Bohol Island

It was time for another ferry ride to another Island. This time I decided on taking the later ferry from the town of Larena on Siguiqor to the island of Bohol. The ride would last about 3 hours and arrive if all went well at around 10:30pm.

First things first though I needed to get a ticket. My thinking was the early bird gets the worm. So if I showed up a 9am to get a ticket it should be no problem since the boat does not leave until 7pm. Plus they only sell the tickets on the day of departure.

Talk about class separation

  There are three levels of seating: the first being basic (just a seat), the second economy (a sleeper bunk no air) and the third tourist class (sleeper bunk with air con). All I wanted was a basic since it would only be 7pm and I was not planning to need to sleep on the voyage.

My bunk for the next three hours

Now remember this is only 9am in the morning and as I waited in a very small lineup I was able to strike up a conversation with a Tourist policeman. During our conversation he asked where I was going and said "no problem getting a ticket it is never full". So when I approached the window and asked for the basic I was told "sorry sir all those seats are sold out" Seriously? How is that possible there is know one here. Fine I will take the next priced level of economy "oh, sorry sir that level is sold out as well, but we do have Tourist class left". 

Seems the only way I was going to get a ticket was by paying for the most expensive TOURIST CLASS ticket. I will let you guys make your own judgement on why this happened. And as expected I barley stayed in the room since the aircon was jacked up to sub zero temperatures. Plus I truly enjoy hanging out with the locals in the open air of the back deck.

There are actually two Island which are connected by a causeway. The Island of Bohol and it's neighbour Panglao. Bohol contains the capital city of Tagbilaren while Panglao is famous for its Alona beach resort area.

One of the reasons to visit Bohol is to get a chance to see the rare Tarsiers. These animals are only found on a select few Island throughout Southern Asia.

They are an endangered species but are now protected in the Philippines. 

If you are a Star Wars fan you will notice where the concept for the character of Yoda came from.

I am not sure how well the picture shows it but I am completely soaked. One of the common things when heading out and about is to remember that you will probably get caught in a tropical rain storm sometime throughout the day.