We rented a car to drive for 2 days in Bohol and this is Part 2 of our DIY Countryside Tour focusing on the Tagbilaran side, which is connected to Panglao via bridge. Let me show you where we went and our route - from buying the best broas I've had so far up to the famous Chocolate Hills.
I have read about this institution from Marketman - you can find it via Google Maps as 'D Original Osang's Homemade Bakeshop. It looked like a small house in Baclayon and a bit easy to miss driving by.
One thing that worked out was calling up their mobile (0926-6937322) a day before to reserve a bag because I heard that they only sell a small batch in the morning and run out fast. I arrived a little over 12pm and they were on lunch break so I knocked and thankfully, someone came and handed me my order... 1 pack costs only P100.. I asked if there was some extra left to buy but nope..
Oh my goodness, I wish I had reserved more.. It was small, light and you can taste the egg. I tried it for tiramisu when I got back home and it was really yummy for me.
Next, we headed to Corella, Bohol to go to the Tarsier Sanctuary of the Philippine Tarsier Foundation Inc. I chose this place for tarsier sightseeing instead of the other one.
The place had a lot of parking and looked remote and forest-like which was good.
I was thinking this would be the closest I get to the tarsiers haha.
We went in to watch a educational video first before the guided walk (P150 per pax). Of the three species of tarsiers in the Philippines, one (Tarsius Carlito syrichta) is named after PTFI Tarsier Expert Carlito Pizzaras who is the first employee of the foundation. He took care of the tarsier since age 12!
Since the tarsiers are nocturnal animals, I wasn't expecting to find one awake. We followed our guides quietly through their natural habitat and were told that today, we could see four! We are not to touch it or do sudden movements that might stress them out.
The walk was just short like 2 minutes and they kept pointing until we saw one. How they could easily spot them is beyond me haha.
Maybe there's one here somewhere LOL. They are so small, maybe just as big as my hand. We found one in a spot on the ground so I guess we really need to be careful (and silent) where we step at.
This one was able to rotate its head all the way to the back to avoid us so we knew we had to leave already and leave them at peace... Did you know that tarsiers can turn their heads 180 degrees per direction so it's like 360 degree turn? Freaky actually with matching big bulging eyes! Their brain size is teeny though - probably smaller than one eye.
For lunch, we headed to the original Gerarda's restaurant. It has several branches so I figured that it must be popular.
The restaurant used to be an ancestral house if I read it correctly. I was on the lookout for some ube kinampay of Bohol.
Here they serve it like a vegetable sauteed with shrimp. It was okay (like a starchy root crop) and we liked it better than their crispy tadyang but the portion was big though so maybe good for a group. There are many other local Filipino restaurants along the main road going to the direction of Loboc so maybe we will try those next time.
We made it to the Bilar manmade forest after a while. It was an actual busy road with around 2 km long line of mahogany trees planted by the Boy Scouts of the Philippines decades ago to prevent "erosion, deforestation and soil degradation".
It was near 4:30pm when we we arrived and the sellers were just about to pack up. One vendor of calamay (P50 peanut flavor - a bit sweet for us and different texture, hard to finish) eagerly took our pictures with the cars passing hehe. The kuya said other people eat the kalamay with bread for breakfast.
We were timing our Chocolate Hills Complex stop in Carmen near sundown when it's not that hot and we got there around 5:15pm. I remember going up so many stairs when I was a child just to see them.
The view at the parking lot was okay already if you don't want to go up. We paid around P100 per person and parked the car.
The steps were around 500? It took us around 10 minutes so it wasn't that bad haha. I wouldn't go up if it's raining or wet though.
The unobstructed view from the top was nicer in my opinion. During February, the hills have a green shade with a little brown. I believe they sacrificed maybe 2 hills for this viewpoint.
You can see many more though as far as the eyes can see! These natural formations are a unique beautiful sight, even if like me, you've already seen it many years ago.
The path down was easier, just hold the handrails since the steps on one side are a bit worn out and you will probably meet someone going the other way.
We were spent from the long drive back (2.5 hours!) and decided to just eat a late 8pm dinner in Panglao since there were not a lot of options on the way.. We found the Sisa Bistro Restaurant near the Panglao International Airport.
We had grilled chicken and ginataang puso ng saging which was ok.
The rental company picked up the car back from the hotel after we filled up the gas tank. Not bad for P1500 rental fee per day.
