World Travel Attraction in Chocolate Hills

One of the beautiful world heritage places is Chocolate Hills are a curious environmental formation in Bohol, Philippines. There are 1,776 hills spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometers (20 sq mi). They are covered in green grass that turns brown during the dry season. The Chocolate Hills are a famous tourist attraction of Bohol. They are featured in the provincial flag and seal to symbolize the abundance of natural attractions in the province. They are in the Philippine Tourism Authority's list of tourist destinations in the Philippines; they have been declared the country's third National Geological Monument and proposed for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The Chocolate Hills is a rolling terrain of haycock hills – mounds of general shape which are conical and almost symmetrical. Estimated to be at least 1,268 individual mounds to about 1,776, these cone-shaped or dome-shaped hills are actually made of grass-covered limestone. The domes vary in sizes from 30 to 50 meters (98 to 160 ft) high with the largest being 120 meters (390 ft) in height. Bohol's main attraction, these unique mound-shaped hills are scattered by the hundreds throughout the towns of Carmen, Batuan and Sagbayan in Bohol. During the dry season, the grass-covered hills dry up and turn chocolate brown. This transforms the area into seemingly endless rows of chocolate kisses. The branded confection is the inspiration behind the name, Chocolate Hills.

The resort in Carmen is called Chocolate Hills Complex. The more recent one in Sagbayan is called Sagbayan Peak. The Chocolate Hills Complex has a restaurant, hostel with swimming pool and an observation deck where one could view and even count the hills at the view deck 210 feet (64 m) above the ground. There are a total of 214 steps leading to the observation or view deck. Here one can view the landscape that is covered with more than a thousand Chocolate Hills.

The other way to view the Chocolate Hills is at Sagbayan Peak, a mountain resort in Sagbayan town, about 75 kilometers (47 mi) northwest of Tagbilaran City. Sagbayan Peak is a 5-hectare (12-acre) mountaintop resort and recreation center. Its viewing deck offers a 360-degree perspective of the Chocolate Hills plus the blue sea that separates Bohol and Cebu. The peak now has a restaurant and a children’s park with Bugs Bunny, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and various other Toontown figures. The Sagbayan Peak is a welcome note for Bohol tourism.