Touring the World in Just an Hour at the Mirror of the World in Sikatuna, Bohol

Happy Monday Hivers!

Maybe everyone loves to travel; however, due to our different priorities in life, some will choose to set aside travel because it is not the most important thing in life. But we cannot deny the fact that there are also people who have truly disciplined themselves to save money in order to support their travel aspirations. Travel is indeed an expensive hobby. Even if it is just a local trip, it can still be costly. How much more if one will travel internationally?

Only a few Filipinos can afford to travel internationally because many Filipinos are not affluent. As much as we want to travel abroad, the amount of money we save up is not enough. Perhaps we need several more years before we can truly afford it.

One of the reasons we want to travel abroad is to behold the beauty of a particular country. We yearn to see its famous tourist attractions with our own eyes, stroll around, and capture photos of those wonderful spots. However, since only a few Filipinos can afford to travel abroad, someone has created a unique tourist spot located in Sikatuna, Bohol. They bring well-known man-made tourist spots from all over the world and place them together in one location, allowing Filipinos to tour the world in just an hour. Let me take you to one of Bohol's famous tourist attractions: Sikatuna's Mirror of the World.

The downpour hindered me from entering this well-known tourist spot in Sikatuna, Bohol, by the time I arrived. I didn't bring an umbrella, so I was stuck at one of the native stores around.

When the rain stopped, I immediately paid an environmental fee to gain access to the entrance area. I paid PHP 20.00 for it.

As I arrived at the entrance area, the security guard instructed me to pay the entrance fee, amounting to PHP 150.00, before I could enter and tour around. Fortunately, the queue was not that long, so I didn't have to wait long. After I paid, the cashier gave me a coupon to present upon entry. A smile spread across my face as I received my coupon, as it meant I could begin my tour of the Mirror of the World.

It was still vivid in my mind how someone from Cebu approached me and volunteered to take a photo of me while I was standing in front of this boat, busy taking pictures. He was also traveling solo at the time, and since we both came from Cebu, we quickly became comfortable with each other and we both decided to tour around together.

As we started to tour around, the monument truly captured my attention. To me, the message is clear: even though we have different skin complexions and come from different races and countries, we still share the same planet, and we are one.

Since the area is huge, we couldn't easily decide which part to visit first. Just as we were about to decide to take a photo of the Eiffel Tower, the heavy rain began. We both didn't have an umbrella, so we decided to rent one to continue our tour. The weather at that time was really unpredictable. The sun would appear, and in the snap of fingers, it would suddenly rain.

My newly found friend was just a very simple man, yet he had already traveled to some European countries, and my mind was completely captivated by his international travel stories. And, do you know what? I wasn't able to capture some of the wonderful spots because I was so well-entertained by his stories and the photos he showed me from his travels abroad.

While we were busy talking, our curiosity was piqued by the view upstairs, aside from the visible Elizabeth Tower. As we discussed his international travels, we decided to climb the stairs. The first thing that welcomed us was the beautiful city of Moscow, Russia, a sight I regrettably failed to capture in a photograph.

While we were upstairs, we discovered that the canteen area was situated there, allowing one to truly enjoy the scenery while having snacks.

But when you are on the opposite side, this is the scenery that you will enjoy.

After spending a few minutes upstairs, we decided to descend, but this time, we used a different set of stairs to explore other areas. That's when we encountered the Gate of Heaven, also known as Lempuyang Temple, in Bali, Indonesia.

This was just a coincidence. While I was enjoying a walk, my newly found friend asked for my phone because he had found a nice angle on my side. As he took a photo of me, I spread my arms to show my surroundings. When I checked the p, I realized that the statue behind me was Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and it happened that I had posed the same way as the Christ the Redeemer.

After that, we continued walking until we saw other well-known tourist spots from different countries. I'll tell you, taking photos without photobombers was very challenging because there were many tourists around. You had to wait a few minutes until they were done so you could have a photo souvenir without photobombers.

While reminiscing about my Mirror of the World experience, I realized that there were many spots that I failed to photograph because I enjoyed talking with my newly found friend. However, I haven't regretted it, as I had a great time walking around and listening to his international travel stories. Although I haven't had the opportunity to travel abroad yet, his stories and the various tourist attractions from all over the world at the Sikatuna Mirror of the World have given me inspiration to travel abroad soon.

Thank you for reading and see you on my next blog. Cheers!

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Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.

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