Want to go all around the world but can't? Not to worry, Sikatuna's Mirror of the World has got you covered.
This park has the largest collection of global landmark miniatures in all of Bohol, and most arguably in all of the Visayas.
Its landmarks range from the famous Parisian Eiffel Tower, New York's Liberty Statue, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, Rio De Janerio's Christ the Redeemer Statue, Singapore's Merlion, a Greek Acropolis in the form of a Cafe and now it even has an equistrian statue of Mongolia's Genghis Khan, and Italy's Leaning Tower of Pisa.
The first time I went there was with my family 2 years ago. Right after receiving my college diploma on graduation day, my family thought it would be fun to go on a road trip around Bohol to celebrate.
Back then, the project was still in its Phase 1 and there were only a limited number of miniature landmarks, but even then, it was a great tourist attraction with a lot of places to go crazy with the photos and be creative. We even returned a couple months later when my roommates back in Cebu city went on an island trip with us to purge ourselves from the negativity and board exam strain 🤣.
Lately, I got to visit the place again with Kevin. I was impressed by the amount of improvement that took place after two years. There were a lot of additions to the place like a fairy tale carriage, and a Viking ship. It's perfect all of those who are called to live their glass slipper dreams or see the line where the sky meets the sea 😌 (Yes, that was a Moana reference).
Additionally, the place even added a Koi feeding area, where people can feed these colorful (and not so little) bottom feeders by hand.
These days, people prefer to go to the area at late afternoons to evening where everyone could enjoy the sunshine without being scorched by the sun. And not to worry when the sun goes down, the park also looks absolutely pretty at night, the play of lights reminded me of the bioluminescent jungle of the movie, Avatar.
And this is only at about 60% of Phase 2 of the project, people. The project consists of four phases, which means there will be more landmarks and cultural miniatures to come. Even as a local here, I am still surely excited about the growth of the park and will surely be returning here from time to time.
How do we get there?
The way to go there though is not an easy feat (at least by motorcycle).
From the port of Tagbilaran City, you have to travel 19.6 km by land, and pay a fee of about 120 PHP or around 2.50 USD (for adults) as of writing this article. When it was still at Phase 1, the entrance fee was only PHP 60 or about 1.25 USD (We're going to be expecting the entrance fee to shoot after the project will complete all of its four phases 😅) . Good thing the times I went there I was able to hitch rides with the family SUV, my friend's tourist van and my boyfriend's motorcycle.
Though it's not advisable when traveling there through motorcycle at dusk. The highways leading to the place have limited streetlights, so one has to take a lot of precaution when returning to the city on motorbike at night.
I really appreciate this project because aside from being a good venue for tourism and recreational purposes, the place is also a good way of educating people of some of the not so known landmarks aside from the iconic ones. In my case, it was the first time I ever heard of the equestrian statue of Genghis Khan in Mongolia or The Little Mermaid statue of Denmark.
It also helps the locals get a gist of iconic symbols all around the globe, especially those who have stayed in the Philippines all their lives. At one point at least, they get to experience a mirror of the different cultures that exist in other places in the world other than the ones they grew up in, and that speaks a lot.
Hopefully, they will keep up with the development of the park until Phase 4, and I'm pretty sure by then, more tourists are going to keep flooding to the place, and go home with their memory cards full and wide smiles on their faces ❤️ .
Roxanne Marie is the twenty-year-old something who calls herself the Protean Creator.
She is a chemical engineer by profession, pole-dancer and blogger by passion and frustration, and lastly, a life enthusiast. She is on a mission to rediscover her truth through the messy iterative process of learning, relearning and unlearning. Currently, she works as a science and research instructor in her hometown, Tagbilaran City, all the while documenting her misadventures, reflections and shenanigans as a working-class millennial here on Hive.
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