Among hundreds of mysterious and amazing places on our planet, there is one that is strongly associated with chocolate, but has nothing to do with it: it is a set of hills of various heights located in the Philippines …
Mysterious formations in the form of cones with smooth edges from a distance resemble chocolate truffles, which is why they are called that.
For many, the secrets of the origin of the Chocolate Hills do not exist: they say, these are nothing more than unusual geological formations. However, for others, this is an amazing phenomenon - there is a version that the Chocolate Hills are of a man-made nature.
But then who made them and why?
Heightened earth
Chocolate Hills is a geological phenomenon that appeared on Earth, according to some versions, about 2.5 billion years ago. They are located on the Philippine island of Bohol, are included in the list of UNESCO sites, and thousands of people from all over the world come here to see this miracle with their own eyes.
Bohol is the main island of the province of the same name and the tenth largest island in the Philippine archipelago. A tropical paradise with delicate white sand, crystal clear ocean, pleasant climate, and moreover, with incredible natural attractions, attracts not only those who want to gaze at the underwater beauty and soak up the beach, but also those who are attracted by mysterious landscapes.
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The many conical grassy hills have become some of the archipelago's most popular tourist attractions. According to various estimates, there are more than one and a half thousand such pyramids on the island. Some researchers even give the exact number - 1,776 hills ranging in height from 30 to 120 meters, scattered over a large area. They are covered in grass that dries up under the scorching Philippine sun during the hottest months. And when the grass burns out, it seems that there are thousands of mountains of cocoa or, if you prefer, chocolate truffles on the island.
The Philippine authorities have set up several viewing platforms in the Chocolate Hills. And it is truly an impressive sight to watch the sunrise or sunset among a thousand pyramids covered with fog. The national park, which houses the hills, was recently declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and, among other things, is considered a candidate for the title of the eighth wonder of the world.
It is hard to believe that such beautiful and identical natural formations are not the fruit of human activity or some kind of divine power.
Chocolate Hills are composed of limestone that is covered with a layer of soil and grass. No one can give an exact answer why they appeared. Some of the most accepted theories are soil erosion and underground plate movement. According to the first version, the rains for which the region is famous has soaked the limestone, which subsided, forming channels for streams and waterfalls. Over time, the rainwater cut through the ground so that only small islands of "pyramids" remained. Such geological processes took place not only in the Philippines, but also in other tropical regions, for example, in Jamaica. There, these natural formations were used by escaped African slaves as natural fortifications for the war against the Spanish and British slave owners in the 17th century. It is this version of the origin that is written on a bronze plaque installed on the top of one of the hills,where the tourist route lies.
According to the second theory, the island was previously under water, and the hills are coral deposits, which, under the influence of currents, turned into regular cones. Millions of years later, the island rose from under the water, and the hills found soil and vegetation. Other scientific theories claim that the origin of the hills is the result of volcanic activity, that they were supposedly formed as a result of a catastrophic underwater eruption. Underground activity caused a shift in tectonic plates: some rose, others subsided, and boiling lava boiled underground, and it froze. However, this version is not confirmed by geologists, who did not find any trace of volcanic rock (which at least somewhere, but should have been on the surface) in the entire region.
Legends of the islanders
Despite the fact that there are similar mountains in Croatia and Puerto Rico, the hills of Bohol Island are the most numerous and most visited in the world. It is not surprising that many refuse to believe in the theory of the natural origin of this tropical wonder. They refer to the Filipino legends that swarm the island. There are dozens of mythical stories that explain the origin of the hills on the island.
The most popular of them is the legend about two giants who lived on the island in antiquity, who quarreled and entered into battle with each other. They threw huge boulders and rocks at each other. Many days later, having failed to determine the winner in the fight, they got tired and decided to make up. The giants became friends and left the island, leaving behind mountains of stones all over Bohol. These stones were later overgrown with grass and turned into the Chocolate Hills.
No less popular and, in a sense, romantic legend tells the story of the island giant's love for an ordinary girl. The giant fell in love with the resident of the island, the beautiful girl Aloya, who, to his great regret, soon died - she was a mere mortal. The giant had a vulnerable soul, and he could not bear the loss calmly. In his sorrow, he could not stop crying. And from his huge tears, the Chocolate Hills grew like giant stalactites.
The third legend looks more like some kind of humorous story. It says that a huge bull lived on the island. This bull terrorized the Filipinos: it destroyed pastures, ate food supplies, destroyed houses and roads. Once the Boholians got tired of it. They collected all the rotten and rancid food and left it out in the open. The hungry bull obviously couldn't get past the rotten treat. As residents believed, the mythical animal consumed all the bait and was poisoned. And, as you might guess, Chocolate Hills is nothing more than a bull's life product. Not the most appetizing legend considering the name of these hills. In another version of this story, instead of a bull, a giant also appears, and the process itself, in fact, of the emergence of mountains is the same as in the case of a bull.
Mounds of local spill
And, of course, the version that these hills are man-made cannot be ruled out. They are very much like the pyramids, which are scattered in an incredible amount all over the world, or some ancient burial mounds that really look like ordinary hills. True, one has only to assume what efforts it took the ancient Filipinos to build such a huge number of pyramids as it becomes scary. The Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge, the stone statues of Easter Island are nothing more than children's toys compared to the Chocolate Hills. But, given the fact that there is still no definite answer to the question of why the hills were formed, even such an unlikely version has the right to exist.
In 2013, an earthquake with a magnitude greater than seven occurred in the Philippines region, causing rockfall and the collapse of several hills. In general, the region is prone to tectonic plate movements, and each such incident threatens the existence of the hills.
But not only nature itself destroys the beauty of the island: people also contribute. Mining operations are generally prohibited in the region, but some companies continue their illegal activities in the vicinity of the national treasure, which greatly harms the Chocolate Hills. There is a known case when a company was ordered to restore a hill destroyed as a result of its activities. In addition, the growing flow of tourists is also contributing to the change in the park - here and there hotels and roads appear. But both the international community and the island's authorities are doing everything possible to preserve the natural beauty of these places and allow all visitors to the Philippines to enjoy the wonderful spectacle of sunset and sunrise among the hazy Chocolate Hills.
Egor Kirillov
