I extended my stay here until the 27th so that I can go on one last vacation. But before I get into that, I have an update on the vacation last weekend. (Life is tough here.)
A co-worker and I headed to Bohol for a 3 day weekend. (President's Day counts even in the wrong country right?)
The first day we wandered around the island a bit. Remember my trip to Thailand and the midnight ride on the back of a scooter? Well, it turns out it is way more fun (read: dangerous) in the Philippines where there are renting one costs $5 and there are no laws, driver licenses, or helmets. We turned a few heads as the area is mostly undiscovered but that may have been because of the one way street signs we missed.
The second day was entirely devoted to scuba diving. Balicasag Island was the drop point. I'm told by a trusted source the reef there is better than the Great Barrier Reef. Dive one was devoted to zoology: turtles, mackrel, groupers, and barracuda. For the most part barracuda don't bother me, even with their tendency to follow divers. But an entire school some 100-150 individuals strong (small by Balicasag standards) is a different matter. The school formed a wall 20 feet tall, 30 feet long and about 10 feet away. Because we were between the school and the rock wall, I couldn't back up to see the entire school at once. One albino barracuda kept our attention while the rest of the school closed in from above. With heart rate and air consumption skyrocketing, I gave a signal to move on. The second dive was more peaceful as we toured the coral garden which I can say is unmatched in all my experience.
The last day of the trip we went exploring deeper into the island, this time with a car (we got tired of the rain, wind, and onlookers that a scooter ride typically includes). We visited a blacksmith hand-making kitchen knives from rusty Jeepney springs and a newly replaced and upgraded bamboo bridge (now with 1% more steel support!)
From there we ventured into the interior to see the Chocolate Hills and the Tarsiers. The chocolate hills were amazing yet the pictures can't quite describe them.
Just imagine that with a full 360 degree panorama, hundreds in number, dappled sunlight, and alien in their near-perfect shapes. The Tarsiers of the region are the worlds smallest monkey are are nigh impossible to find. Thankfully they are nocturnal so they don't move about too much, allowing from decent photography. All this one is missing is a light saber.
Next weekend is devoted to whale shark chasing! Wish me luck!
3 comments:
uh, you've lost count. You've been there since July 6. It's in your blog! That's more than 7 months with some time off for 'good' behavior.
Must be the metric system that's messing you up.
Eghad, you're right! I had forgotten about the July trip.
Funny you should mention the metric system. Yesterday we found a bug on my tool where the country code in the PC was set to Germany and not the Philippines. No small matter because it turned 5.451 um into 5,451 um
Which crazy American thought swapping the comma and period was a good idea?
That photo of the Chocolate Hills is stunning. It looks like a background from Super Mario World!
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