st seemed to fill the horizon. Since it is still early in the year, the hills were green instead of brown, but they were still amazing. All the green before me was just very relaxing. According to Wikipedia: Estimated to be at least 1,268 individual mounds to about 1,776, these cone-shaped or dome-shaped hills are actually grass-covered limestone hills. The large and numerous perfect domes vary in sizes from 30 meters to 50 meters high with the largest being 120 meters in height. Really astounding, isn't it?While we were there, it was quite cloudy but there were times when the sun shone brightly and made the boys a bit cranky. I suppose in future visits to this viewing area an umbrella will be necessary. I must remember that. I can only imagine how hot it was going to be in the summer. Anyway, we took a lot of photos and then made our way to the souvenir shops below. We got some cute shirts for the 4 of us and I think they were nice souvenirs for this trip. There were still a lot actually but Manong said that he would take us to a place where we could buy more souvenirs and trinkets. We left Chocolate Hills and made our way to our next stop. Manong pretty much kept us in the dark about our stops which was a bit thrilling. We just did not know what to expect next.
It was around 11 a.m. and we were all getting a bit hungry so we were relieved that Manong took us to Loboc River as our next stop. (Loboc is a 5th class municipality in the province of Bohol - Wikipedia) There are these boats there that serve a buffet meal as it cruises the length of the river. It's like a floating restaurant. The fee was P280 for adults and half of that for kids. There were several booths (around 4 or 5) there and Manong pointed to one of them (Long River Cruise). These booths are where you get your meal tickets. It's like picking a restaurant. You can actually get to see what they are serving because there are photos of the food on these large poster boards. But we were so hungry we just wanted to get into a boat and have lunch. And since we didn't know where Manong was going to have lunch, we invited him to eat with us and paid for his meal. There were already a few
people on board the boat when we climbed in. We also ate almost immediately and I was glad for that. I got some grilled fish, agar salad, grilled squid, pork barbeque, vegetables, and lots of fruits and maja blanca. Ruther got almost the same. Nikki ate some noodles and Ethan was not interested in food. There were still other food served on the buffet table but I thought if I ate any more, I would look like I was pregnant. While we were eating, the boat started to move and we headed upriver. Almost everyone took photos and videos and we were serenaded by this man who played a guitar. He was a lot of fun. But most of the time, we just took photos and admired the view. It rained a bit as we cruised the river but it made the mood all the more relaxing. I also spotted this group of women washing clothes in the river. Now that is very rural to me. Many people used to do that in Zamboanga but well, times have changed. Seeing those women just brought back a lot of nostalgic feelings. Anyway, we reached the end of the river and made our way down. Before reaching our stop though, we paused before this small covered dock where people young and old were sitting. When we approached, they started singing and dancing and pretty much entertained us. Again, we did not have to pay any fees but donations were welcome. After 10-15 minutes, we were on our way again and shortly thereafter, we reached the terminal. Taking a quick stop to the wash rooms, we then proceeded to Loboc Church which was only a few meters away from the Loboc River terminal.The St. Peter Parish Church in Loboc is the second oldest church in the country. (Wikipedia) It actually looks old so I would not doubt that at all. I really love old churches. Ruther and I were married in an old church and it was wonderful. Anyway, we did not go into the church anymore because we still had more places to visit and we were pressed for time but I told myself that the next time we drop by Loboc, I'll get inside the church and light a candle. After taking a few more photos, we boarded the car and made our way to the wonderful tarsiers.
to be continued...
