Traveling with horse in Minahasa

by Charles Roring in Manokwari of West Papua - Indonesia

When you travel in Minahasa, you will have a number of options for your vehicles. You can go around by bicycle, car, motorcycle or horse. My recommendation will be traveling by horse. If I say horse, it doesn't mean that you will ride a horse. I believe that there is a horse riding course there but you don't need it if you only want to enjoy the beautiful scenery of mountainous Minahasa.

Bendi, a horse pulled cart, is the traditional taxi for Minahasan. The local villagers go everywhere in short distance with Bendi. The bendi driver likes to decorate his cart with various colorful ornaments to attract potential passengers. The maximum number of passenger should be four but you'll often see that the Bendi is over capacity.

If you are in Tomohon town, I'll suggest that you ride a bendi to Kasuang. There are all you can eat restaurants there. The charge is around Rp.50,000/person or around 5 USD for the food that you eat.

Although horse racing competition is frequently held in Minahasa, the local people use horses to transport goods and men from one place to another. The type of horses for racing and transporting goods and people are different. Racing horses are taller and sturdy. Also read: Traveling and Enjoying the Nightlife of Surabaya; Traveling around the traditional market of Manokwari and Traveling under the canopy of Papuan tropical rainforest