So much drunken dancing in the streets for Ati-atihan caught up to me. I caught a bad cold on our last day in Kalibo, Monday the 21st. After lunch with the Ureta cousins and nieces and nephews, we boarded a plane back to Manila. Funny, DonDon and Weng and Dion were also going back the same time. I was a little sad at leaving Aklan. It was a great time, and I realized so many things about my province. Because there were so many Aklanons in the United States, I imagined this barren province, with everyone left pining for those gone. I realize that was such a naive perspective; life certainly goes on in the province, which is as bustling and bursting as ever. The huge balikbayan houses stand out amongst the more humble ones, but otherwise, life really does go on without us. We're the ones missing them. We saw Lolo Ambo's deteriorated house and lot.
Anyway, after a night in a random Best Western in Makati, we arrived in Bohol on Tuesday and were whisked to http://www.amarelaresort.com. What an amazing place: a boutique hotel on Panglao Island full of Bohol antiques and historical books. We loved it. We did a tour of Bohol the next day (Wed) with Kay's family friend Mang Del Sumampong. Our first stop was the Blood Compact Site -- the first time Spanish and Boholanos made some agreement about friendship. Of course, there's no site for the moment the Spanish broke that promise. Our next stop was Corella, for the Tarsier Sanctuary. After minutes of trekking in mud (it had rained, I was wearing tsinelas), we finally saw the tarsier. For those of you in love with this little rat with monkey pretensions, I hate to disappoint. Now I'm certainly not against saving this animal, and surely I don't want it to become extinct. But we were a little freaked out out how rat-like this animal is! It's got the head of a bat and the body of a rat, with a long, ratlike tail. Jesse got close and it bared its fangs and we were like, oh, hell. I thought about Mugs and I think she would have run out of the forest screaming.
We did the river cruise and met some cool Manileno girls in their 30s also vacationing in Bohol, then we visited the Loboc Museum. Our tour guide at the Loboc Museum/Church (one of many amazing Bohol coral churches built in the seventeenth century -- the santo rooms will give you nightmares) is from American Canyon! He spends half the year home in Loboc. We walked the hanging bridge, and the Chocolate Hills. We'll post pics later -- we're at an internet cafe in Zambales. The Chocolate Hills are amazing. Bohol is also a really beautiful province. I'm thinking very deeply about these provinces from which thousands of immigrants have come. Read the book -- the thoughts will be in there. I specifically wanted to go to provinces that sent the most immigrants to Stockton: Aklan, Bohol, Pangasinan, Ilocos, etc.
The next morning we awoke at 5am, went dolphin watching at Pamalican Island and snorkeling at Balicasag. We were irritated because we paid $100 for a banca there, then two guys charged us another P300 to "guide us" to the corals, which were only 20 feet away, it turned out. Anyway, just imagine Jesse and I geared up in our snorkel gear, flotation devices, camera, asthma inhaler waterproof neck case, etc., trying to get into the smallest banca ever made to go 10 feet. But the snorkeling was the best ever. Imagine walls of fish, huge and small, everywhere.
Sadly, we then boarded a plane and went back to Manila.
1 comment:
Yeah! I'm so glad that you were able to meet up with Kuya Del (ok, I've never met him, but he's my cousin, [for reals, not just in a Filpino American "because we come from the same town" kind of way] so I'm just gonna go with that...) I loved Balicasag, but it has changed a lot since the first time I was there. I remember the reefs being much more vibrant the first time I went, as opposed to the second, and the fish were absolutely amazing! I also remember taking the bangka and low-tide coming through, so my cousins had to wade through the sea urchins to push the bangka. I have to show you a pic of my Dad with the tarsier. I'm glad that you were able to go to Loboc too. You probably saw all my relatives walking, running, driving through Loboc. I think I'm related to practically the whole town! I should have asked that you hear the Children's Choir there too. I think that if you stayed in Tagbilaran you would have had internet service. I can't wait to see the pictures! Safe journeys back!
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