After a few days in Cebu, we took the ferry over to Bohol and stayed in a hostel called Alona Hammocks. The views from the ferry were magnificent, as we stood out on the deck. You can see our nice beds from the hostel (actually more like mats) below with the mosquito nets around them! It was a little rough on my back and neck I'll admit. The first night that we arrived we had a picnic on the beach with other people from the hostel. The sunset from the beach was amazing. The sky was painted in every color possible, fading from deep blues to soft reds to vibrant oranges.
The next day we rented scooters and took off on a day trip to the chocolate hills, which are the collection of green mounds behind Abby and I about halfway through. We swung through the Philippines first and only man-made forest of Mahogany trees, and winded around through the countryside. Gorgeous rivers and rice fields were speckled everywhere along our way! I also really love palm trees so cruising around through the trees never got old, even though we drove all day!
About halfway through our day though, my partner in crime, Abby, tipped over her scooter when she was going down a hill! Luckily she only scraped up her toes, so she was okay. She had to wear one of my socks to stop the bleeding. Once we had her and the bike at the bottom of the hill and were ready to go again, the bike wouldn't start! All of sudden both of our eyes go wide as we realize that we are in the middle of nowhere with only 3 hours of sunlight left and a broken bike! A handful of people drove by staring at us as we stood there on the side of the road, looking slightly panicked, and then a nice man pulled over to ask if we were okay! After we told him what happened, he took a look at the bike and wasn't sure what was wrong. Before we knew it there were 4 different guys that had pulled over to help, along with a mom and her four kids. It was overwhelming how caring these complete strangers were. Filipino's are truly sweet people. The men ended up pulling Abby's bike to a mechanic a few miles away, and then the mom and her sons escorted both of us back to town after the bike was fixed! You can see a picture of some of the people who helped us below! I will never forget their kindness. They were a blessing sent from above!
Above you can see the Tuk Tuks they used to drive people around. They're super cheap and always decked out in fun colors and sayings. As the Philippines is a very Christian based country, almost all of the Tuk Tuks had bible verses on the back, which I found super sweet!
