Here is day three of our Bohol-Cebu tour. From Bohol, we ride the SuperCat ferry going to Cebu. It was a long one and half-hour shaky ride. We left the Tagbilaran seaport in Bohol in the afternoon.
The whole travel was a bit scary because it was our first time riding a boat but to be fair, it is also exciting. The reason is we were able to ride different modes of transportation which are by air, land, and finally by sea.
We stay at the Mayflower Inn located in A. Villalon Drive East in Cebu City. We occupied a double room at that time.
In the evening at around 7 pm, we start our tour. We hired a taxi to bring us to Cebu Tops. We thought that we won’t be able to reach the place because most of the taxi drivers do not want to go there for so many reasons.
For instance, the engines of their cab do not have the capacity to go to high places, fare related reasons charging us as high as 1000 pesos just to get there. Luckily after 20 minutes of waiting outside the inn, we found one who will bring us there.
In Cebu Tops we were able to see the whole of Cebu including parts of Bohol. We also experience cold wind. We just stay there for an hour. After that, we headed back to Inn to spend the whole evening to rest and prepare ourselves for the remainder of tomorrow’s tour.
In the morning we ride a taxi and head to our first destination.
Magellan’s Cross
This Christian cross is made from Tindalo wood. Ferdinand Magellan orders the Portuguese and Spanish explorers to plant the wood upon arrival in Cebu, Philippines on April 21, 1521.
At present, the cross is under the roof of a small chapel near the Basilica Minore del Santo Nino on Magallanes Street just in front of Cebu city hall. By the way, Magallanes is the Spanish name for Magellan.
Basilica Minore del Santo Niño
You can reach Basilica Minore del Santo Niño by foot maybe three minutes’ walk from the Magellan’s cross. Miguel Lopez de Legaspi and Father Andres Urdaneta built the church on the site image of Santo Nino. It was founded in 1565.
The mass in Basilica was held is Cebuano and there are a scheduled mass held in English. At last, we were able to set our foot to this famous basilica which we only saw on TV. During that time we have to fall in line to be able to personally see and put our hands to the relics of the Holy Santo Nino.
Fort San Pedro
Do you know how Cebu was found? The history of Cebu can be seen on the display inside Fort San Pedro our second stop. The fort looks almost similar to that of Fort Santiago in Intramuros Manila.
Lapu-Lapu Shrine
We have the chance to see Lapu-Lapu Shrine, our third stop. In this location, on April 27, 1521, Lapulapu and his men repulsed the Spanish invaders by killing their leader Ferdinand Magellan. Thus Lapu-Lapu became the first Filipino to have repelled European aggression.
Philippine Taoist Temple Incorporated
I had my experience entering a Chinese temple before and this is only the second time. Our last place to visit was Philippine Taoist Temple Inc.
The temple is located in Beverly Hills Subdivision in Cebu City. Cebu’s Chinese community built the temple in 1972. It has an elevation of 300 meters above sea level.
We had our lunch I think at around 1:30 pm at Ayala Center. After all of this memorable, unforgettable, remarkable, once-in-a-lifetime tour, we went back to Mayflower Inn and prepare ourselves for our flight back to Manila.
Hi Matt, thanks for visiting my blog. My pics on Bohol all courtesy of Photobucket. I’ve never been to Bohol but will go sometime soon. Your photos of Bohol are much better than mine because you took them. God bless.
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