Bohol and Cebu Family Tour and Tips

After passing the EnP Board Exam, I promised myself to bring along my mother with me to the oath-taking ceremony in Bohol. And so when my eldest sister suggested for it, I readily answered yes. So we go, also with our youngest sister.

We left Lavezares (Northern Samar) at six o’clock in the morning of July 26 via JM Bus Liner bound for Tacloban. We pay 300 pesos each for that six-hour ride. We arrived at the Tacloban Terminal at past 12 noon. We took our lunch at Pinutos, a small restaurant inside Savemore. We enjoyed homemade menus over unlimited rice for only 360 pesos. Then, we headed to Ormoc thru Grandtours Van, the terminal of which is located just across Savemore. The fare was only 130 pesos. At 5 pm, we arrived at the Ormoc Pier, we rode on a Fast Jet for three hours to Cebu for 450 pesos.

We arrived in Cebu at 7 o’clock in the evening. Then, we checked in a small hotel called Travelbee located at Garcia St., Capitol Site just across Verbena Hotel. The family room has five beds for only 1,700 pesos but because my mother got a senior citizen discount, the amount went down to almost 1,400 pesos for an overnight stay. We had our dinner a few steps away from the hotel. The food is all grilled meat and fish. We just pay more than 300 pesos only for the four of us.

The next morning, I woke up early, went to the pier leaving my family in Cebu and boarded on a Fast Jet bound for Tagbilaran for 475 pesos. At the pier, passengers were met by the staff of Bohol Tropics Hotel who fetched us to the hotel which is just a few meters away from it. I registered myself for the seminar and the oath-taking then looked for a good seat inside the biggest ballroom of the hotel. I placed myself with some EnPs from my region, the Eastern Visayas. The whole day was spent listening to lectures on sustainable tourism and climate change.

While having our dinner, we were treated to a great musical delight from Loboc Youth Band with their blowing instruments. We enjoyed it so much. Then, we retire to sleep in one of hotel’s cottages.

The next day, I met my mother and my two sisters at the pier. I took them to Nisa Hotel located just a few steps away from Bohol Cathedral. The overnight stay was only for 1,100 pesos for three persons. Only three as I was staying at the Tropics Hotel. After checking in, we boarded on a van which we hired for 2,000 pesos to take us for a Countryside Tour in Bohol. For one and a half hour, we were already at Bohol Chocolate Hills. I and my two sisters went up the 250-step hill and enjoyed the nature’s wonder with a 360-degree view. We left our mother at the small pavilion because she can no longer make it on top.  We took a lot of photos. We have seen a lot of foreign tourists mostly Koreans and Chinese.

Our next stop is the man-made forest established during Marcos years. It is planted with hundreds of thousands of mahogany trees. It is so dense the sun rays could hardly penetrate. Then, we visited the tarsier sanctuary where my mother and my sisters got a first look at the big-sized eyes of tarsiers. Next is, we crossed the Hanging Bridge. To my estimate, it is 15 to 20 meters long. Good my mother was able to cross it fearlessly. At the other side of the river bank, we bought some souvenir items. This is where the cheapest souvenir items can be found so my sisters and my mother bought a lot of it.

Then, we toured the butterfly and snake sanctuaries and took a lot of photos. There was this preserved body of the biggest snake found in Bohol which the guide told us can swallow a pig or a human. I touched the body of an albino-colored snake notwithstanding my mother’s objection.

We passed by the Loboc Church and the Loboc River across. We no longer did a cruise due to time limitation. So sad to see that the church is still at its crumpled state after the deadly tremor in 2013. We also dropped by the Baclayon Church which is now already undergoing internal reconstruction. It is good the façade and the belfry are already reconstructed and rehabilitated after the earthquake destroyed it.

Some kilometers away from the city proper, we dropped by the famous Blood Compact Shrine, where Rajah Sikatuna and the Spanish conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi had a covenant of friendship.

We were able to have the entire Bohol tour in five and a half hour. The experience was so overwhelming especially that this time I had my loved ones with me.

The following day, July 29, I had taken my oath as a licensed environmental planner together with fifty others coming from the different parts of the country. My mother and my sisters were there to witness this memorable event. This has perfected my day.

At one o’clock in the afternoon, we are already heading back to Cebu. We checked in again at Travel Bee. After an hour’s rest, we went to the historic Magellan’s Cross, visited the Santo Nino Basilica, Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral and Fort San Pedro. These are all historical places that cap Cebu’s tourism. Going to the Ayala Center, my sisters were so awed by stretch of high rise buildings. They cannot believe Cebu has this version of Ayala in Makati. We went around the mall and had our dinner at the Food Court at the sixth floor.

I woke up as early as three o’clock in the morning and readied myself for a long day. At five in the morning, we were already travelling to Simala via taxi that we chartered for 2,000 pesos for a round-trip. We arrived at Simala fifteen minutes before seven in the morning. The church is still closed and is scheduled to open at nine in the morning. So we waited by a restaurant just across the gate of the church. We were only a handful when we arrived. As minutes went by, the handful swelled into hundreds all waiting for the gate to open. When the gate was finally opened, we walked inside along with fellow pilgrims. My family was really astounded by how huge and majestic the church-castle is. We took some photos while walking thru a long walkway going to the church. We said our prayers inside the church. We toured around it and have seen lots of memorabilias of thanksgiving from a lot of people who received miracles from God thru Mama Mary. I really treasure this very rare moment with my family in this hollowed spot in Cebu.

At ten in the morning, we went back to Cebu City and went straight to the Taoist Temple. The view of the temple was really picturesque. We took some photos. We are so happy my mother was able to come up the temple with its more than fifty steps, to my estimate.

At 12 noon, we checked out of the hotel and finally bid goodbye to this wonderful place taking with us beautiful memories as a family. My mother said she never imagined in her lifetime she would be able to come to the places we have visited. Perhaps, this is God’s reward for her and for us her children. Isn’t that we work hard for this to happen.

‘Til we tour another place.