Bohol
Showing posts with label Bohol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bohol. Show all posts

Bohol Escapades part 3: Tagbilaran and juicy tidbits

One of my favorite Churches in Bohol, the St. Joseph Cathedral.
On our second day in Bohol, we toured around the countryside right after mass. We made arrangements with someone we met on Panglao beach, who arranged the tour for us six for only P1500. He was not the driver, but he came along during the whole trip. Note: Photos by me using my S3's camera and a digicam. These are unedited.

This time, we toured primarily around Tagbilaran. This post contains several tidbits I learned from our tour guide. My trip to Bohol definitely proved to me that there are so many things I can still learn outside the classroom. Hurray for lifelong learning!

Interesting tidbits part 1:
  • The name Bohol is derived from "galing sa 'boho'", which means butas-butas.
  • The land in Bohol is 16% limestone. There is currently a partnership between the local government and a company in Japan who mines some of the limestone in the island. The limestone is shipped to Japan then turned into beautiful plates, and sold, expensively, in the Philippines.
  • The name 'Tagbilaran' was from "taguan ng mga Bilaan sa mga pirata," when our Boholano ancestors used to hide in Tagbilaran's numerous caves when pirates arrived in the very, very old days.
  • There have been news that say Bohol has sinkholes, but that's actually just the land collapsing, exposing the numerous caves that populates Tagbilaran underneath.

Very old Spanish songs!
We went to the St. Joseph Cathedral for mass. From our hotel, Dao Diamond, we took a tricycle, which cost us P10/person. The St. Joseph Cathedral was also partly damaged. Several of the walls have cracks, and they have an ongoing fund/support/sponsorship drive in hopes of fixing the Church.

As my mother, sister, and I went to their office to donate for the Church renovation, I wandered around the office and saw various treasures such as this very old songbook in Spanish; a book titled Manual: De Los Parrocos, El Sagrado Ministerio En Filipinas 1880 (1880!); old bishop's hat; and old gold cups used for mass. It was very fascinating for a history lover like me. I wasn't 'snooping' around; they were displayed in glass cases for everyone to see and/or appreciate.

We passed by the Blood Compact, and I insisted we get our pictures taken. My mom, who has also been to Bohol before, said that the Blood Compact shrine has really improved. The bronze statues are set in a marble platform, when before it was barely noticeable. I think that tableau really set the tone for the Filipino's inuman pose. I kid. On a serious note, I was happy to finally have seen it because I've read and heard so much about the Blood Compact when I was growing up!

The ruins of Baclayon Church, Bohol.
We passed by another one of the ruined heritages of Bohol, Baclayon Church, and it was both a sad and fascinating experience for me. I was truly sad to see the ruins because they were beautiful churches. At the same time, seeing the ruined structures up close, I was awed by the architectural tricks our ancestors knew that enabled them to build long-lasting structures without the technology that we had today. Our guide told us the builders used egg whites to build these old Churches. I think my mouth hung open at some point.

Interesting tidbits part 2:
  1. The Baclayon Church is the second oldest church in the Philippines.
  2. The Baclayon Church is the oldest church in Bohol.
  3. If you look closely at the photo/zoom it, you'll see a face imprinted on the wall. They say it's the face of Padre Pio, as stated by one of the priests who had a dream about the saint visiting him and saying it was his face. This is not yet proven, but it is not a painting, and how can anyone imprint a face on a Church just like that?

After this awe-inspiring and saddening stop at the Baclayon Church, it was time to have lunch. Our guide brought us to a floating restaurant that was cheaper than the other 'floating' restaurants, but the food was pretty okay for about less than P500 or P600 per person. A lot of nationalities joined us on the boat, which had a capacity of about 40 people. We had to sign the manifesto (that brought back so many Camiguin memories!), then off we went eating our hearts out. Since our group was the first one in the boat, we had first pickings. I think we had three servings each. For the price we paid, we only had one drink free, so we paid for the other drinks we ordered.

