Bohol: The City of Friendship Tours! =)

Alona Beach - Fine White Sand, just needs some cleaning up in shores because there were a lot of sea kelps :)

 

A sunset (jump) shot in Alona Beach

 Bilar Man Made Forest, nice shot, kinda gives you a "road less travel feels".  This road though is used by public. Taking photo is at your own risk. =P

Loboc River Cruise - Lunch buffet comes with the 1 hour river cruise; it was another great and fun experience. You feel like taking the trip to a mini amazon river (less the anacondas swimming in the river of course).

Here is the view of the whole boat from its own viewing deck.

Punta Cruz Watch Tower and the uplifted ridges brought about by the 2013 earthquake. Seabed literally shifted up and displaced the sea water...

Alona Beach Mountain View

A great relaxation spot as provided here by one of the resorts in Alona Beach, but its free for all - we weren't asked to leave when we were here and was just passing time. 

 Restoration Efforts currently ongoing in the Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Dauis, Bohol in this church, also is the famous miracle well is situated inside this church, open to public but in some parts only.

Having no chance for a boat ride / snorkeling due to the Typhoon Lando, we booked another land tour and went for the hinagdanan Cave. The Cave is both salty and fresh water. about 15feet deep, you can rent a life vest when you want to take a dip. Changing rooms are available at the back of their reception area.
 

When you go to the cave, insist a shot where in the lights is almost coming towards you and your friends. Our guide has done a good job with the shot for us. This is indeed the best fallback place

Tarsier Conservation Center - we came here with much anticipation and excitement. Too bad we only saw a few of the nocturnal (world's smallet) primate. =( But Still It was great they are being preserved and kept in their natural habitat. After All, they are only found here in the Philippines.

 The World Famous Chocolate Hills - i expected to see much more than these. Unfortunately some of the hills were naturally destroyed due to the earthquake that hit the province in 2013. It sure was breathtakingly wonderful up here too. The air is so fresh and it was still a nice sight.

 The Mag-Aso Falls, a wonderful place to take a fresh water dip too, when you want something else other than the sea water. This falls is just a few minutes walk, Due to the same earthquake that destroyed a lot of the churches the "easy" walk to the water falls was also damaged. we were directed to a different path - too slippery for us, and this was the hardest part of it all. got slipped a few times and has had mud in my boardshorts.Ha! Thank goodness they have changing rooms :D

Tigbao Hanging Bridge, this is a bamboo bridge. Shaky when you cross it and is really scary. It was a bit slippery too even though we crossed it and it was such a clear weather.
No doubt it was a recommended activity for "thrill-seekers" according to CNN, that counted Tigbao Hanging Bridge in Bohol among the world's 13 "most spectacular foot bridges"in 2014.

Just in the middle of the City is the Blood Compact Site - Strike a few pose then go to the souvenir shops nearby. They sell the cheapest Peanut Kisses, and Shirts. haha

Credit to @cheep (instagram) for the photos

Bali Tour Series B: Beach Hopping

Bali is known primarily for their white sand beaches, but a trip to Bali has introduced us more to their culture more than anything else. They have more to offer than temples, and beaches actually. This post though will focus on the obvious Bali spot every one dreams of visiting in Bali. ;)

Nusa Dua Beach: This beach is where most of the high end resorts are located. The beach is free, you can take a dip, swim a bit and have a quick change by the beach (or by a paid bathroom near the surf board rentals).

Just a few meters walk, at the other side of the Nusa Dua Beach, is "The Bay, Bali" The beach also has a long shore ideal for beach walking. We first went here, and intended to swim a bit, but the sand although was white... it was a bit rough since the quality of the sand is not that fine. Taking a close look (using the microscope function of my camera) it shows corals that aren't that much fine yet. =)

Beach "Sand" Up Close

The water, as you can see, is very clear and clean. =)

Jimbaran Bay - The restaurant where we ate our lunch was at Jimbaran Bay. It is also a white sand beach. The whole stretch of the beach is calm, and suitable for swimming. The whole Jimbaran Bay was lined up with a lot of several other resorts and restaurants by the bay. =) Too bad we did not stay for a long time here. The sand was fine, but not as great as that of the Nusa Dua Beach. =)

Seminyak Beach - This is yet another beach, more of a public one. There was a huge parking space for patrons here. We intended to take a swim but was a bit disappointed since the beach was not as white as what we thought most Bali beaches are. =P Another challenge was the lack of a public changing room too. So once you take a swim, there was no way you can wash up properly. You will have to change into your normal clothes in public. We are not able to see how the locals do it, though since there was practically no one around, except for our group and a couple of vendors.

The Seminyak beach is free of charge, and well it sure looks like a great place to relax, we just ought to transfer and get on with the rest of the tour (finishing earlier than usual) since we felt we couldn't swim and not wash up leaving our skin to dry with sea water. This beach sure does have a huge shore. =)

Sanur Beach - This is the last beach on our list for this tour. Having come to this beach as part of the trip and where we had our wonderful lunch by the bay. The beach is calm, but a bit more rocky in one area. The shore is a bit shorter, and narrow hence not much beach goers come. There are parked boats in some area around  the shore, but still the view is breathtaking.