[Throwback (Travel) Thursdays 03.07.2013] Our very first time in Bohol

Even if it's just for three days, I'm already stoked for our little Bohol getaway this weekend. So for this week's Throwback Thursday post, I'm looking back at our very first time in this province, eight years ago in April 2005.

My Bibe and I in Balicasag Island.

My Bibe and I were backpacking then and arrived via fast craft from Cebu. We proceeded to Panglao Island aboard an overloaded mini-bus. I sat on the roof for about half of the trip and only went inside when enough passengers had already alighted. We didn't have any reservation at all and we were surprised we still found ourselves a room at Alona Beach considering it was Holy Week, which is a very busy time in the Philippines as far as tourism goes.

The next day we hired a boat (yes, that boat above) for a snorkeling trip to nearby Balicasag Island, also a prime spot for diving.We frolicked on the beach in between snorkeling sessions, then passed by Puntod Island on our way back. Puntod, which is also called other names, is a small uninhabited islet somewhere in between Panglao and Balicasag that has a long and winding sandbar visible during low tide. It's a lovely spot, and we thought it would have been nice to actually camp there.

Me on the shores of Balicasag Island, which has white, coarse sand.

I realized I used to do a lot of these poses before. This was along the sandbar at Puntod.

With my lovely Bibe on the sandbar.

There was some vegetation on the islet, and I particularly took a liking to this spot.

We then went to Anda and stayed there for two nights. It's one of our favorite places and I thought I'd share photos of that episode in a separate post.

Back at Tagbilaran City, the province's capital, we hired a motorbike for a little road trip to more of Bohol's famed tourist spots. We visited the Baclayon Church, the tarsier sanctuary in Corella, the Loboc River, and of course, the Chocolate Hills in Carmen.

At the time the tarsier sanctuary at Corella kept seven of these little diminutive primates in a primary enclosure, all of which are kept far apart from each other that even our guide had a little trouble finding them. We learned from people at the sanctuary that tarsiers are actually territorial, hence the setup. They also kept several more in a secondary protected area.

My first tarsier encounter. I was giddy with excitement!

At the riverbank of Loboc. There are also tarsiers in cages built around trees here but unlike the ones at Corella, these ones here are kept in such horrid conditions. They're nocturnal, so imagine the stress they have to endure all day with all these tourists calling them out, feeding them, and taking pictures of them!

The Chocolate Hills, on the other hand, are a geological formation of more than 1,000 hills spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometers. They're all covered in grass but during the dry season, they turn brown, hence the reference to chocolate. There's nothing to do here really but take pictures, and I wish they'd offer some adventure-related tours here like hiking or biking.

From seeing them only in textbooks at school, I finally was able to see these hills with my own two eyes.

It was also My Bibe's first time seeing the Chocolate Hills.

Lovely trip for us. And our darkened complexion can attest to that.

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Bohol is serviced by multiple daily flights from Manila and by fast craft and ferry services from Cebu and nearby islands.