Bohol Countrside Tour - Sandugo Shrine and Baclayon Church

Late post! Really! My blog name should be properly named "Late blog posts 'cause Time doesn't wait for me!"

So yeah, we went to Bohol and availed Kuya Dodong's tour package (click here for my blog entry about Kuya Dodong's Bohol package details). If you're going to Bohol with these places on your itinerary, I suggest that you don't read this entry so you won't be spoiled what you'll find there. But if you're willing, I will eagerly share what we discovered and experienced :)

So here's our Day 1 itinerary of our 3-day Bohol tour. I will write about all of them if I get a chance. The places we went were:

• Sandugo Shrine (Blood Compact Site)
• Baclayon Church
• Xzootic Animal Park
• Flying Colors Butterfly Sanctuary
• Loboc River Cruise and Luncheon
• Tarsier Conservation Area
• Chocolate Hills
• Hanging Bridge

Sandugo Shrine (Blood Compact Site)

Our first stop is Sandugo Shrine which is near the airport in Tagbilaran City. It's a historical site where Datu Sikatuna and Miguel Lopez de Legaspi performed a Filipino tribal ritual as a symbol of friendship badass style: blood compact. There is nothing much exciting in the site though other than its historical significance and the beautiful scenery behind the shrine.

If you're wondering why I don't have photos of the shrine is because I did a mortifying stunt at that time. I was over-excited that I thought I can do anything I want. I was reminded that I am only a visitor and I must respect the people and the place that I visit. For the local people who saw me, I do apologize from the bottom of my heart. I learned my lesson. For the tourists who saw me, please do not imitate what I've shamelessly done.

Baclayon Church
Regarded as the second oldest church in the Philippines (oldest is San Agustin Church in Intramuros so they say), Baclayon Church is a significant part of Bohol. There were a lot of tourists when we got there, most of them are Japanese.

crowded  tourist vehicles. Ours is the blue one. Hehe.

The museum is the church's main attraction. Entrance fee is 25 pesos. Cheap, yes. The only thing is you can't take photos in the museum. But being a hard headed that I am, I still did :P I took a picture of my papa pointing at an antique drumset. The guard saw us and they made us delete the photo so save yourself from embarrassment and don't take photos. Haha.



After our 15-minute trip inside the church's museum, we went inside the main church through a room where some saintly statues were kept. Suddenly a church lady came to me and said "Practice lang tayo ha, i-cover natin ito". She was pertaining to my exposed legs since I am wearing shorts. Apparently, Bohol churches are conservative in terms of dress codes. Here's the poster I saw about the proper attire inside the church:

She made me cover my legs with my mama's scarf. It's kind of embarrassing but I understand and respect what they were trying to do. She only let me go in the church after I covered my legs.

Church lady covering my assets. Haha. Kidding.

The church's nave is simplest at its form yet has this unassuming grandeur that can be seen with their antiquities. Let me post some pictures since I'm failing miserably to describe how beautiful the church is... Ugh, even my pictures do not give justice :(

side altar

"Blessed are those who fear the Lord"

Baclayon Church Altar

Baclayon Church bell tower behind us

Behind us is where they say Padre Pio's image miraculously appeared. Can you see it?

Xzootic Animal Park (Phyton Snake)
Agape, Laoay, Bohol
Entrance fee: 20 pesos

"Thumbs up" for the tribesmen!

We are greeted by these local tribe people as soon as we entered the vicinity, dancing with their simple steps at the beat of their drums. It was a bit small than I expected it to be since it was called a "park".

Here, you can take pictures with the tribal people. They will even lend you some of their headdress and spears for the photo op. They also eagerly pose for the camera! One even blew fire from his mouth for the photo. But of course, feel free to leave them donations of any amount. My mama gave them 100 pesos.

Do not forget the star of Xzootic Zoo, the large Burmese pythons. Yikes! You can go in their cage to touch or take pictures with them. At that time, the pythons were wet 'cause of the rain which made them look extra slimy and sleek. You can leave offerings as a form of donations to the pythons for not eating you.

My thoughts: I'm gonna die here T_T

There are other exotic animals in the area which, in my opinion, are not "displayed" effectively. What I mean is you can easily miss them if you didn't took the time to explore the area. I was also worried that their cage are too small and damp for them. I hope Xzootic Animal Park will have some better facilities in the future. I believe it will not only benefit the animals, it will also benefit them financially. You can also buy some items on their souvenir shop.



Next, Day 1 Bohol Tour... Part 2: Butterflies, restaurant cruise and chocolates you don't want to eat!