Sky meets Water in Loboc River, Bohol.
The boat was filled up with a lot of tourists from different countries. There were Koreans, Chinese, Germans, Americans, and French. I looked up at one of them and said, "Vous etes francais?" I wanted to bop my head at that because I was supposed to say francaise, not francais, cause she was a woman! But she understood my question, and she said, "Oui, oui!" I think she told her family (she's the mother) because they looked at me and when I greeted them in French, they didn't look surprised. That's my first experience with real French people and I just totally failed my first French greeting. Real smooth, Haeja.

We were on the boat from 11am until almost 2pm, and it frequently rained during our trip, drenching a lot of us. But when Mr. Sun finally came out and stayed out for about thirty minutes during our boat trip, the view was just one of the most spectacular sights I've seen in Bohol.

The water reflected the ridiculously gorgeous blue sky. This shot was taken after the thirty-minute downpour, but after the skies cleared it was like the rain never even happened. It was amazing riding the boat and passing through the water which was beautifully reflecting the blue sky.

It was also very quiet, and I had a happy tummy, so in that moment, I felt that everything was perfect.

Afterwards, we went to the Tarsier Conservation Area. There are 13 tarsiers in the conservatory, but after the earthquake, the world's smallest primates scampered up the mountain, and only five returned. Since they are nocturnal, almost all of them were asleep. And I'm pretty sure by now they were bored of humans sticking cameras on to their faces. Please, please make sure that your camera's flash is turned off and that your phone is turned to silent. Don't scare them away, or make them panic.

Since we were on a schedule, I just passed by them quickly. I already had a picture taken with a tarsier way back in 2007, and I am content with that. But my sister, bless her and her patience, stayed behind and waited for her turn to be right in front of one of the tarsiers. And just as she was about to click on the shutter button, the tarsier turned it's head and stared at her. If you haven't seen one that's awake, aside from what you see in postcards, well here it is. Tada!

The world's smallest primate, the Philippine tarsier.
Eerie, no? I had the opportunity before to hold a tarsier, or rather it chose to climb up my arm and straight to my shoulder. It didn't approach anyone else but me and its handler. I will tell you, I felt like I had a baby on my arm. Their hands (paws?) are so incredibly soft, gentle, and smooth. When it scampered on to my shoulder and stayed there was one of my most humbling and feeling honored moments. I mean, this little, panicky primate with baby-like feet chose to hold on to me and wasn't afraid of me. Gosh.

On our way to the Chocolate Hills from the Tarsier Conservation Area, we passed by the man-made forest. When I say passed, I mean our vehicle passed by the place. I wanted to badly to have my photo taken right smack in the middle of the road, but we didn't stop. Le sigh. Maybe next time?

Interesting tidbits part 3:
  1. Bohol's man-made forest was built in the 1970s as a project of Imelda Marcos. 
  2. The forest is composed of Mahogany trees.
  3. One mahogany tree is worth P400,000. They only cut a tree when it is very old, which takes thirty years for it to be considered 'fully grown', and they have to plant a mahogany seedling in its place to maintain the forest. 
  4. The government sells the cut tree for export for furniture.

Bohol's famous Chocolate Hills.
The viewing deck of the Chocolate Hills was almost completely eradicated after the earthquake's, during the aftershocks. Thankfully, there was enough structure for us to go up the hill. The caretaker of the chocolate hills said he really felt the mountain go up and down since he was cleaning around the place when the earthquake happened. Without the viewing deck, it was hard to take a clear shot of the hills. It looked endless, and just really so beautiful.

Are you ready for more interesting tidbits? Hehe.

Interesting tidbits part 4:
  1. In the 1980s, the first count was only 1268 hills spread across three towns, Pilar, Batuan, and Carmen, but in 2012 another town was considered to fit the criteria, and the hills are now slated to be around 1,794.
  2. The name of Chocolate Hills was actually Carmen Hills. This was changed because in the 1980s, a superintendent of Hersheys visited the hills and saw that it was shaped like the Hersheys Kisses, and then it was called Chocolate Hills.
  3. The top of the hills are composed of solid limestone.
  4. They (I'm not sure who) plant cogon grass and in summer, they burn the grass, which makes the hills brown. This little tidbit broke my sister's belief that the grass turns brown every summer and is some magic on the part of the Chocolate Hills. Okay, fine, I was heartbroken too. See the things you learn when you travel? :)
  5. The hills are considered public property and the locals, or anyone, are not allowed to 'own' or live in any of the hills (but they may live in the surrounding places or flat lands).

