HOMEPAGE
On Holy Wednesday, we boarded a dilapidated bus in Tagbilaran and drove through the isolated interior in the southern part of the island, completely unaware of that this region was experiencing NPA-instigated ambuscades in recent weeks. Only instinct (or was in voodoo) moved Fedic and Dondon to decide to abandon our plan to camp in a lazy interior town. Fedic and Dondon had this mantra-recitation rituals and both were very zealous to climb a peak and to look for talismans
After lunch, we caught the last trip to Carmen and by mid-afternoon we didn't regret having a fickle mind for we got to see the real Chocolate Hills. For the record, we we delighted ourselves with the view of the sundown on top of a chocolate hill.
On Holy Thursday, we broke camp and took a ride to Bilar after learning about the Raja Sicatuna National Park in that town. We found out that the Park has a preserved old-growth forest, a humble resort and the tallest peak in the island - Bilar Peak. We saw wildcats, black lemurs, red parrots and monkeys in cages but not the tarsier which I was so anxious to see (despite of the fact that I was aware that this primate could not survive in captivity). The Park has an abundance of birds like the Taricrtic horbill in the wild. Of course, we experienced the limestone (Bohol, on some geological times is submerged underwater) in the forest. It mutilated the soles of Dondon's pair of brand-new Adidas Outdoor shoes.
At dawn on Good Friday, we saw the sunrise and gathered our talismans - crossed and other bizarre-shaped roots and branches. We left the Park early in the morning and, fortunately, we chanced a passing taxi after so much waiting and enjoyed a cool coastal ride to Lakbayon, the site of the oldest extant church in the Philippines. However, we weren't so fortunate in the afternoon, for without a single public utility vehicle in sight, we hiked the more than ten kilometers of distance to Tagbilaran from Lakbayon. (Interestingly, 'lakbayon' is derived from 'lakbay' which means `to hike'. )
We became full-pledged tourists on the Black Sabbath. In the morning, we went inside the Hinagdanan Cave together with the foreigners and the the local tourists. In the afternoon, Fedic's kins toured us to a stone watchtower (it was the fortress of Christians who alert the settlement in Tagbilaran of the incoming Moro pirates) and to the several Spanish stone churches (almost every town in Bohol has one such church!).
Only time deterred us from seeing the world-class beaches of Bohol (incomparably better than the Cebu beaches) on Sunday, the day to embark for home.
[An account based on the recollection of D.S. Ella]
