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Whirlwind Travelogue to Mactan, Cebu, Bohol

Page 3 of 3

One of the legacies of the Jesuit friars in Bohol was the establishment of churches in the island. The Baclayon Church of the Immaculate Conception built in 1596 is one of the oldest churches in the Philippines.

The church museum houses religious artifacts and antiques dating to the 16th century. Among the collection we saw at the museum in the old convent were an ivory statue of the crucified Christ looking towards heaven; a statue of the Blessed Virgin, said to be presented by Queen Catherine of Aragon; relics of St. Ignatius of Loyola, old gold embroidered ecclesiastical vestments, books with carabao skin covers, and librettos of church music written in Latin on sheep skins and the cuadro paintings done by Filipino painter Liberato Gatchalian in 1859.

Bohol today is fast becoming the number one tourist destination in the Visayas. As we have said in this feature, the island province has a lot to offer. We came, we saw and were conquered by Bohol’s natural wonders and the friendliness of the Boholanos who flash a ready smile for visitors and strangers alike to this “God’s Little Paradise.”

The entrepreneurial spirit of the Boholanos is not only manifested in the native delicacies but in innovating and running floating restaurants up and down the Loboc River. A trip to Bohol is not complete without having lunch at one of these floating restaurants which offers an array of Filipino favorite dishes.

For P250 (about $3.00 US) one can have a sumptuous lunch of grilled fresh tuna, ginataang hipon, kare-kare, lechon de leche, adobo, dinuguan, embotido and desserts of leche flan, fresh water melons and sweet ripe mangoes. On top of this, passengers on these floating restaurants enjoy the fresh breeze from the Loboc River as the floating restaurants sail up and down the river for about 30 minutes.

The floating restaurants provide musical entertainment such as a karaoke for the musically inclined or a guitarist, a pianist or a trumpet player who will do a music number request from the boat riders. We are sure that you too will be bewitched by what Bohol, the 10th largest island in the Visayas, has to offer in terms of an enjoyable and unforgettable escapade to the island province.###

 

 

 

 

 

The Baclayon Church, one of the oldest churches in the Philippines, was built by the Jesuits in 1596.

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