Minahasa to Lembeh: National Geo. On Assignment
Trip Start
Oct 30, 2008
1
11
19
Trip End
Nov 15, 2008
Bitung,
Sulawesi,
Indonesia
Friday, November 7, 2008
Final farewell to the cabin
Map of Minahasa dive sites
As we mentioned before, the staff and resort at Minahasa were absolutely wonderful.
The excellent Minahasa dive crew
Pam under the flowered arch
We were all hopeful that the experience would be just as good at Lembeh, but the bar has definitely been set pretty high. Knowing we really wouldn't be able to dive this day, we opted for the Highlands Tour package for a few extra dollars. The resort packed up all our luggage and dive gear for us and sent it on ahead to the next resort, while the 10 of us piled into three vehicles each with a driver and English-speaking guide. We then had the most amazing adventure inland!Minahasa and the Bunaken Marine Preserve are on the west side of North Sulawesi, while the Lembeh Straight is on the east side. Lembeh Resort is located on Lembeh Island, just a mile or two off the coast. We set off at about 8am and drove through several small villages. It was amazing to see how crowded this island actually is and how the people live their lives. Most houses are very small shacks and are very unassuming, with no real sealed windows or doors and little square footage to speak of. Don't ask us how they keep the bugs out, as we have no idea! Corrugated metal is the roofing of choice, and those houses that are a little better constructed tend to be made of teak and mahogany. There were a few that seemed much nicer, but they were always sandwiched in between any of the other styles. No exclusive neighborhoods, as far as we could tell. Even the nicest houses even came close to what we're accustomed to in America. Still, the people seem genuinely happy with their lives and day to day routines. This has definitely been another vacation to make us appreciate all that we have!
Typical Sulawesi house
Typical Sulawesi house
Typical Sulawesi house
Typical Sulawesi house
As we passed through each village, one thing in common was the drying of corn kernels on sheets of material just lying in people's driveways or on the road itself.
Drying corn
They oftentimes used to roads as the asphalt paving did a better job of drying the kernels than the dirt driveways. Oh, and the dogs loved the roadways also.
Beware of dog, while driving!
They could be found lying in the roadway just about wherever they wanted. Some were pets, but sadly many will make a meal. They have a saying in North Sulawesi that they will eat anything with four legs except the table. They also eat things with wings, and I don't mean chicken! More on that topic later!On more than one occasion, we drove was what looked like a public works project alongside the road.
Public "works" crew
Work crews in everyday clothing were digging trenches that were either for irrigation or runoff. Not sure which, but it was comforting to see they maintain the same ratio of guys working to guys standing around watching as their US counterparts! The primary means of making a living here is farming.
Getting around any way they can
Families own and tend plots of land on very rich volcanic soil, and easily grow their own fruits and vegetables. More successful families (the ones with the nicer houses) tend to be the land barons who own and lease out more land. Along the way though the towns, we also saw many, many houses with tropical plant nurseries in their yards. This is the starting point for many of the exotic house and yard plants we buy in the US. We may very well have driven by your next plant purchase at Lowe's, Home Depot or Lynn's Gift & Garden! And they were absolutely beautiful. We also drove by several bird houses.
Concrete bird house
We don't mean the small ones that hang from your backyard tree. These are houses as big as the ones we have back home, completely dedicated to nesting birds. They are concrete on all sides, with numerous holes for bird access. The nests are eventually harvested from inside (I guess they are made of bird spit!) and are exported primarily to China to satisfy their passion for bird's nest soup. So you thought you were tired of all of the ads and such regarding our recent election? You should see it over here. The Presidential election isn't until next June, yet every village is dotted all over with the colorful flags of each political party, as well as numerous billboards displaying the candidate. Almost all of the candidate posters fit into one of two themes. Many had their right fist raised, with a stoic look on their face that was apparently supposed to convey power and strength. The second type was kind of funny in that we thought it made the candidate look like some cheesy older celebrity. Throwback clothes and hair styles, the whole works.
We took the road through Taratara and Woloan, passing within the shadow of two active volcanoes as we went along (Mt. Lokon at 1580m, and Mt. Mahawu at 1311m). In Woloan, we made a stop to use a local couple's bathroom. Our guide knew them so it wasn't like just dropping in, but bringing 10 into their home to use the squatty potty was probably a bit amusing for them. They were the nicest couple though and were delighted to meet and talk with us. They actually had a very decent house by our standards, and had a terrific array of the tropical plants mentioned earlier.
The rest stop, and garden nursery!
The rest stop, and garden nursery!
Rice paddies, Lotus farms, water spinach...
Lotus flower farm
The list goes on of all the farm fields we passed along the way, all being meticulously tended to by people apparently immune to humidity and sweat.
Rice paddies
We were working up a sweat in the comfy air conditioned vehicle just watching them!
Rice paddies
Several times, we also passed primary schools that always seemed to be in recess as we drove by. All children wear uniforms to school, and all were diligently doing their teacher-led exercises. We did eventually see many of the kids walking in the road headed home from school. They were all totally adorable in their little uniforms.
School uni's
Our first real chance to get out and stretch our legs at an intended destination was at the amphitheater located in Kakaskasen.
Amphitheater
The theater is maintained for use for special events. Local dances are often held there, and it can also be rented out for weddings and such. A governor's box was located up above in the middle of the amphitheater, and it afforded the best view for the high profile attendee. The most amazing part though was the view the whole place had of the valley and village below, located at the foot of Mt. Mahawu.
Volcano view from the amphitheater
The view was spectacular!
Amphitheater view
Also located on the grounds were ancient grave sites called waru, which were basically a very small stone box with a stone roof over them.
Ancient waru (graves)
Family members bones were placed inside and they plots are considered sacred. The waru date back approximately 700 years and earlier. 
Street of Sulawesi Dreams
Our next stop was what we liked to call the North Sulawesi Street of Dreams. Very often, small villages each have a task or particular type of work they are known for, whether it's construction, food, art or whatever. The entire community at large then benefits from inter-village trade of goods and services. The Street of Dreams was basically a village dedicated to house building. They meticulously craft houses from teak and mahogany, doing much of the wood work by hand, all so they can be disassembled and delivered to the buyer's property, where an expert carpenter will then reassemble them. Not a bad price for many of them either. The nicest we saw (in our opinion) sells for about 400,000,000 Indonesian dollars (rupiah). We were thinking they might make a very affordable cabin since that's not even $40,000 US!
New house
Of course, there's that small problem of shipping. Wonder what Brown could do for us?? An interesting part of the construction style was the traditional Minahasan method. This involves building a staircase up from both sides and having them meet in the middle.
To confuse the ghosts!
This is apparently done to confuse the ghosts and keep them from entering your house. Hmmmm. Mythbusters should check that one out and save the carpenters some time. 
Goods transport!
Our next stop was probably the most unusual and grossest of them all; the public market.
At the market
Each major village has a market, and they are basically gathering places for the locals to sell their goods, whether it's fruits, vegetables, nuts, spices, furniture, goods, clothing, or.... meat. Back to that "they'll eat anything" bit we mentioned before. The meat section smells very bad to the outsider nose, and the sights aren't much better. Hard to understand how these people don't get violently ill from meat that sits out raw all day with flies hanging around. You can get just about any animal you want, including jungle rat or fruit bat on a stick!
At the market - RAT, on a stick!
At the market - BAT, on a stick!
We'll stick with the corn dogs on a stick at the fair, thank you very much. The sad part was seeing dogs penned with about a dozen in a cage, just waiting to be done in for someone's next meal. We'll spare you the gory details, but it wasn't pleasant. Still, we understand that life is different here and that's just a part of the culture. The other parts of the market were spectacular and were filled with all kinds of fresh foods. The tables were incredible mosaics of colors and textures and made for some fun photography.
At the market
At the market
At the market
At the market
At the market
At the market
While at the market, we also got to experience a sudden tropical rain storm. There's a reason stalls are covered with tarps, and they were certainly put to good use!
Market downpour
Pam happily shopping
At the market
At the market
More transportation. Metro?
Our next stop was at the sulphur lake, known as Linow Lake.
Sulfur lake
Water infused with sulfur bubbles up and has formed a lake in the crater of an old volcano.
Sulfur lake
The lake was a beautiful turquoise color, but did have a pretty strong smell. That didn't seem to bother the many birds though. We also saw an area where the mud actually boils.
Boiling mud hole at the sulfur lake
Way too hot to touch!
Andy & Pam at the sulfur lake
It was interesting to note the many churches along the way.
Typical church
Religion plays a very strong role for the people here, and most in the North are Christian.
Our next village specialized in roasting peanuts. Yup, that's the main stay of the village, and workers stand around a large kettle constantly shoveling and stirring peanuts still in the shell.
Roasting peanuts
Sand is also added to better distribute the heat.
Roasting peanuts
After about an hour, they are done and ready for the next batch. The peanuts are delicious! This village in particular was also a lot of fun in that many, many children showed up to greet us and see what we were up to. They absolutely loved posing for pictures, and had the best time looking at themselves on the camera display screens.
Kids at the Peanut Village
You would have thought you were listening to kids on a ride at Disneyland or something like that. They were all really cute and so happy to see us.
Kids at the Peanut Village
We were thinking that Angelina Jolie might want to adopt one of them. Further down the road, we made a quick stop at a tree none of us would recognize. At least, not until you smell the bark. It was a cinnamon tree, and the smell was incredible!
Cinnamon tree
Next stop, Pottery Barn.
Pottery Barn Village
Ooops, we mean, village.
Pottery Barn Village
The whole village was devoted to pottery.
Pottery Barn Village
Pottery Barn Village
They do outstanding work!
Pottery Barn Village
Again, the colors were really neat for photos.
Pottery Barn Village
Pottery Barn Village
We could easily see these on the shelf at Target or any other department stores back home.
Finally, it was lunch time!!
Lunch stop!
We stopped for lunch at a very popular restaurant named Donau Tondano, located on the shores of Tondano Lake. The lake is huge and is a main resource for freshwater fish as well as water-based crops. The food was excellent and everyone got their fill of fish and chicken before moving on.
Pottery Barn Village
No more stops! We finally rolled into the port city of Bitung, which was where we would catch the boat for a quick ride over to Lembeh Island and the Lembeh Resort. We arrived at the resort at about 5pm, which was just early enough to actually get to see the resort in the daylight. We were greeted warmly and ushered into the dining room area, where we were given the briefing on the resort and dive center operations. With that out of the way, everyone made way to their cabins and unpacked before returning for dinner. The food was excellent and in many ways better than Minahasa. The staff was very friendly but everyone seemed to miss the "smallness" of Minahasa. Lembeh is a lot bigger and holds a much larger amount of guests. Still, the service was great and things look great for this next phase of our adventure.
On to muck diving tomorrow! Black sand, weird critters; it should be awesome. We dive at 8am, 11am and 2:30pm. We also want to dive the house reef tomorrow night. Can't get enough!
Bye for now!
Andy & Pam
