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Located on the very heart of Minahasa, Tondano is a cool, quiet town, in spite of its function as the capital of the state. The cool air can sometimes make us forget that it was still in tropical area. With its ricefields, farming, and fishing activities as the main economic resources, Tondano has been the capital for about 40 years. The population is about 48.000, with a dominance of Christian atmosphere. It is accessible from Manado, the capital city of North Sulawesi by land in 1-hour of driving, and from Sam Ratulangi International Airport in + 75 minutes. You can also jump from the airplane by parachute when u see the beautiful view of the ricefield and exotic lake from up there : ) Sure, it won’t be difficult to identify Tondano from space! And if you prefer to reach us by sea-ship, it would take 90 minutes of driving from the International Harbour of Bitung. During your driving from the Airport, you will see the most wanted, typical view of tropical scenes: the thousands of coconut trees, cloves, and other plants you’ll only see here; truly a good way to forget the crowdies of the big cities. I encourage you to drive during sunlight, so you won’t miss the good part on the road. Oh yes, (for certain people) to prevent motion sickness, it would be better to get some antihistamine. (And don’t drive!) Waving palms is the national nickname for the North Sulawesi—where Tondano lies, and I guarantee, it was not just a slogan. Quiet and cool will be your very first impression. For your information, we just have one traffic light here! :-) So you don’t need to worry about traffic jam… The traditional transportation of Tondano is bendi, or ‘dokar’ in Indonesian. It’s a two-wheel-cart, horse-powered, and man-controlled. (hope I describe it easily…) Tondano is a town with the most abundant number of bendi in Indonesia. One bendi can contain about 5 persons. You just mention the place, and the kusir or the bendi-driver will happily bring you there. Now it’s just between your heart and the horse: please make a limitation of about 2 km per course, because we don’t want to make the horse angry and ask you to switch position: you pull the bendi and she sits... It’s quiet, pollution-free, and enjoyable. And it’s cheap, I promise you! But hey, don’t worry, we have cars here! ^_^ It’s geographical height, 600 meters from sea level is the main explanation of its coolness and flood-free. Talking about geography, it will be 1°14'0"North and 124°50'0"East. Tondano is a plateau surrounded by mounts: Masarang, Mahawu and Lokon on its west; Tampusu on its south, and Lembean mountains along the east sides. On the north, you will see the majestic of Mt. Klabat, the highest point of Minahasa (1.998 m). Some of these mounts were still active volcanoes. And this explains why we have a fertile soil. On the south part of the town, lies a thousands hectares of ricefield… I can’t describe the beauty of it. Even the native people will admire it, and confess: it’s beautiful! More southern, there lies the Tondano Lake. Around the lake, you fill find some Floating-Restaurants (actually they don’t literally float…) with their main menu: roasted- or fried-fish (the famous mujair and goldfish), kangkung (a vegetable that grow on the water, or lpomoea aquatica for instance :) and dabu-dabu!, a hot, spicy, fresh mixture of chili, onion, tomatoes, and (sometimes) lemon. I can’t describe their taste here… just come here and experience it by yourself…. The Food! Yeah, it was also the best part of the town… Not only for Tondano, but also for the whole Minahasa. I must admit that Minahasan people here were very digestive-oriented. Some people say that ‘the social marker of Minahasan people is their food.’ Well, I don’t 100% agree with that, but I agree with this: the foods are soooo tasty (and hi-calorie, hi-fat, hi-protein)!! If you drive from Manado, you will find some restaurants that serve Minahasan food with a very *generous* way of payment: 1 USD for each person, and you can eat all the food on table! The food include: a big plate of rice, roasted pork (sate babi), tinoransak (pork with hot spice), redbean soup, chicken in coconut milk (santan), roasted chicken, renga’ (a kind of shell that live in Tondano lake; if you come here, we’ll happily teach you how to eat :), lo ba’ (pork with ketchup), cap cai (Chinese mixed vegetable), kangkung (lpomoea aquatica, again), acar, babi utang, and some other food that I can’t write here (really!)