We arrived into Cebu airport an hour later from Palawan, where we had arranged to stay at a Couchsurfers. After an initial panic of not having an address we used the wifi to message Kim Castro and got a grab to his house. After an initial panic about arriving at a stranger’s house we were invited into Kim Castro’s community and home. He was a really bubbly, friendly guy who is a lawyer who loves beer and to travel all over the Philippines. Also staying with Kim was another Couchsurfer called Constantine (Greek). We had a lovely evening getting some food at a local street food market where you pick your meet and they are grilled before heading back to Kim’s house, chatting and drinking 4litres of beer between us.
In the morning Kim cooked us eggs and bacon, which was delicious before we had to get a grab taxi to the port terminal 1 (150ish). We were a bit gutted we only had one night with him and in Cebu as Kim would have shown us a lot of local places. We bought tickets from Ocean Jet for the 11.40 boat to Bohol (500 each). The terminal for the boats had a lot in it and was well organised. The ferry ride itself was uneventful and 2 hours later we arrived in Bohol. On arriving into Bohol we took a tricycle (50) to Dao Bus terminal so we could get the local bus to Carmen. Before boarding the bus we went to the mall for lunch where we were introduced to fast food chain Jolliebee where they serve burgers and spaghetti with hotdogs. In order to get to the accommodation we had chosen we took the local bus to Carmen asking the bus driver to drop us off just past the sign for Nuts Huts (27p). Then we walked with our luggage down the 800lm rocky track and down lots of steps to Nuts Huts (The Beach Bungalow). At the communal terrace in the jungle looking over the river we cooled off with some drinks before walking down to our bungalow by the river. With returned to the terrace to read, have dinner and then try out the sauna (200 each).
We did not sleep sleep well but got up to have a day out and had breakfast in the restaurant (Dave museli 120, bread and eggs 80 and coffee 80). We then walked the longway back towards the highway and rented a scooter on the way (500). We drove to Sikituna (Corella) to go to the Tasier sanctuary. It was 50p entrance fee but this limited the amount of visitors at once and meant the staff could point out where the Tasiers were in the trees. We saw about 8 that were out and about enough to see but were told the whole site was a sanctuary for about 100. After this we drove past Bilar to Pahang falls. Turning off the highway we took about 4km of bad mud tracks to get to the waterfalls. It was 10 entry to the falls which were good and there were lots of locals having a day out there. On the way back along the mud tracks it started chucking it down, eventually it got so bad that we had to pull over and shelter against a building with some other locals. The Filipinos who lived nearby offered us to shelter inside there house which was very thoughtful and we sat with them in their room for a short time enjoying the hospitality. When the rain stopped enough we made our way back oon the scooter to the hghway where we travelled through the interesting changing landscapes to the Chocolate Hills (entrance 50p). We stopped nearby at the Dairybox for some local chocolate milk and at a local cheap restaurant in a small village for hot dogs. Then we travelled back, giving the bike back before walking the track back to Nuts Huts. In the evening we had sweet and sour and curry at the restaurant of our accommodation.
Unfortunately due to the season the weather was quite rainy otherwise I think there would have been a lot more for us to do just at our accommodation in Bohol. The river there in summer is usually good for doing water activities and there is lots of tracks around for hiking. Our last day we packed up our stuff and had to shelter in the dorm bunk on the way to the restaurant for breakfast due to heavy rain. After checking out we made the long walk back to the highway with our backpacks where we flagged down the local bus going to dao bus terminal, Tagbilaran (30p). We took a tricycle (40p) to Francesas Inn (595 for double room shared bathroom) where we were staying for the night ready to get the ferry in the morning. We wandered to the pier, via 7/11 for drinks and chocolate, to book the Ocean Jet liner tickets from Tagbileran to Larena (700) for the next day. Afterwards we took a tricycle to Island City Mall (50p) where we explored around and had Jollibee lunch. We chilled out back at Francesa’s Inn. In the evening we wandered to 7/11 for hot dogs, beers and espresso donuts, sitting outside to eat with the locals. The next morning after a 7/11 breakfast we checked into the ferry terminal (luggae check in 100p, terminal fee 20each) and took the 10.20 direct ocean jet liner to Larena, Siquijor.
Alex
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