One of our last stop was the St. Peter the Apostle Church ruins, another historical church devastated by the earthquake. I think I visited here the first time I was in Bohol, and it was so lovely. Now it's pretty much a total wreck. I hope this can be rebuilt, and hopefully with materials that can withstand earthquakes.

Ruins of the historical landmark St. Peter the Apostle Church.
Interestingly, as we went around taking pictures, my sister zoomed the camera on the ceiling, and look what we have here:

The part of the ceiling with Jesus' face holding on to an child saint was left intact. The whole ceiling was pretty much falling apart. It warmed my heart so much.

Before we went home, we managed to sneak in a lot of shopping for t-shirts and my favorite, peanut kisses. It's cheaper if you still go to the new factory of the peanut kisses. It's in the town, and you just have to ask the tricycle driver to bring you there. The new address of the Peanut Kisses factory is in 5 New Calceta Street, Tagbilaran City. Frankly, there's only a P10 difference if you buy from them or from the touristy spots, but we still went there to buy their bigger packages.

Bohol's Capital Building
The next day, we walked around the town proper because I wanted to take photos of the capitol building. I saw it on our first day on our way to Panglao, and I thought it looked beautiful. I love the old architecture, they look so regal. The damage to the building by the earthquake is not captured in this photo, but it's pretty extensive.

The Philippine National Hero, Jose Rizal.
Across the Capitol Building was a small park where groups of friends, families, or just plain 'ole lovers hang out. They have a statue of the Philippine National Hero, Jose Rizal, erected smack dab center. In the park are replicas of the Chocolate Hills, a stone tableau, live birds you can feed, and a lot of seating opportunities. I suppose it's pretty safe because it's right across the capitol, and there were roving police.

National Museum, Bohol branch.
We ended up in Bohol's National Museum, a small, one-floor air conditioned museum in the capitol, across the plaza and St. Joseph Cathedral. There was an entrance fee of P10. For the obvious care put in the display, that's cheap. There was a huge explanation of how Bohol/Chocolate Hills were formed, and mini replicas of the several heritage Churches in Bohol. There were also displays of some dug-up ancient skeletons, as well as some chinaware that were in pretty good condition. Also on display were the flora and fauna only seen in Bohol. My favorite, though, was a tree trunk carved with the numerous attractions in Bohol. It also made me realize that there was more to Bohol that I had to explore.

I want to go back and visit Krus Daku!
A 500-year-old Boholana recovered in May 1970.
The Bohol Museum needs upkeep of some of the displayed tarpaulins, but it is worth a visit. There was a museum curator, but he was busy with someone, and the two people guarding the exhibit were not able to fully answer my questions.

CP Garcia's desk and chairs.
Afterwards, we walked all the way to the Carlos Polestico Garcia's house called the CPG Heritage House. Carlos P. Garcia is the 8th President of the third Republic of the Philippines, if my memory of our history lessons serve me right. I don't know if you're aware that it exists, but yes, there is such a place in Bohol and it is beautifully preserved with a lot of memorabilia from the late president.

The house was very modest, and well preserved. The caretaker led us through a tour of the house, and I was so touched by the simple life of Carlos P. Garcia. He was never one of the popular presidents in my mind, but going through his house made me see how humble he had been, and his presidency fascinated me.

Afterwards, we had lunch at Garden Cafe, the sister restaurant of our hotel. It totally had this cowboy vibe, with the booths, the carriage wheels on the ceiling, and the display of boots on the top of the counter. It seemed popular since the place filled up while we were there for lunch and dinner.

His presidential staff's gift on his birthday.
We then went back to Dao Diamond, where my mom and I spent an hour or two swimming and eating (again). Then my sister joined us and we swam for another hour. Since it was our last night in Bohol, I was itching to go out and see more of Bohol as much as I could. Our dad accompanied me and my sister for a dinner in town, and we went back to Garden Cafe at night. We rode the night shuttle from Dao Diamond and was dropped off at the restaurant itself. The night shuttle cost us P15/person/trip.