… I also suggest you to visit during Christmas, because every house will make at least 2 kinds of the food I mentioned before, together with some other cookies: nasi jaha (rice baked in the bamboo) and many kinds of butter cakes. During Christmas, the house is opened for everybody! Go and eat! Yeah…! …And that explains so much why Minahasa has a highest prevalence of Diabetes mellitus type II in Indonesia…. <phew> Tondano alone have + 18 kelurahan (village). Each kelurahan has at least 2 churches from various denominates. This rich, unique style of Christian villages can be a religious tourism site, along with the other towns in Minahasa. The biggest denomitation is GMIM, the Minahasa Evangelical Church. The Catholic teaching was first brought by the Portuguese and Spanish missionairies in 15th century. German missionaries, Riedel and Schwartz came in Minahasa around 1830 in Nederlandsche Zending Genotschaap. Until now, there are more then 15 denominations around, including Catholic, Protestant, Pentacostal, Adventist, Baptist, Charismatic…. And they are basically one. Minahasa is a Christian-majority kabupaten in an Islam-majority country. Another interesting site of Tondano is the Kampung Jawa, located on the northern part of the town. It was build on 1828, where the people from Java started to settle down and got married with the local girls. They took their father religion (Islam), and the mothers’ language (Toulour language). What a unique combination! Again, it was an Islamic village—in a Christian kabupaten in an Islam majority country. During the Idul Fitri, the sacred day of Islam, the whole Tondano goes there, to congratulate and celebrate the day together. And also, eat :-) together. Well, at least it (or eat) can be a good start toward world peace…. Many countries should learn from us. If their leaders want to sit and eat together in one table, then I think the world can be much better. Before Riedel, the Minahasan people believes in Alifuru, an ancient monotheistic religion, which their neolithicum remaining still can be found today. They had a very unique style of burying people. The corpse would be put on a big plate in a cross-legged, sitting position, and a shaped-, center-hollowed-rock would be placed to cover the corpse around. Finally, a dome, roof-like rock would be put on its very top. It looks like a simple house, called waruga. The largest site of waruga located in Sawangan village, can be reached 40 minutes from Tondano. Talking about religious tourism, we have one more! It’s called Bukit Kasih (the Hills of Love). It was just built in 2003, located + 35 km from Tondano, or 45 minutes driving. It’s a sulphurous, 2 km course, consisted of thousands ladder steps (I didn’t count it exactly--you’ll understand why…) with 250 meters of height. Bukit Kasih was built to remind us of Via Dolorosa, The Path of the Cross that Jesus had 2000 years ago. And it works! You can almost feel Jesus’ agony during your climb… The different is, you don’t bear a cross, don’t wear a thorn-crown, and didn’t get clobbered during the night before. When you made it until the top, you will see another scenic view of Minahasa: green, green, blue. If you’re not going to heaven, then this will be the most beautiful view for you. Btw, just a tip from me: Ladies, don’t use high heels. And don’t bring all your backpack up. Just leave them on the car. Trust me… :-) The houses in Tondano (and Minahasa) are wood-dominant. They were specially constructed to prevent damage because of earthquake. In Woloan, 30 minutes from Tondano, you can find the largest showyard of Minahasan traditional houses. Go there, and take some pics! And if you want to buy some, the houses are ready to disassemble, packed, and get sent to your address. You can re-assemble the house there. Make sure the manual book included in package… ^_^ But I’m not kidding. There's also one of the most unique village: Lahendong, a village with a sulphurous air 24hrs a day. The people had been adapted with the aroma, leaves the tourist in a long wondering... How they could do that... :) Here in Tondano we have hotels and homestays. Remember the volcanoes I mentioned before? In the southern part, near Mt. Tampusu, you can find many places of hot-water pool with resort. Warm, relaxing… Mmmm….
Mt. Mahawu (1200 meters) is one of the
volcanoes in Minahasa. The crater is easy to access, just + 2 km
of easy-climbing from the village of Rurukan. You won’t feel the
climbing because of the exotic jungle view along the way up. Cool,
quiet, and feels like deep forest. Rurukan, located 20 minutes from
Tondano is a village that is famous with its vegetable plants. It was
1.000 meters from sea level, located in the middle of the islands, but
yet you can see the sea from there!
And if you want some more challenging
adventure, the Klabat, Soputan, and Lokon will happily welcome you. Just in case you are curious about the name "Tondano", it was from the native Toulour language tou and dano.: Tou means people, and dano means lake/water. So, the word "Tondano" reflects its people who lives around the lake… or somethin’ like that. Well, the main point I wanna say is: it’s *MY* town. And you are always welcomed here.*** Alva-2007
NB: If you're going to visit Minahasa and looking for further assistance, Minahasa Express Tours and Travel will happily be on your service.
Minahasa Express Jl. Sam Ratulangi 1A Tondano 95616 Indonesia Phone + 62 431 322857 Fax +62 431 323310
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