Bohol

Our first stop on the epic Philippine tour took us to the island of Bohol, smack in the middle of the Central Visayas region of islands.  As far as Philippine islands go, Bohol's a rather large one; in fact, it's the tenth biggest of the nation.

In a theme that would continually repeated itself over the course of the trip, we checked into a mediocre accommodation in Panglao, on the far side of the island. It smelled a bit like rotten eggs but that's what you get when you travel to beachy nations at high season.

For context, however:

 

No complaints. So the beach was a beach, small and sandy. It didn't matter; at 27 degrees celsius, I wasn't at work.

 

 I think, perhaps more exciting in our wanders was the food situation. From all angles there was something to delight at. Take, for instance, seasonal exotic fruit. Bananas and mangos:

 Mangosteen (thank goodness for youtube 'how to peel fruit' tutorials):

Buzz Cafe and the Bohol Bee Farm, an organic restaurant that's sourced from its organic farm. They make everything from butter to honey to ice cream in uniquely Filipino flavours including something called Mallingay, a herb that tastes suspiciously like garlic on its most potent day: 

 Durian; Mallingay (if garlicky ice cream's your thing); Pandan; Peanut kisses:

 And then something truly magical happened. I encountered the world's best fish burger. World's best. Grilled on a real grill. On the beach. In front of me. This is what the world's best fish burger looks like; remember it. Find it if you find yourself in Bohol:

Most of our little section of the island focused around the little beach but on our way back we glimpsed into the Catholic world that is these islands. Outdoor church is perhaps something I could get behind...