My new friends, Guada and Horacio, didn't have any plans so after we visited the falls they decided to come back to Cebu and join ...

Day trip to Bohol

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My new friends, Guada and Horacio, didn't have any plans so after we visited the falls they decided to come back to Cebu and join me in Bohol the next day. It is so much nicer when you have people to do things with so I was excited!


Our day started at 4:45am when we left the hostel to go to ferry terminal 2 to get the first ferry out to Bohol!

We arrived at the ferry station and obviously proceeded to the entrance but when we got there the guard told us we had to go out again and get a ticket from the ticket booth across the street next to the small shop. The ticket booth had no sign, it was all covered and you couldn't even see the person on the other side. There was only a small opening for you to pass the money and your id. 

Once we got our tickets we walked back to the entrance and went into our ferry. The sun was coming out and the sky had some beautiful colors; too bad the ferry only had small windows on the top so we couldn't see the sunrise.

Before we got in the ferry!

I sat down and went to sleep for the whole 2 hours in our air conditioned cabin (for 270 pisos.) Once we got to Bohol the three of us went in a small tuk tuk taxi to the bus station... that was like 600 meters away from the ferry terminal! Haha Many times as tourists we don't know how far things are and end up paying for transportation when it is obviously not needed.

The tuk tuk dropped us off in front of a Mc Donald's and we literally got harassed by guys trying to sell us a tour to the places we wanted to go. I had exact instructions on how to do it on our own so we weren't interested. There was one guy who was being very aggressive about selling us a tour, I kept saying no!
We looked around to see what there was to eat and we decided to go to Mc Donald's for breakfast! (I hadn't been in Mc Donald's for at least 10-12 years and I had no idea they sold breakfast) Guess who followed us into Mc Donald's? The guide, he kept saying "can I talk to you?" I kept saying I was not interested! 

We ate our breakfast and then the guide appeared again, by then I was angry and annoyed, he had already been rude so there was no way we would with him but he still sat at the table next to us. I again refused his services, why would I pay 1,500 pesos for something that I could do on my own using public transportation for less than 200pesos? 

I went to the bathroom and the guide went back to my table and talked to Horacio, he of course said no! I do understand that they want to sell and make a living but the way he approached us and kept coming back after we said no it was too much, and on top of that he was getting angry at us for saying no! 

We finished breakfast and we went inside the local bus right outside McDonalds that was going to Carmen. 

We sat there for 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes and we weren't leaving. 
We even had time for selfies!!!



Horacio went to other buses to see if we were in the right one, then we started double guessing our choice of this DIY Bohol tour but we didn't want to go back to the guide but we were curious how much it would cost. Guada went back to McDonalds knowing that the guide would follow her and then she could ask. The plan worked perfectly but when she was talking to the guide the bus driver came and started the engine. We started screaming at her, she jumped in and we left.

The bus was a very basic bus with no AC, opened windows, old seats, just like the buses back home in El Salvador. I think the three of us just loved our journey in the local busses talking to the people and enjoying the beautiful scenery! We drove through rows and rows of banana trees, rice fields, and nice green pastures. 




As if the journey wasn't taking long enough, the bus driver decided to stop and load the top with fire wood... Patience... Patience!!!!!!

After two hours or so we finally reached Carmen.

We got off the bus and in order to go to the Chocolate fields (sadly no chocolates there) and had to take a tuk tuk (or tricycle as they call them.) 

This part of the journey was BY FAR the most entertaining one! The tuk tuk is basically a motorcycle with some seats so we first had to figure out how to fit in one! Guada went in the front, Horacio in the back, and I went on a tiny seat outside of the tuk tuk! 


It was a smooth ride until we got to the HUUUUUGE hill that lead to the chocolate fields! 
The hill was so so steep! So steep that it wouldn't go up with all of us! 
I thought we would break the motorcycle! The driver asked me to move and sit behind him on the bike since the side seat wasn't very safe. We started going up and at one point the bike didn't go anymore so Horacio decided to get off the bike and push! Guada and I were already laughing as hard as we could from seeing Horacio pushing the bike and then he decided to jump back on the bike! At that point we all almost died from laughter! The bike tipped on its back and we almost ended up in the gutter!

I couldn't control the laughter, none of us could... not even the driver! (We laughed about it the whole day, even at night I just laughed out of nowhere and Guada said to me "you are remembering what happened"... I was!)
Thankfully the bike and all of us made safely up the hill to see the chocolate hills.


I waited for my turn for a while and when the spot was free I wanted a picture but this lady wanted one too! She wouldn't move so I hugged her and told her that since she wasn't moving I would take a picture with her!

To be honest I wasn't all that impressed with the chocolate hills but the journey to get there was well worth it!

We rode the bike back down the hill, I was praying for the bike to be able to handle it and not go down the hill at full speed and killing us all!

Once at he bottom of the hill we said good bye to our tuk tuk driver (and gave him a tip) and waited for the public bus to come by. The next bus was such a fun trip! The driver saw us come in and started playing loud english music! It was more like a party bus!!!

The next stop was at the tarsier monkeys, apparently some kind of special monkeys from the Philippines! If you ask me, they look like the guy from lord of the rings! Creepy!








After the quick visit to the tarsiers we went back to the main road and waited for our bus.  We got in and after an hour ½ or so the driver said we needed to get out, we asked if this was the stop and he said yes! Another guy on the bus said no! We were confused... We got off!... We shouldn't have!

But you know... I'm the kind of person who makes lemonade out of sour lemons so we saw this as an opportunity to try yet another one of the Philippine's famous mode of transportation... The Jepney!!! A mini bus with two benches on the side! Thank goodness a local lady told us where we needed to get off!




We ended up leaving Bohol after the tarsiers monkeys, as it was rainy and it had been a long day. The bus journey was probably the best part of the day for me! The Philippino people are so kind and approachable, it is always best when you get to spend time with the local people!!!


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About Post Author

Hi! It's me... Andrea! In 2016 I decided to drop everything and take a year to enrich my life and travel around the world. It turns out the world is just too big for 12 months! Still on the road and sharing my experience as a solo female traveler around the globe!

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About me




Hi! It's me... Andrea!

In this blog you can live vicariously through my journey around the world!

Please feel free to share tips or places to go!
Contact me: andreaheartstraveling@gmail.com