unselfish. There are almost no crimes or criminals, it's safe to have walking even deeply at night.
In Panglau, Boholf, where we rented a house with 5 bedrooms only for 180 USD per week, the most touristic place is Alona beach. There are several resorts on it and best bars and restaurants, serving fresh seafood and fish every night. All of them are WiFi enabled, so you won't have any problems with Internet connection. On that beach you may also rent a boat for a sea trip, snorkling and dolphin watching. You may hire a certified masseuse to have a good massage right on the beach. But I would not recommend to stay in a resort on Alona beach. We rented a cute house 5 minutes with a bike from Alona beach. Alona is not good for swimming, as there are a lot of boats laid up there. So we used to loaf on other beaches, mostly wild.
There are a lot of such places there. And had our dinner at Alona. If you are seeking for clubbing or nightlife, Bohol is not the place where you could get this. After midnight all bars and restaurants close on Alona beach. But it's a real pleasure to have a bike ride through nearby villages before sleeping. All Philippians are out of there homes (homes are actually mostly huts), sitting at their traditional eateries, whatching TV (only few Philippians have TV, as you may imagine, so they come to eateries with TV to watch and talk) or right on the steps of huts, smiling and waving their hands to you when passing them by with a bike. You are always welcomed there, and it's a really amazing feeling to be welcomed sincerely.
BTW, Philippians are very beatiful people, women and men.
What to see on Bohol
I won't narrate in details on main touristic highlights to see and experience on Bohol, you may check this on numerous web sites. Just list the must items: Chocolate Hills, Tarsiers, dolphin watching, Tagbilaran, the capital city of Bohol and some other things you may be interested in.
The most reasonable way to see all things on Bohol - to hire a taxi with a good driver for a day, it costed us 2800 pesos (60 USD) for a wholde day.
And we were six. We found him through a referral at fast ferry ticket office in Alona. Just come in and ask one of the girls there for a good driver.
So, our time on Bohol was really amazing.
We also rented bikes from two American guys (only they have automatic bikes, their office is not far from Alona). Driving with a bike is the best way to move there.
Siquijor
Another island we had visited during our vacation.
To be continued.
A wide choice of islands with from luxury to bargain, quite affordable resorts and accomodation options makes this country a perfect vacation place for travellers with different requirements and interests.
Let me tell you about my vacation in Philippines in March 2010.
We spent 1 week on Bohol and 1 week on Siquijor. After landing in Cebu, Philippines, we hired a taxi to get to a pier for fast ferry. There are several ferry companies servicing destination to Bohol and Siquijor from Cebu port. Way to Bohol by fast ferry lasted about 3-4 hours. Please note, it's very cold on the ferry due to air conditioning. Philippians like to be freezed.
Bohol
The best vacation place on Bohol is Panglau, it's a small part of this big island which is rather good developed for tourism, but it's still not spoiled by massive tourism, so the prices there are quite affordable. Compared with such mass tourist destinations like Goa or Thai, it's almost a wild zone. But there's nothing to fear at all. Indeed, people in Philippines are very friendly, sincere and unselfish. There are almost no crimes or criminals, it's safe to have walking even deeply at night.
In Panglau, Boholf, where we rented a house with 5 bedrooms only for 180 USD per week, the most touristic place is Alona beach. There are several resorts on it and best bars and restaurants, serving fresh seafood and fish every night. All of them are WiFi enabled, so you won't have any problems with Internet connection. On that beach you may also rent a boat for a sea trip, snorkling and dolphin watching. You may hire a certified masseuse to have a good massage right on the beach. But I would not recommend to stay in a resort on Alona beach. We rented a cute house 5 minutes with a bike from Alona beach. Alona is not good for swimming, as there are a lot of boats laid up there. So we used to loaf on other beaches, mostly wild.
There are a lot of such places there. And had our dinner at Alona. If you are seeking for clubbing or nightlife, Bohol is not the place where you could get this. After midnight all bars and restaurants close on Alona beach. But it's a real pleasure to have a bike ride through nearby villages before sleeping. All Philippians are out of there homes (homes are actually mostly huts), sitting at their traditional eateries, whatching TV (only few Philippians have TV, as you may imagine, so they come to eateries with TV to watch and talk) or right on the steps of huts, smiling and waving their hands to you when passing them by with a bike. You are always welcomed there, and it's a really amazing feeling to be welcomed sincerely.
BTW, Philippians are very beatiful people, women and men.
What to see on Bohol
I won't narrate in details on main touristic highlights to see and experience on Bohol, you may check this on numerous web sites. Just list the must items: Chocolate Hills, Tarsiers, dolphin watching, Tagbilaran, the capital city of Bohol and some other things you may be interested in.
The most reasonable way to see all things on Bohol - to hire a taxi with a good driver for a day, it costed us 2800 pesos (60 USD) for a wholde day.
And we were six. We found him through a referral at fast ferry ticket office in Alona. Just come in and ask one of the girls there for a good driver.
So, our time on Bohol was really amazing.
We also rented bikes from two American guys (only they have automatic bikes, their office is not far from Alona). Driving with a bike is the best way to move there.
Siquijor
Another island we had visited during our vacation.
To be continued.
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