Chocolate Hills

Posted on 07/29/2022 by Lenn

Chocolate Hills, Carmen, Bohol, Philippines, 2022

Chocolate Hills is one of the places that I never thought I’d see and visit. As a kid, I’ve only seen this in my textbooks as it’s probably the well-known landmark of Bohol back in the day. Once, years ago, there was news that the hills were growing smaller for some reason and I thought, oh, no, I probably wouldn’t be able to see them as beautiful as it once was.

Come 2022, Norman asked me which place we’d go and visit on his birthday. It was a bit too late to organize an international trip + we just got married and spent our honeymoon in Boracay, so we didn’t have a huge budget. I suggested that we go to Bohol because aside from Chocolate Hills, the reefs in Bohol, particularly in Panglao Island, is very beautiful and perfect for our fun diving sessions.

Anyway, when we went atop the stairs to get a good view at the Chocolate Hills, I was mesmerized. I never thought I’d appreciate it as much as I did when we were there. These photos couldn’t give justice to how beautiful the view was.

Sandy Tikis

Posted on 07/27/2022 by Lenn

Alona Beach, Panglao Island, Bohol, Philippines, 2022

There’s just something exhilarating whenever I get to go to the beach. It’s just about the blow of the wind on my face, the smell of salt water whenever I inhale, the feel of the sand on my feet, and just looking at the waves and the horizon. It’s something I will never get tired of.

Trees of Dodona

Posted on 07/25/2022 by Lenn

Man-Made Forest, Bilar, Bohol, Philippines, 2022

The place reminded me so much of the trees of Dodona from Greek mythology. In some books written or based on Greek mythology, the trees of Dodona whispers to people who are lost in the woods because Dodona is an Oracle. In those stories, it is said that they can cause a person to lose their minds.

This forest didn’t give me the creeps the way it did when I read about it in books because they are so refreshing to look at. It’s quite a huge difference from the usual view that I see back in Manila. I hope that our government build more forests instead of selling our land to businessmen who builds malls, condominiums, and subdivisions as we already have lots of those and less public spaces for the people.

Garcia-Hernandez Conveyor Belt

Posted on 07/21/2022 by Lenn

Garcia-Hernandez, Bohol, Philippines, 2022

On the day of our Anda tour, I was having a really bad headache because of the unpredictable weather. When we were on our way back to Panglao after completing our itinerary for the day, we passed by this mining site. This wasn’t part of our tour, but my husband asked our tour guide if we could stop by just to take a photo. And though my head feels like its tearing itself apart, I just couldn’t help but go down and take a photo of the conveyor belt myself.

This mining site is a project of the Duterte administration and according to locals, Bohol’s LGU doesn’t earn anything or have any share from this — all the money goes straight to the national government. You might not see or notice it in the photo that I took from the main road of the town, but the top of that mountain has already gone bald.The next photo shown below is a screen capture from Google Maps of what the mountain looks like from a bird’s eye view: