Philippines cafeteria

This was a Sunday night in cebu, and it was bloody hot, perhaps still close to 30 degrees at this point. You can see the fans trying to cool the place.
This is basically open air with just the roof covered in case it rains.  Along the outside are vendors.  They have raw beef, pork, and chicken sitting in front of there stalls. You choose what you want and they will barbecue it for you and serve it with rice. There is a good chance that you can eat a meal for less than $2 here.
Obviously having meat sitting out in 30 degree weather gives me cause for concern, but the hope is that is has not been sitting too long and the cooking of it would kill any bacteria left behind. Either way, people seemed to be enjoying themselves.  The place was packed and, as you can see, there were a lot of families with kids.
This was a good contrast too, these kids look well looked after, but the 20 minute walk back to the hotel led to street kids begging for money and in some cases even grabbing at your pockets.
Parts of Cebu were somewhat depressing, but there was for sure a contrast in certain places that shows that at least some families are doing better and holding there own.

Zip line

I’m staying in a small town on Bohol called Loboc. It’s quite convenient because it is very central, however it’s quite small.

The municipality had an idea to help with tourism, they decided to build a zip line across the river.  Up in the hills there is a gorge carved out by 3 waterfalls which gives a large drop and a pretty nice view.
The zip line is very new and apparently built to international safety standards. I was somewhat sceptical but no one else seemed to be falling off, so I gave it a go, together with a crazy Irish guy I met in cebu.
The best part was it cost just 350 pesos, about $9CAD, which has to be the cheapest zip line I have ever been on anywhere. This entitled you to two trips. Once over the gorge and once back.
It was a fantastic view, but obviously I had no camera with me, so no pictures.  However, if you are ever in Loboc I strongly recommend it!

Chocolate hills

So, the chocolate hills are not actually made of chocolate as some people suspected, but they are a pretty neat geological feature.

The chocolate comes from the fact that in the summer the grass gets burned and the hills look brown. This year has been a bit wet though and so most are still green.  It’s hard to believe these are natural and not man made.
Bohol is an awesome place to visit and by far my favourite place in the Philippines this far. There is so much stuff to do, the area is scenic and the people are friendly. It’s quite a contrast from seeing a large city.