The dining area on the second floor at night is transformed into this slightly dark, restaurant that gave off a more intimate air for me,but the place had a lot of families and friends out for dinner in town.

Garden Cafe at night.
There's an inactive bull and horse that you can sit on and use the props for taking photos. Pretty darn cool!

The food, in true Dao style, was tasty, cheap, and had huge servings. While we were eating, the lights suddenly turned off. I almost screamed, but I was with my dad and sister, and my awesome phone has a flashlight app, so I just turned on the flashlight coolly as you please, and the three of us resumed eating. The lights went off twice while we were having dinner, and I just kept turning on my flashlight. The people said it was another effect of the earthquake. Sigh, poor Bohol.

Afterwards, my dad wanted to find mangoes that weren't ripened by the use of chemicals, but we searched in vain. However, I did see the St. Joseph Cathedral's tower lit up at night, and it took my breath away. The town proper at night was pretty safe to walk around in, and there weren't many beggars asking for handouts. Also, they said it's relatively safe in Bohol, but I still found myself holding on tight to my sister. Heh. Scaredy-cat.

Night lights.
The next day, we just had breakfast and went to the airport for our morning flight. So endeth my wonderful vacation to Bohol. It is definitely one of the trips I'll treasure for a lifetime. Without my planning to, I stumbled upon one of the best history lessons I've ever had. Bohol felt like both a visit to the past, and a way of moving forward, and definitely what I needed at the time. Thank you, Lord, for the wonderful Bohol!
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Bohol Escapades 2013 part 2: On the way to Panglao

Happy Miras-Franca tour!
I stayed in Bohol for four days and three nights. We stayed in Dao Diamond Hotel, which was just one of the highlights of our vacation. Right after we checked in, we had breakfast and immediately booked a tour with our hotel. Why with our hotel? My mother does not like to book tours in advance for local trips because something might happen, and the deposit will be lost. Anyway, the tour cost us P4,000. I loved the tour guide, he was very nice and he knew a lot of tidbits about Bohol, but the price was very expensive. (Note: All photos unedited. I suck at photo editing.)

Our first tour was the 'Panglao tour' but we had several stops along the way. First up was the Hinagdanan Cave, which is an underground cave with a small lake. It will be better to have a guide with you because he knows where you should step to be safe. Our guide was Gibby, and if he's around the area on the day of your tour, I highly recommend him. He takes fantastic pictures! Your guide's fee depends on what you feel like paying, but there is a very minimal entrance fee as well.

Inside Hinagdanan Cave
I hope you wear sturdy slippers during your tour so you won't slip. Sadly, my Sandugo sandals did not have a great grip on the surface, and I had to be very careful where I trod. (It was sorely beaten by my Havaianas mud experience where I trekked through wet mud up a mountain and my slippers didn't even break, and I didn't slide.) My mother, who was wearing Havaianas, had better grip on the slightly wet and uneven terrain inside the cave.

It was not very dark underground, and there was sufficient light to go around. My grandmother initially balked at entering because she doesn't like caves, but we managed to persuade her, and she even enjoyed herself. The cave doesn't have that musky smell either. The lake reminded me of the lake in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince where (spoiler) Harry and Dumbledore had to cross a lake filled with inferi. I wondered several times if a hand would suddenly shoot up and grip my ankles. No, that did not happen.

Afterwards, we went to the Bohol Bee Farm for lunch. I'm not sure if you can check-in there, but they have a pool (open from 8am to 11pm, with a depth of three feet to seven feet). No one was swimming, however, while we were there. The server kept telling us that the food was good for one person only. That was so not true. Each plate we ordered was fit for two people, or three if you don't eat much. However, the food was very delicious so we didn't feel like complaining about it. We just took the remainder of the food with us back to Dao and ate it for dinner.

