Chocolate Hills, Bohol
December 14, 2008 by bong
Filed under Bohol, Places To Go
The Chocolate Hills in Bohol province has a unique formation like no other in the world. They look like a vast expanse of mounds of ‘chocolate kisses’ that cover as far as the eyes could see. Each mound vary in sizes from 30 to 50 metres high, cone shaped and almost perfect, they are covered in green grass that turns chocolate brown during the dry season, hence the inspiration for the name Chocolate Hills.
There are several hypotheses amongst geologists about the formation of the hills. The most common accepted one is written in a bronze plaque displayed at the viewing deck in Carmen town which states that they are some eroded formations of a type of marine limestone that sits on top of the hardened clay. And then wind, water and some powerful forces of nature put up the finishing touches and created one of the greatest marvels this world has ever seen.
View of Chocolate Hills from Sagbayan Peak
But perhaps even far more interesting about the scientific origins of these formations are the legends. Maybe it’s about the kids in our hearts or simply being Filipinos, we are fascinated about stories handed down thru generations. The first one is about two fighting giants who hurled rocks and sands at each other. The fight lasted for days until they finally got tired and called it off. Surprisingly in the end, the giants became friends and totally forgot the mess they had made. That mess became popularly known as the Chocolate Hills. The second legend has a romantic undertones in it. It is about the powerful and young giant named Arogo who fell in love with Aloya who is a mortal. When Aloya died, Arogo’s heart died with her and he couldn’t handle the agony and the misery so he cried endlessly. Those tears eventually dried up and became the legendary hills. And now the third legend, my favorite, is again about another giant but this time it is a giant carabao who plagued the town and ate all their crops. What the smart people of the town did was to take their spoiled food and mixed it up with the crops. And just as they have expected, the carabao ate it. His stomach turned upside down causing him to poop all over the place. These mounds of feces dried, hardened and became the popular Chocolate Hills. Gross!!! Okay folks don’t read too much into it, your vacation is supose to be an exciting and pleasant experience. Remember that these are just legends.
Sagbayan Peak
The Chocolate Hills are estimated to be at least 1,268 scattered throughout the towns of Batuan, Carmen and Sagbayan. The latter two are developed into resorts. The resort in Carmen is called the Chocolate Hills Complex located in Barangay Buenos Aires, a few minutes away from the downtown Carmen. It has a restaurant, hostel with swimming pool and an observation deck. The higher of the two hills in the Chocolate Hills complex offers a 360 degree view of the surrounding area. The other way to view the hills is at Sagbayan Peak 18 kilometres away from the Chocolate Hills complex. It has an unobstructed view of the Chocolate Hills and the blue sea that separates Bohol from the island of Cebu. This is a newer resort with a restaurant, recreation center, butterfly dome, tarsier sanctuary, swimming pool with covered kiosks and room accommodations. There are several cartoon characters scattered around the area like Bugs Bunny, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Lion King and other cartoon characters, they all are in the same complex where a 10foot T-rex lurks. Yes, the T-rex as in the fearsome dinosaur! I guess the idea is that this T-rex drives away the hoodlums and ambushers that may be hiding in the hills. Well, i just think that it’s a little bit out of place within the whole concept of toontown characters.
View of Chocolate Hills from Chocolate Hills Complex
The trip to the Chocolate Hills is something the whole family can enjoy. It has all the amenities to keep everyone going. Should you decide to stay overnight, there’s rooms available. And when you wake up in the morning, you don’t want to miss the sunrise behind the magnificent backdrop of the Chocolate Hills. It is truly an exceptional naturaly beauty unlike any other in the world! It should be in everyone’s list of top tourism destinations in the Philippines, rightfully so, in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Nice place to see many hills! ! !