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.

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.

Here is uptown Cebu

That building is very lit up at night, so wondering what it is, I had a walk passed it last night.  It turns out it’s a hotel.

Cebu city is interesting, I haven’t seen any of the historical sites yet, that’s on the agenda for today, but I did take a walk around uptown, which is supposed to be nicer than downtown.

There is some nice architecture, and newer buildings, but there also seems to be a lot of poverty.  There are large shanty towns built under bridges and along side rivers.  Some people here seem to be very poor and in some places there are kids begging for money.

That being said, there is also a mixture of upscale shopping malls, it’s kind of strange.  I get the feeling Bangkok may have been like this 10 or 15 years ago.

I will post more historical pictures of Cebu later. This morning I will go and get a ferry ticket for Bohol to depart tomorrow. Bohol is supposed to have a lot of natural attractions like the chocolate hills and should be much more laid back than the city.