View from the beach of Panglao
After our very hearty lunch and shopping from Bohol Bee Farm's native and honey produce store, we went to Panglao at 3pm (our tour started at 11am). If you want to spend more time in there than in the countryside, and you want to visit more over several days, I suggest you book a room around Panglao. We found out to our dismay that a van will cost P500 from our hotel to Panglao for one way. And another P500 to get back. Yes, we could commute but since we were with several senior citizens, my mom wanted the ride to be comfortable.

Afternoon delight
Also, this is so you can take a shower after bathing. We managed to get cleaned up by ordering drinks from one of the beach-side hotels, but we weren't able to take a shower since we just used their comfort room to change clothes. I managed to persuade them to lend me a little tub to wash off the sand, though. It was, needless to say, a bit of an uncomfortable ride back to Dao Diamond.

I know Panglao is very popular and quite picturesque, but I did not enjoy swimming there as I thought I would. There were too many sea urchins! I just stayed close to the shore, but even that was uncomfortable because I kept scraping my knees on the sand, shells, and broken corals. My dad, the enviable human fish, of course swam quite far away, and had fun feeding the sea urchins to a live starfish he found. Fast fact: Sea urchins are starfish food! The random things I learn from my dad.

Fail.
My sister and I are fans of henna tattoos, so when a tattoo artist approached us by the beach, we agreed to do it. It was pricey at P200, but he was the lone artist we saw in the area so we reluctantly agreed. He said the henna will wear off after one to two weeks, and I was actually disappointed because I wanted mine to last for far longer, but still we gave the go ahead. Oh my god, so disappointing! It was one of the not-so-good henna experiences I've ever had. First of all, I pointed to a beautiful tiger tattoo, but the end product looked like a cross between a tiger and a monster. Second, the tattoo almost completely washed off after ONE wash. One. Ugh. What a waste of P200. It's a blessing we were in a hurry because I wanted to get another one on my other leg. Sigh. Lesson learned in trusting henna tattoo artists.

On our way back to Dao Diamond, we passed by the Dauis Church. In case you didn't know, Bohol was hit by a terrible earthquake in 2013 which devastated a lot of the beautiful old churches.

One of the churches ravaged by the earthquake in 2013.
The sort of 'miracle' here is that the Mama Mary, which was right behind the Church, was completely unharmed. I was not surprised anymore; I've heard of a lot of stories where religious statues have been unharmed by natural disasters, but it still warmed my heart. Seeing this church, though, broke my heart. It was a historic treasure, and it was gone just like that. Sigh. I hope it can be restored to its former glory, although maybe more earthquake-proof.

All in all, it was a good first day for us. If you want to tour Panglao, I suggest getting a van for hire if you don't want to commute, or stay in an inn or hotel in Panglao for your stay. We opted to hire a different guide/driver on our second day for our countryside tour, which only cost us P1500 (not counting entrance fees and lunch), and he also regaled us with information about Bohol. However, his van was stinky and smelled strongly of urine, which gave me a headache all day (and I suspect it did not help matters with my sister's chronic migraine).

Okay, before I end here, here's the tidbit I learned from our driver the first day. Do you remember your Philippine history taught during our elementary years? So the guide said Francisco Dagohoy was actually named Francisco Sandejas. 'Dagohoy' was from the term 'dagon sa huyohoy'. Francisco Dagohoy was thought by the Spaniards to have some sort of anting-anting (amulet) because he was able to travel quickly from one spot to another and he eluded their capture for a long time. No, he didn't have magic; he simply had memorized the 1400 underground caves of Bohol and used them to travel from one spot to another.

Now that's something you don't learn from the classroom.

Ciao!
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Bohol Escapade 2013 Part 1 - Dao Diamond Hotel

Entrance to Dao Diamond
I'm back! I was delayed in writing this post because, well, life got in the way. First, Happy New Year! I hope you had a scrumptious New Year feast. May 2014 be an even better for us all :)

Last December, I went to Bohol for four days and three nights. This was my second time to visit the place; the first time was in college, when I was chosen to be part of a conference that took place in Bohol. This time, I went with my family and every day was a new adventure for me, especially since the earthquake has ravaged much of the beautiful structures I saw during my first visit. Note: All photos are non-edited, and are taken using my phone S3's camera.

