Our Last Days in the Philippines

Our Philippine adventure was cut short when we received word from home that Fred's cousin Bruce passed away.  We made arrangements to return home one week earlier and tried to make the best of the days we had left.  Our morning walks were great, the afternoon walks on White Beach were wonderful, the tricycle rides were always exciting haggling on a price and the beers and suppers on Alona Beach are memorable to say the least.

The Filipino people are very happy people, who truly make you feel welcome in their country.  They tend to have large families, maybe because of the Catholic influence towards family planning.  It is expected by 2050 that the population in the Philippines will be 150 million people.  The cities now are bursting with people, the is a lot of poverty, but yet the people are happy.  We had no problems communicating with the Filipino's as they spoke English quite well.

Boats that are used for fishing or transporting people out to the dive sites.

Basketball court

On our walk home...goats on the road and they weren't moving.

We were very much in the rural area...2 baby goats with their momma.

Banana trees...very delicious bananas.

Water buffalo in a backyard.

Truck and bus full of people at the end of the day...heading home.

Our corner where we walked to to catch a tricycle ride.  Blue building in the background is the school.

A Filipino home...

Sunset from the roof top of our apartment.

Saying our goodbyes to Layha & Kia, workers at Panglao Palms Apartments.  They were so very friendly and always wanted to please us.  They wondered if we'd come back and bring our family.  I said I'd love to return and if our children could pay for their way it would be great to have them, however if they couldn't afford to come they'd have to stay home and work.  Layha then said, " Just like me, I have to work to get money."  Gems they were!

Crossing the bridge from Panglao into Tagbilaran, Bohol.

Tagbilaran...we flew from Tagbilaran to Manila to catch our international flight home.

Heading to the airport.

We had to leave a day earlier from Tagbilaran I order to catch our international flight home.  It was recommended we stay at The Red Planet Hotel which was close to the airport and was located in the business hub (downtown) Manila.

What to do in Manila for about 12 hours?

Well...we found out from the hotel that it was safe to walk in the area so off we went.  We came across a huge market area with many food and drink stalls along with other merchandise being sold.  We wondered around checking things out and decided to have our last BBQ'd pork and chicken along with a San Miguel.  So yummy!!!

We got talking to another Canadian (there on business) who recommended we go to Bourbon Street for the evening. Bye gave us directions, which we found to be very close to our hotel.  He also assured us that it was safe, only to watch our wallets and purse for pickpockets.  Off we went to find Bourbon Street.

Bourbon Street...We found Cheers Bar...enjoyed our last San Miguels...experienced Bourbon Street from there.  Let's just say you can buy anything on that street...

Tricycle, some are very colourful.

Jeepneys, usually with colourful graffiti or religious sayings or verses from the Bible.  In the morning or later afternoon these Jeepneys are filled with people on top or hanging on the back or sides.

It was Sunday morning and we head to the airport in Manila for our long flight home.  Our time in the Philippines  was great and we hope to return someday to check out more of the islands.  Until then...we do have awesome memories!

HinagdananCave, Shell Museum, Dolja Beach, St. Augustine Church

Our tricycle driver, Yhul, arrived around 2:00, as arranged, to take us to the other side of the island to see the cave at Bingag on the northern coast.

Hinagdanan Cave is a limestone cave where you descend down a flight of stairs into a very humid, hot cavern where bats are flying around and hanging on the sides of the cave.  Hassan in Filipino means ladder, so named the cave.  The cave is naturally lit, the light coming through the holes in its ceiling.  Quite a sight seeing the stalactites hanging from the ceiling and the pool of fresh and salt water below.

Stalactites 

Pool of fresh and salt water

Natural light coming into the cave.

Our guide took some amazing pics of us in the cave...of course with the other camera.

Just outside the cave was a small village of souvenir shops.  A lot of reasonably priced souvenirs.

We hopped into the tricycle and heading to the Shell Museum in Dolja.  An amazing place with millions of shells from the south seas of the Philippines.  The guide was very good at explaining what the shells were and telling us a little about them.  We couldn't believe how many shells there were in this place, there were rooms full of display cases filled with shells.

These clam shells are imitation but are the actual size of clams in the south seas.

After going through the souvenir shop we exited to find a beautiful treehouse.  She welcomed us to climb up into the treehouse, so we did.  It was very well constructed and would be so much fun for kids.

Treehouse 

Lots of room in the treehouse.

Stairway up to the treehouse.

Our driver was waiting for us and we asked him to take us to Dolja Beach so we could look around.

The tide was up so there wasn't much beach, boats in the water, restaurants on the beach and a large resort.

Maybe the entertainment at that restaurant...

Yhul, our driver, told us he lived nearby.  We noticed that this area of the island seemed to be more populated, homes looked nicer and the towns seemed to be bustling with people and shops.

Our last stop was at St. Augustine Church.

St. Augustine Church 

Yhul, told us the back tower was the only thing damaged in the 2013 earthquake.

Didn't appear to be a lot of damage on this tower.

It's a very large building.  We weren't able to get into the church as it was closed.  We did peek through a small window seeing beautiful paintings, an extraordinary sanctuary area and a huge area filled with pews.  It was too bad it was closed.

Monument outside the church.

Bell tower 

Monument with a private Catholic School behind.  Yhul said his son goes to that high school.  It seemed very important that his children get a good education.

Something we all should live by...

Yhul drove us back to Alona Beach where we ended this great afternoon of touring, with supper at Trudi's and watching the sunset on Alona Beach.

So beautiful...

The Bohol Bee Farm

Vicky Wallace, a Boholana environmentalist, just 7 years ago, started with her passion for sustainable agriculture by digging up a small-scale vegetable garden on Panglao and selling her produce locally.  From this a cafe was started, specializing in organic squash muffins, home-baked bread and corn coffee.

Today, the Bohol Bee Farm is a huge outdoor restaurant, hotel with a wonderful pool and an organic farm.  The beehives that lent the farm its name are still in use, but most of the honey production is now happening in Inabanga, where Vicky is coordinating bee-keeping livelihood programs.  The gardens here are overflowing with romaine lettuces, edible herbs and other leafy munchables go into the salads served in the restaurant.  It's hard to believe that the small gardens provides enough food to keep the busy restaurant in constant supply.  Items on the menu consist of their famous squash muffins, lemongrass juice, herb pasta, spicy flower salad and yoga salad.  Then end your meal with a delicious ice cream cone.

The outdoor restaurant 

The amazing ice-cream shop.

Bench we sat on enjoying our ice cream.

The deck and dive shop down below.

The path and step leading down to the deck.

The dive shop

The beautiful sunset from the deck

The restaurant all lit up

Pool area 

Processing building for tea, ice cream, yogurt.

Craft area

The Bohol Bee Farm advocates healthy eating by using their organically grown greens in their restaurant.  Great place to visit and enjoy a meal in the restaurant, an ice cream cone, a herbed tea, a squash muffin or try their many honey spreads in their store.