I had another wonderful sleep and was awake by 5:00AM. I got up, made a coffee and started packing up. I had hours before my scooter would be dropped off at the resort but I wanted to grab some food as I wasn’t sure how my day was going to work out exactly.
I had an ‘American Breakfast’ at the place next door called One 4 Da Road. Breakfast was only OK (240PHP) but the fast Wi-Fi made up for it! Wi-Fi was continually cutting in and out on Panglao, as was the power, especially in the afternoons. My resort barely had Wi-Fi, even in the common areas.
After breakfast, I finished packing and then put another dent in my book! Finishing it on the last day of January was starting to look achievable. I do wonder how I’ll keep up the pace once I get back to my regularly scheduled life!
I arranged to rent a scooter from a place called Bohol Scooter. They had good reviews online and it seemed safer than renting it from some random dude standing on the side of the road which there were plenty. The Bohol Scooter guys brought two scooters over to my hotel. One was a pink Yamaha and the other was a red Honda. I went for the Honda because, well, I am not a fan of the color pink.
I had a two-hour drive to get to my next hotel, Gonzala Suites, which is situated in the Chocolate Hills. This was another reason I came to Bohol. I had heard about these hills years ago and had always wanted to see them.
There aren’t many main roads on the island of Bohol and GPS made it an easy ride. There were plenty of places to stop at along the way though I didn’t stop anywhere. I saw places to see pythons, birds, butterflies and Tarsiers, to name a few. I had my big backpack with me so stopping wasn’t really an option. I’ll have to get creative if I want to stop on the way back.
The only place I did stop at was the Man-Made Forest in Bilar as one only has to pull over on the side of the road. It’s a neat place for pictures and it looks like there may be some small trails in the forest. I will be staying near the area after the chocolate hills, so I may go back to check it out.
I arrived at my new hotel fairly quickly. Check-in time was 2:00PM but they let me as soon as I arrived. The hotel is new and clean and modern. The room was small but it had two double beds, a bathroom, a closet, a desk, a tiny fridge, a TV and a nightstand. They also provided a kettle, water and instant coffee for the guests.
Once settled in the room, I realized I didn’t have a game plan ... again. I knew I wanted to see the Chocolate Hills, which were currently not chocolate-colored. They were more of a matcha-color. My hotel was right beside the main lookout point for the hills. If you are sitting in the open-air restaurant of the hotel, you can see the viewing deck.
One needs to pay 50PHP to go to the viewing deck and there are about 200 steps that take you to the top. The view was impressive but not mind blowing. I went up one hour before sunset. I was hoping there would be less people as most come to the area on a day trip and leave by mid-afternoon.
I stayed at the viewpoint until sundown. The sunset was pretty but not the best. I made my way back to my hotel and headed to the restaurant for dinner. I was starving. The hotel restaurant had a small menu with a lot of local food and the dishes were reasonably priced. I ordered a chicken curry with vegetables, some garlic rice and a cold beer. (370PHP) It was good and hit the spot.
There was little to no Wi-Fi in my room which kind of sucked. It was a reminder of just how much I rely on and use the Internet. I watched a bit of TV on my computer and did some reading before shutting off the light. It was an early night for me though there seemed to be a large group having a party outside my door. Thank goodness for earplugs!
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