WOW BOHOL

Went to Bohol for a 4 day vacation with Jaja from August 1 to 4. Actually,it was a reunion of her Basa Air base barkada and I just happened to tag along.

This was my 4th trip to Bohol so I pretty much expected seeing sights I had seen before: the Chocolate hills, tarsier sanctuary,Loboc river etc. What was different though was this time around it was a vacation (not work-related) and I was with my wife.

For a change too, we were booked at a new resort in Panglao (the Amorita resort) and not at Bohol Tropics. Amorita,the name alone conjured visions of a romantic weekend and thankfully it was.

What amazed me about Bohol was that it has improved since the last time I was there,which was two years ago for our Franchisees convention.

The road to the Chocolate Hills observatory has been completely cemented,making for a quick and comfortable 1 1/2 hour trip from our resort. There was also something new at the observatory.

Enterprising locals had cleared a spot on the hillside,where tourists could pose for souvenir photos with the Chocolate Hills as a background. The photos taken were not your usual stiffly posed shots...but trick photography pics! The most common picture would show the subject jumping over one of the hills.

The photographers even provided for broomsticks which the tourists would pretend to ride on. The resulting photos would show these Harry Potter wannabes soaring over the hills.

The Loboc river cruise also had some added features which weren't there last time I visited.

At the end point of the cruise,just before the waterfalls,the locals had set up three floating stages. On each stage there were different groups of children and adults performing dances and songs. The floating restaurants would draw alongside these stages so that the tourists could watch the show and be entertained.

At the end of the cruise the boats docked at a newly built docking station where all tourist buses and vans now waited. There, the municipality had built new comfort rooms which were airconditioned!

I was impressed by these improvements and it was no wonder that tourism in Bohol has certainly been improving over the years.

On the third day of our vacation, we transferred to the Bohol Bee Farm, which was just a 15 minute drive from Amorita.

Although the accomodations were not first class and more rustic by design, the view and the relaxing atmosphere made up for the lack of amenities. Besides, the food here was delicious and organic.

So even if this was my fourth time at Bohol, I still had a wonderful time!