The next series of travelogues that I will be sharing with you consist of three weeks worth of vacation, touring parts of Visayas and Mindanao two summers ago. This was the time when both of us were able to scrimp the P40,000 we saved up for this adventure and learned the art of backpacking by experience. I've already posted the first and second legs of our trip (Cebu and Dumaguete). Now, let's check out Bohol PART I. Come, join us on our journey and explore the beauty of our country. Maybe next time, we can do a backpack tour of Asia and Europe as well. *crossing our fingers now*
~~~oOo~~~
Enjoying our Supercat ride...
The next day, we left early and again boarded Supercat. From Dumaguete, it took us less than two hours before we reached the port of Tagbilaran in Bohol. I noticed that the moment we reached the port, a lot of male van and tricycle drivers suddenly crowded us and offered their services for a day trip in Bohol. The van cost around 2-3k pesos while the tricycle cost 1k pesos. So guess which one we chose? Yup! The cheaper, the better. Anyway, it’s just the two of us and we’re not really in a hurry to visit all the tourist spots they mentioned. After all, we had 5 days to explore Bohol. Weeeee!!!!
Fine white sand...shallow crystal clear waters... Danao Beach.
Speaking of 5 days, we reserved four days stay at Alona Kew Beach Resort, which started the following day. So on our first day in Bohol, we checked in at a little beach resort in Danao (a stretch of beach beside Panglao) called Calypso Swiss Resort. This resort has a small swimming pool, a couple of small huts with fan and bathroom (at P400/night), and a small concrete building divided into several air-conditioned rooms (at P600/night). We opted to get one of the huts for a more natural ambience and of course, to save some pesos.
Arrival at Calypso Swiss Resort...
They have their own pool table and swimming pool...
On our first day, we were very lucky to have the whole resort to ourselves. We enjoyed swimming in their pool, played some darts and hung out on the hammock. It’s as if we owned the resort! Mwahahaha!
Familiarizing ourselves with Calypso's cozy amenities...
like their hammock, scuba dive shop, swimming pool & darts.
Left: our hut; Right: real-life boat anchor used as a landscape decor
The resort owner is a Swiss guy who was then back in Switzerland doing some construction work to save money before going back to the Philippines, thus the name Calypso Swiss Resort (NOTE: AFTER WE TALKED WITH SOME LOCALS, WE FOUND OUT THAT MOST OF THE OWNERS OF THE SMALLER RESORTS IN BOHOL ARE FOREIGNERS, WHO, BACK AT THEIR MOTHERLAND, WERE CONSTRUCTION WORKERS. USUALLY, IN A PERIOD OF ONE YEAR, THEY WORK FOR A FEW MONTHS, SAVE THEIR MONEY, AND SPEND IT ALL HERE IN OUR COUNTRY FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR. IT'S NO WONDER THAT THEY USUALLY HOOK UP WITH A PINAY, MARRY HER AND MAKE HER THE CUSTODIAN OF HIS WEALTH. INTERESTING ISN'T IT?) His wife was such a good cook that even if all the dishes available in their menu were Swiss, we thoroughly enjoyed them! And oh, their home-made bread tasted delicious as well!
Enjoying Danao Beach just before sunset...
That afternoon, after we got our things settled in our hut, we took a walk from the resort to the beach, which took us around 3 minutes before reaching the fine white sand. We noticed two things in the area: 1.) there were a lot of starfish lying around and 2.) the waters were so shallow such that even when we were a kilometer away from the beach, the waters were still ankle high. And when we went farther away, there was a blanket of starfish lying on the submerged sand. Cute but eeewwww at the same time!
the boats were anchored so far away from the beach coz the waters were so shallow
We caught a lot of starfish!
In the evening, we enjoyed the natural ambience of the resort. It was so quiet and the only thing we heard were the sound of the crickets and "tuko" / gecko. Peter played some darts while waiting for our Swiss dishes, while I enjoyed simply communing with nature.
The resort looked a lot nicer at night...
Swiss food, anyone?
Peter's favorite reptile: Gecko a.k.a. TUKO
We slept like babies afterwards, excited about what the next day would bring...
Before checking out, we explored Danao Beach some more. :-)
We got samples of sand and shells for decorative purposes back home....
Some of the starfish we saw were dying...
TO BE CONTINUED....
No comments:
Post a Comment