The living room, and behind that is Chico Cafe.
There were six of us in the group, with three adults and three senior citizens (my dad, and my grandparents). While we were on a budget, comfort was still paramount for our trip. After months of searching, my sister and I, who paid for all our accommodations, finally settled on Dao Diamond Hotel. Dao Diamond is a very charming, quaint, and comfortable hotel near the airport that was just bang for the buck. If I will visit the countryside of Bohol again, I will definitely stay there.

Dao Diamond was very affordable, about P1650 per two adults in their standard room. They also offer a twenty percent discount for senior citizens in the room. They have various room sizes on offer, so you can stay in one room if you're a family or a group friends. We opted to stay in separate rooms because it was cheaper when we computed it, compared to their family room. Take note: A non-refundable deposit is required to confirm your reservation, but the deposit will be part of your total room rate already.

Another sala set right inside the entrance.
Dao Diamond has its very own Chico Cafe restaurant, which was very handy because the hotel is situated a bit far from the town proper; it's near by car, but not on foot. Thankfully, the food was very affordable. We gained so much weight in Bohol because the food was so cheap, we thought the dishes were good for one person only, but they are actually good for two to three persons. Chico Cafe's food was very tasty; they tasted like home-cooked meals. The whole hotel definitely felt like your home away from home, from the friendly staff to the very comfortable sofas. I actually spent a couple of hours one night curled up in one as I checked my emails...using their unlimited free WiFi! They have a lot of routers all over the place, but the signal is not very strong when inside our room. The strongest connection I had was while I was in the living room in the lobby. Even in Chico Cafe, I only had one to two bars, but it was enough anyway to surf and update my Instagram, lol.

Towels, shampoo, and soap are provided.
Another thing that sets Dao Diamond apart is that they have a lot of deaf employees. If you know how to use sign language, good for you! But for us, we had to communicate by pen and paper. If we had a request that we really had to communicate by voice, we just talked to the front desk, and they are the ones who communicated with the deaf employee. While some may complain that it's 'hard', it wasn't, actually as they understood us most of the time. We just put our hands together as if in prayer and bowed our head to say thank you. It wasn't the right sign, as I later learned, but they are so used to us non-sign language practitioners that they already understood it. And they are so good at anticipating our needs! As soon as you sit down, they'll bring you the menu. After you order, they'll already provide you with water. Sometimes the utensils were provided, sometimes we just got them from the utensils tray at the front of the cafe. I'm not sure if they were mute as well since they didn't speak verbally, but the quiet service was to my liking! Don't you just hate it when you're trying to relax and the servers themselves are so unprofessionally noisy? Since part of my goal was to relax, I definitely achieved that during my stay.

Dresser with glasses.
We were all given rooms on the first floor, as per my sister's request to the staff, so that our grandparents won't have a hard time going to their room. Our rooms were all beside each other. The only downside is that the walls are a little thin. For loud televisions, it wasn't a problem; but for hell-raising cries of a child, it is definitely a detriment. One night, a child was crying in the stairs in the middle of the night, and a lot of people in the first floor woke up and complained. Also, if there are noisy people in the corridor, you will definitely hear it, but since almost all the guests were out and about in Bohol, and we were hardly in the room, we didn't mind it at all. There are no sound buzzers in the room, only light buzzers that will go on and off, signalling there's someone at the door, which is great for minimizing the sound, but bad if you're not facing the door, and based on my experience, if the person inside is asleep. However, they do have extra keys to let you inside your room if you're locked out.

For a standard room, it was very spacious. And despite the affordable price of the rooms, unlike other cheap hotels, the beds were very comfortable. We all had a good night's sleep, refreshed for the next day during our vacation. However, they only provide one pillow for the bed, so if you're the type who sleeps hugging a pillow, you have to bring a substitute plushy since I'm not sure if they provide pillows upon request.

TV with small cabinet
Our room also had a veranda, but we didn't use it. We also didn't use the air con in the room overnight! It was really cold in Bohol last December, so we turned the air con off when we slept, with only the electric fan turned on.

