As much as I love to soak myself under the cool drops of the waterfalls, I equally love the thrill of climbing mountains as well. What can I say? Nature is just overwhelming and addicting. The longing for that feeling of pure happiness everytime I wander and experience something new is always there. It has already become a food for my soul and medicine for my spirit. And so, that longing brought me to this place.
In search of magnificent and awesome places where I can spend my weekends, I came across a blog that features the Sea of Clouds in thr nearby island of Bohol. It's very interesting but I'm not sure if it's real or not since most of the blogs that you find online are mostly overrated and heightened but in reality it is not that much. So I sent the author of the blog a message and asked for directions to the place and I also happen to have a friend who has seen the place as well and he claims it is indeed real. So that became my next destination, the Sea of Clouds in Danao, Bohol.
I'm blessed to have a boyfriend who equally loves nature and thrill as I do and who is my constant adventure and travel buddy. I told him about the place with much excitement and he immediately agreed to go with me even if he just had one of his molars extracted that day. And so, without any more hesitations, that afternoon, we packed our bags and prepared to go.
Since the Philippines is an archipelago and is made up of thousands of small islands, you can't get into most places by land. To reach the nearby island of Bohol, we had to go to the pier from Cebu and board a 2-hour boat ride to the Tagbilaran Port in Bohol.
( Image acquired from google map )
When we arrived, we quickly did our grocery at the nearby supermarket for our food and provisions for the dinner later up until lunch for tomorrow. And then we caught the V-hire or Van ride to take us from Tagbilaran to Danao which lasted for 45 minutes.
When we got to the municipality of Danao, it's already 6:30pm and it is dark but we have to ride one more time in a "Habal-habal" or motorcycles to bring us to the jump-off or to the base of the mountain which lasted for another 20 minutes. The ride was quite scary since the way going up is very steep and it's already dark but we're still excited and we just put all our trust in our motorcycle driver to take us there safely. The elevation of the municipality is higher than most places in Bohol so it's not surprising why the temperature suddenly dropped and why it became cold in an instant. We finally arrived at the foot of the mountain but we just have to hike 15-20 minutes more and we're on the top. It's very dark now but luckily we brought our headlamps with us to guide the way. We managed to find a good spot to set-up our tent and make a quick dinner before tiredness and sore muscles knocked us off to sleep.
Our body clocks woke us up at 5:30am and this is the view that greeted us outside our tent. Tiny streaks of fog and clouds are just starting to form at the base of the mountain.
The sun is also starting to rise slowly.
.
I can't help but smile at this glorious scenery slowly unfolding in front of my eyes. It is indeed real. The effort and the time we spent just to get here were all paid off.
At 8am, the clouds are evenly scattered now and it was full-on amazing. I just spent the rest of the time staring and absorbing the breathtaking view before me and enjoyed it with my loved one right beside me. I'm just thankful how lucky and blessed I am to witness this beauty. This is one of those moments you don't easily experience twice. My heart was instantly full, my soul happy, and my spirit alive.
Let me share with you some photos we captured at the golden sea of clouds moment
.
.
.
.
.
We're glad we have these dogs for additional companions.
.
This is one of those trips where the experience is so much more than what we've expected. I'm glad I followed my heart and this is where it took me. The Sea of Clouds in Danao, Bohol never did disappoint. To more travels ahead.
Never stop exploring Steemians.
P.S. Map photos acquired from Google.
The rest of the photos are taken from my Asus Zenfone 3 max phone. 😊