Philippines' Chocolate Hills, Bohol
Chocolate Hills Preview
In the Philippines Bohol is the place that one must also try to visit. Aside from its beautiful white-sand beaches but the place is magnificent too because of its signatured landmarks. The Chocolate Hills are Bohol’s most famous landmark for tourist attraction spread over the municipalities of Carmen, Sagbayan and Batuan.
The world-renowned cone-shape Chocolate Hills is Bohol’s expression of its natural beauty. Most people are can hardly believed that these hills are not man-made landscape. These natural beauties consist of not less than 1268 hills though some claim it as the exact number. The chocolate Hills got it name after not only of its uniform shape but because it turn into chocolate brown at the end of the dry season seemingly endless rows of chocolate cones. Most hills are approximately 30 to 50 meters in height. Though in the hills are associated with a chocolate color it doesn’t imply to be as it at all since before the dry season it is covered with grass thus; every hill also looks green.
The Chocolate Hills is not only covered by beauty but also with romance and mystery. Legend has it that when giants lived with mortals, Agoro a gentle giant fell in love with a village girl named Aluya. Formed centuries ago by tidal movements, the hills are considered as a National Geologic Movement. Right now the highest hills have been developed and provided with facilities such as a restaurant, hostel and view deck.
Getting into the Chocolate Hills
When you plan to get there plenty of tourist guides and tour operators are ready to transport you to the Chocolate Hills, whenever it is a special trip or as part of your day tour. However if you want to feel more of adventure you can reach it by your own. From Tagbilaran you will have to go to integrated bus terminal in Dao and catch a bus going to Carmen. There is no need for you to feel a complete stranger in the place you won’t have much hard time to find one. But in case you find it hard the people in Bohol are friendly that they will surely give you the right direction. When you aim for the bus much better if you’ll catch the first one to leave and ask the driver to drop you at the Chocolate Hills complex, just about 4 kilometers before the town of Carmen. As you will reach the place it takes you a 10 minute walk winding up to the complex.
To get back to Tagbilaran, you will have to take a walk back to the main road. From there you’ll wait for a bus to pass. The last bus from Carmen will leave at 4 pm going to Tagbilaran. For alternatives you can also take some drivers For-Hire service vehicles intended for tourist and local visitors that includes motorbike, taxi and “haba-habal”.
If ever you came from Tubigon, Bohol via a ferry from Cebu, a few bus go to Carmen daily. But from there, sometimes, you have to take a little more patience to fill up the bus with passengers. Upon arriving in Carmen, you can catch the next bus or jeepney in the direction of Bilar, Loay or Tagbilaran, or look for a 'habal-habal' driver to get you into the Chocolate Hills Complex.
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