I think the TV has cable, but since my sister and I didn't even watch, I can't be sure. There were several hangers provided. I didn't like that the cabinet was open for everyone to see inside, but I didn't lose anything during my stay. There's also a safety deposit box, which we also didn't use because it was too small for our tablets.

The rooms are CLEAN. And I mean clean. There's a pull-out bed under my sister's bed, and even that was clean. The bathroom was also clean, even the walls are scrubbed. I know how this is a pet peeve for some people (i.e. Faye, who brings her cleaning tools when she goes to a hostel or something), and my sister is one of them, so having a clean bathroom was also on top of our list of requirements. You know how some cheap hotels makes you feel like you have to wear slippers all the time, even in the bathroom? I think it was one of the few times I didn't mind bathing bare-footed. There was also tissue provided, but no toothbrush or toothpaste. They provided shampoo and conditioner, but we didn't use them; I brought my own, packed in 100ml containers, of course.

The shower has a hot water dial as needed, so we were able to take warm baths even at night. It was just another one of those things I appreciated in Dao Diamond.

Dao Diamond also offers free shuttle transfers to and from the airport. If there are other guests who will arrive or leave the same time as you do, then you will all ride in one shuttle. The hotel also has a P15/ride shuttle service to the town proper. There are three scheduled transfers you can choose from, and you will just text the hotel or the driver himself if you want to be picked up. You will pay the P15 fee at the hotel counter for this ride. We used the service on our third night since my sister and I wanted to ride this non-mechanical bull at Dao Diamond's sister restaurant in the town proper, named Garden Cafe. Like Dao Diamond, Garden Cafe is very quaint. It seems to be popular since the place was packed when we went there for lunch and dinner.

Dao Diamond also has a free swimming pool, but there are no lifeguards. There are two pools; one for adults and one for kids. There is a shower in the pool area, but it can only fit one per person. You have to wear swimming attire. I brought the towel they provided to the pool area since there are no towels in the pool area. You can also eat around the pool area, as there are tables and chairs provided. There is always staff there anyway, and you just ask for the menu and order from them. If you're a guest in the hotel, you can just charge the food to your room. They also have a fish spa for P50 only, but my mom said she got itchy afterwards although the spa felt wonderful to her tired feet.

Tips for travelers:
  1. For travelers to Bohol who don't speak Bisaya, don't fret. They speak English well, and are conversant in Filipino too. 
  2. Their tricycle ride only costs P8, although a special trip can cost up to P30, or P10 per person. We paid all our rides P10/person, and the drivers were very grateful. It was just another P2 anyway. The tryk drivers are well aware of Dao Diamond, too.
  3. There might be an R signal atop your signal in your phone if you're a Sun Cellular. Don't fret; that just means that your mobile is hitching on the Smart network available.
  4. If you're going to get a henna tattoo, make sure it's dry before you go to bed. If you stain the sheets, it will cost you.

Dao Diamond was a very good choice for us. Almost all the staff were very friendly (there was one front desk personnel who wasn't as friendly as the others) and they were polite. The front desk is not open 24/7, but there was a man who stays in the lobby overnight, I think, maybe for emergencies. I know this by experience because I went to the front desk at around 2 in the morning to request for water, and he was the one who got me water from the pantry. The hotel is family-friendly, and they make it easy for handicapped guests. The only downside was that we were far from Panglao, so we only went there once. From our hotel to Panglao, if you don't have a car/friend, and you will have to hire a shuttle, the cost is P500 per one way trip (or take a jeepney ride if you're not in a hurry). But for countryside tours, or just touring around town, Dao Diamond was just perfect.

Full Disclosure: We paid for our meals. This is not a sponsored post. All opinions here are my own based on my experiences during our stay there.

Dao Diamond Hotel
Km. 3, Dao District,
Tagbilaran City, Bohol
Email: daodiamond@hotmail.com
Landline: +6338 4115568 | +6338 5108251 | +6338 5018890 | +6338 4115568
Fax: +6338 4115568
Mobile: +63917 3062946 (Globe)
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