The Chocolate Hills

Everywhere we went in Bohol was soaked in beauty. The earth was rich with all the best hues of green and the sky was always a beautiful blue. The Chocolate Hills, one of Bohol's most famous sites, if not THE most famous, was no exception. The Chocolate Hills are pretty awesome to behold. They are all perfectly circle at the base and are said to look like little, or rather huge, Hershey Kisses, in the deep of summer, when the grass has turned brown.

We visited the Chocolate Hills area twice. To get there the first time we rented a driver, who took us to all the Bohol sites in a morning to afternoon for 1200 pesos. The car entrance fee into the Chocolate Hills was 50 pesos, after that, your good to climb on up to the top of one of those Hershey's, where they have bathrooms, a staircase and a viewing deck. The second trip, we rented a scooter and drove out to the Chocolate Hills area but we stayed below since we had already done the observation deck. On scooter it took us around 2 hours from Loboc. As an alternative to the deck, we went to Chaps, a ropes course arena and park, which boasted more great views. 

Half of the viewing deck was under construction due to the most recent Earth quake.

The views were beautiful no matter which way you turned your camera, Chocolate Hill or no Chocolate Hill.

But I will say I liked the views that included the Chocolate Hills best.

At the entrance of the park you can also rent ATV's to roam around on and explore. You can rent them at a whopping 800 pesos for 1/2 hour. To which I say, so not worth it! But hey, to each his own.

To one direction of the hill we were on, a storm was rolling in. Short, nightly storms this time of year are what make everything so lush and green in the tropics!

 It was a bummer because some of the best views of the hills were straight ahead, which often included the earthquake damage in our pictures.

Exhibit above, the construction "site."

Let's try this again, sans construction site. Darn, still there.

There we go! Oh, but no hills! Boo. Dumb earthquakes.

The Chocolate Hills did not disappoint. They were as stunning as everyone says they are. It's obvious why they are Bohol's trademark. The Chocolate Hills, just another reason added to the long list of why we've fallen in love with Bohol!

Motorbiking in the Rain: Bohol

 

While in the Philippines, we rented a scooter for the day, so that Zachary could have a 'test drive' at all the scooter fun/gain some scooter skills before buying one. Also, we know renting a scooter would be a great way to explore some of the island on our own. I'm so glad we rented one. It was super cheap at $10 for the day & we had a wonderful time! We rode the entire day and had tons of fun stop offs. The first half of the day was bright and sunny, but our 2 hour ride home was super rainy!  There were several people pulled over on the side of the road, waiting the rain out, but we decided to keep going. This made for some great pictures & a cool ride.

The Philippines is hecka gorgeous, rain or shine.

People pulled over waiting the rain out.

Zipping through the man made mahogany forest. 

 

Once we go closer to town (Loboc), after our hour and a half ride through the rain, we decided to pull over for a little bit. As soon as we did, the rain started to reside, leaving some of the most beautiful views. AND, a rainbow! It's been ages since I've seen a rainbow, so this made me extreeeemly happy & just super grateful.

It was such a good day and the rainbow topped it off. I was exuding with joy. Thank you Lord for such a great day & the fact that rainbows always point to You!