My travel story about Minahasa

by Charles Roring in Manokwari of West Papua - Indonesia

Minahasa is one of the most potential tourist destinations in Indonesia. It is one of the regencies in the province of North Sulawesi - Indonesia. People from around the world like to travel to this region to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the mountainous region as well as the pristine coral reef of Bunaken national park. There are many travel deals offered by travel agencies in Europe, North America and some countries in Asia.

You can fly to Manado the capital province of North Sulawesi from major cities in Indonesia. There is a direct flight from Singapore too. Contact your airline company to check whether they have flight heading to Manado city.

During high season, hotels and inns in Minahasa offer special package to tour groups who book or order rooms several weeks in advance. The hotel fare per room can range from 10 US/night to 100 US/night. In addition, for scuba divers who are interested in traveling around the waters of North Sulawesi, diving operators provide diving boats and full accommodation in affordable price.

Minahasan cuisine is full of spice. Tourists can try all you can eat package along the restaurants in Kasuang or Tinoor. While enjoying the delicious food, travelers can see the beautiful view of Manado city or the panoramic view of Minahasan highland.

When traveling to Bukit Kasih (love hill) in Kanonang, tourists can ride bendi, a traditional horse driven cart which is able to bring you through the farmlands of Minahasa. My recommendation for you is that after enjoying the beautiful coral of Bunaken, you should carry on your trip to towns in the highland of Minahasa to meet the people and experience the unique their culture.

There is one thing that I have to remind you through this writing. If you are offered to drink Cap Tikus, an alcoholic drink, don't drink too much or you will not be able to control yourself. Cap tikus contains high percentage of alcohol. Tourists like to drink it at their hotel rooms to prevent having problems with the locals in case if they get drunk.

Minahasan are friendly people. They always welcome people from foreign countries with smiles.

I personally like to visit the waterfalls of Tincep and enjoy food in Sonder village. These places are so romantic and rich of natural environment. Here, the air is fresh. People like Tincep because it is the center of flower market. Although you don't go there to buy flowers, you can still visit that village to take pictures of the beautiful flowers there.

Traveling during this dry season is good because you will not have to cancel many of your trips in the interior region just because of the rain. The word interior here does not mean that the area is underdeveloped. Interior in this term means that the area is a further from the sea. Actually, there are still a lot of things which I should write here about the beauty of Minahasa region but it will not be enough to cover them all in one piece of article. It is better for you to travel by yourself to this region to experience it. Also read: Travelling with Passenger Ships; Travelling with Passenger Ships; Traveling around the traditional market of Manokwari