A Passage to the Philippines

I woke up early again this morning, as the curtains in my room were too thin to keep the sunlight out. I did not mind too much, though, as I had arranged to borrow a motorcycle at seven o’clock. Of course, the motorcycle dealer – whom the hotel had contacted on my behalf – did not show up at seven but at quarter past, which came in handy because I had not yet finished my breakfast by seven (the café had spent a full half an hour making two waffles).

After filling the tank in the city, I followed the main road on the southern coast until I reached Baclayon Church. I had originally intended to make a stop by the Blood Compact Monument, but the road to it seemed a bit too derelict to brave on a hired motorcycle. The monument marks the alleged spot where Legaspi and Rajah Sikatuna formed an alliance in 1565, which they sealed (as the name of the monument indicates) with their own blood. Bohol’s present-day flag pays homage to this history, depicting two arms drawing blood from each other in the foreground of the Chocolate Hills. As for the church in Baclayon, it is the oldest Christian settlement in Bohol and the present structure is made of coral.

At Baclayon, I stopped following the sea and turned inland, taking the Provincial Road to the inland town of Corella. The drive was pleasant, with trees shading the road for long stretches and with occasional gaps letting me catch glimpses of small rice fields. At Corella, I made a short stop to take a closer look at its colourful church and statue of Jesus atop a blue globe. I imagine this town rarely receives any visitors, as the church is not even entered on Google Maps – a discovery that has just filled me with the excitement of a sixteenth century explorer.

About ten minutes east of Corella, I finally arrived at my destination: the Tarsier Sanctuary. The place was supposed to open at nine, but the front desk was already admitting people fifteen minutes before then. First, we were sat down in a movie room and were shown a film about the sanctuary’s ground rules: no talking, no flash photography, and obviously no touching. The film also covered a few interesting facts about tarsiers. For instance, the eye of a tarsier is larger than its brain. Also, tarsiers cannot move their eyes, so their necks are extremely flexible. They can turn their heads almost 360 degrees.

When the video ended, we were assigned a guide, who led us through the gate to the part of the sanctuary accessible to tourists. As we walked along the narrow path, he pointed out three or four tiny tarsiers resting in the shade with their sticky little arms wrapped around tree branches. I do not know whether in the morning, before the tourists come, the guides sweep the area to see where the tarsiers are, or whether they put the tarsiers in places that are relatively easy for the tourists to see. One of them was so close to eye-level that it made me suspect the latter.

The tour lasted not longer than fifteen minutes, and I only had the chance to take two unobstructed pictures from farther than I would have liked. However, when I opened my phone to find my next stop, I found that it was right next to another tarsier centre – the Bohol Tarsier Conservation Area. My initial plan had been to pass through the Bilar Manmade Forest on my way to the Chocolate Hills, but this way I ended up making two stops: one at the forest and the other at the tarsier centre. I found the Bilar Manmade Forest unremarkable, though perhaps unusual in a landscape like Bohol’s. It seemed very similar to many of the single-species forests common in Europe. Still, the road passing through the area was full of local tourists taking pictures and walking around looking awestruck by the towering trees.

The second tarsier centre had far more visitors than the first and rather than following a guide, they walked the paved pathways alone. The guides simply stood close to wherever the tarsiers were resting and pointed them out to visitors when they drew near. While I was not certain how curated my first experience was, I was convinced that there was no way all these tarsiers could have ended up at eye-level right next to the tourist path by sheer coincidence.

Finally, I made my way to my final and most important destination of the day: the Chocolate Hills viewing deck. Built on a hill at the northern tip of a scenic hill cluster, the deck provides panoramic views in all directions, but especially towards the southeast. As I found out while trying to ride my motorcycle up the hill, tickets are purchased at a parking lot below, and they come with free shuttle transportation up and down the hill. I was very hungry by then, so having parked my bike and bought a ticket, I looked around for some food. Since there were no vegetarian options around, I ended up eating sweet little purple breads from a stall close to the parking lot and drank a mango shake. I regretted this decision as soon as I took the shuttle up, as the café at the peak offered multiple vegetarian options. Nevertheless, I ended up eating a full meal there as well just to offer my patronage to this rare vegetarian-friendly establishment in a country that seems not very amenable to the concept.

I found the conical and almost perfectly symmetrical Chocolate Hills beautiful, though I waited in vain for the clouds to clear up. Indeed, I waited long enough for the sky to darken again, and on my long ride back to the hotel, I caught several dramatic rain showers. It rained for the better part of what should have been a seventy-minute ride but ended up being twenty minutes longer – partly because I am a slow and cautious driver, partly because of the rain, and partly because I am a slow and cautious driver especially in the rain. Nevertheless, I made it back to the hotel safely and after washing my body and clothes, I spent the rest of the evening hoping they would dry by the following morning.