Loboc Christmas Party

When we first got to Bohol we were kind of wondering what we would be doing for Christmas. We knew that we would be coming to one of the most Catholic countries in the world and we we knew that almost everything would be closed on Christmas day so we kind of thought we would be spending a quiet day just hanging around Nuts Huts, not doing much. Little did we know the fun we would have at the annual Christmas party in Loboc.

Loboc is a little town that was settled by the Spanish in the early part of the eighteenth century. It has a very nice three hundred year old church, a few stores, and not much else. But what it does have is a huge community hall that looks like a huge aircraft hanger that was host to one of the funnist parties that I have ever been to.

After having a great dinner at Nuts Huts and a concert by the locals singing traditional Phillipino songs we took a boat down river to Loboc. Only five of us elected to go, and lucky me, I was the only guy!

After the boat trip, a great ride I might add, with stars and comets shooting through the dark night sky, we reached the stone steps that pass for a boat landing in Loboc and headed twoards the hall.

As we paid our two dollar entrance fee and went in, we realized that we were pretty much the only people inside and thought, "wow, this is kind of worthless, no one is here, it wont be fun, blah, blah, blah", little did we know that the crowds would eventually flood in and the dancing would start in earnest.

The night was great, we drank, we danced, we hung out with the mayor of Loboc who came over to introduce himself, I fell in the river, it was one of the most memorable Christmases that I ever had. I was even dragged out on to the dance floor for a bunch of songs and you all know how rare that is.

1. The girls and I, minus Kelly, with a table full of empty San Miguels.

2. Allisson and I on the boat ride back to Nuts Huts after I fell in the river.

3. The girls getting a few dance lessons from the Mayor of Loboc, Leon Calipusan.

4. All of us hanging out with Leon

5. As the night wore on things got crazier and crazier as we drank more and more San Migs

Christmas at Nuts Huts

Christmas at Nuts Huts-
After a great Christmas dinner of pork stew and home-made bread we were treated to a concert by a local band playing and singing traditional Phillipino songs in the dinning room at Nuts Huts. There was much singing, drinking, and dancing going on with the locals, it was a great time!

Pictures-
1. The singers, with someones son in tow who was very shy but knew the words to every song!
2. My Israeli friend Rob and Gretel of Nuts Huts
3. The leader of the band, eighty-two years old and still dancing and singing, he and his wife have eighteen children and live in a little shack across the river with no running water or electricity. I really admire this guy, a great man.
4. The whole Nuts Huts crew up and dancing
5. The band. The instruments may be old and battered, Pablos banjo is 100 years old, but they still hum in perfect harmony.

Chocolate Hills, Bohol

The Chocolate Hills-Bohol

The Chocolate Hills are a geological feature unique to Bohol. There are over twelve hundred of these hills located in one, and only one part of the island.

There are several theories about the origin of the hills. The most fanciful says that they were created by giants who came to earth. Some scientists say that this area is the remains of an ancient sea bed while still others say they are made of limestone that sit on clay and have been worn away through the eons by water, giving them their conical shape.

They get the name "Chocolate Hills" because, during the summer dry season the hills turn from the emerald green that we saw to a brown, glistening chocolate colour.

No matter what made the hills, be it giants or a natural process, they are very beuatiful to look at. They rise from a pretty flat plain in the north central part of the island like upside down ice cream cones with rice fields and palm trees winding between them.

1. I took this and the following pictures from an observation point deep in the Chocolate Hills. In the foreground is the road that we took to get to the hills. You can see the rice fields and houses that surrond the bases of the hills.

2. More of the Chocolates

3. Leslie, Saun, Kelly, and Kelsey on the observation deck overlooking the hills

4. This picutre was taken on a ride to the northwest of the main part of the hills, on the northern boundary of them were we stopped to take a break from riding. Its a great view of the size and shape of one of the hills.

5. A final view of the hills

Bohol Pictures 6

More Bohol-

1. I found this huge centipede when I stopped to rest in the shade in a huge mahogony forest.

2. How many people can you fit on a scooter? In the Phillipenes a shit-ton. Everyone in this picture got on this scooter to ride. I once saw four full grown men and two fifty kilo bags of rice on one little Honda scooter.

3. This is a calamansi, a type of sour citrus. You find this everywhere in the southern Phillipenes. Small and green, it looks like a round lime. It tastes really sour and is used to make drinks and sprinkled on grilling seafood.

4. Riding my bike in the interior of Bohol I found a group of kids on a dirt road, in the absolute middle of nowhere. They had no t.v., no computers, they did not even know what an I-pod was but they were so incredibly happy that I stopped to talk to them.

5. Rice paddy and a hill in the background.

Bohol Pictures 5

More Bohol-

1. Every vehicle has a slogan on it, usually based on the bible. This bus is from the Saint Jude Transportation company. You see there busses everywhere with the slogan, "pray the holy rosary daily" on the back.

2. This is a Sari-Sari store. You find these everywhere on the islands selling beer, water, cigs, and light snacks. Usally run by an old women making a few pesos. I stopped at this place in a little village, a colllection of huts really, in the middle of nowhere.

3. I have turned inland, away from the sea hear and am heading up twoards the low hills in the distance.

4. I had stopped for a drink of water and saw this group of alter boys going door to door collecting for the poor. Amazingly, in the face of such crusing poverty people here still thought of people who were even worse off than they and their offering box was crammed with cash. Good kids, I asked if I could take their pictures and they all got in formation and put their hands together like this was high mass.

5. This is copra, the dried husk of coconuts that is used to make a variety of stuff, drying on the side of the road.

Bohol Pictures 4

Bohol

On Friday, my last full day on Bohol I headed out by myself on the bike to explore the north part of the island. With the open road ahead of me and nice weather I had a great time!

1. The road parrellels the sea for a good long while. Took this to just show what I got to see for seven great days.

2. Rice paddies with the sea and palm trees in the background.

3. These guys were on the top of a bus heading south that had stopped in a little town. I pulled off the road to grab some lunch and water and these guys really wanted their pictures taken.

4. Cock fighting is huge here!

5. Baking bread in eighty degree heat on the side of the road

Bohol Pictures 3

Bohol-

1. Another common method of transport in the islands is the trike. You take one very beat up motorcycle and ad a covered side car to it. Load in two or three passangers and zoom around town full throttle, hell bent for leather, damn emissions standards and full speed ahead.

2. A smiling family, typical. I was taking pictures of a three hundred year old church in Albequrque when these folks streamed out on to the porch and screamed at me "take our picture, please!" I happily obliged. This is not a typical house, these folks have a little bit of money.

3. The inside of a jeepney. Remeber what I said about no safety gear or gauges? This is actually a working, running, automobile. It would never even be allowed close to the road in the states.

4. A great shot of a jeepney at the tarsier center.

5. Believe it or not, we stopped to gas up our scooters at this gas station.