still in bohol (day 2)

The sky was already dark. A light drizzle began as soon as we entered Carmen. We had our
umbrellas out and ready just in case it started to rain harder as we climbed more than 200 steps to the top of the Chocolate Hills viewing deck.

Looking up the steps I thought it was going to be easy. Yet, only a third of the way up I remember thinking to myself "No way am I taking my grandmother here!" I was already out of breath by then.

Still on the way up I was starting to envy the people going down

Only a couple of flights to the top , the rain started pouring down really hard. Already wet, we welcomed the cold, fresh air and still gamely took pictures under our umbrellas.

Rain at Chocolate Hills

Half an hour later the rain let up. Visibility improved and we tried to see as many of the 1,268 hills as we could.

Chocolate hills as far as the eye can see

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Chocolate Hills was supposed to be our last stop but on the way back to Tagbilaran we stopped at Albuquerque to visit Prony, the largest python in captivity.

Prony was captured in 1996. At that time it was only 5 feet in length, weighing roughly 5 kilos. Now with a girth of more than 30 inches and weighing more than 200 kilos, Prony is not so tiny anymore.

Prony is guarded lovingly by Marimar, its gay "security guard", who regaled us with Prony's life story and big appetite. It is said that on certain occasions Marimar also entertains visitors as she sings in drag. I believe s/he also won the Miss Gay Bohol recently.

Marimar and Prony

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The drive back to Tagbiliran was quiet and pleasant. The nearer we got to Panglao Island the better the view became.

On the way to Panglao Island

Again, we had splurged and stayed at Panglao Paragayo Resort. The aircon room had two beds, a big bathroom and a shower with hot water. The price was reasonable but was still twice our usual budget. We had been so used to staying in dormitory type accommodations with common bathrooms that this was the height of luxury for us.

We still couldn't afford the beachfront resorts but we didn't even break a sweat taking the 500-meter walk down the beach.

It's funny how most resorts now had internet stations. After snorkeling and island-hopping it seems that foreign travelers went straight to the internet stations to blog about the day's events. (I suppose I'm not that much different from them)

Dinner (sizzling seafood, gambas, vegetables) was really good. And after the whole day's activities I didn't even need a night cap to put me to sleep.

Empty chairs and empty tables of a beachfront bar