Serious diving and rambles in the jungle

Manado harbour
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The flight from Singapore was uneventful although Wendy thought it was a bit bumpy!

Manado has a reputation as one of the cleanest cities in Indonesia - a reputation which is, I'm afraid, thoroughly undeserved! In fact it's a bit of a dump!

After a couple of days walking around Manado (there wasn't a lot to see!) we made arrangements to head out to Bunaken Island for some diving. Ahhhhhhhh 8 nights in paradise!! We had an ocean view cottage (this meant it was beside the sea!) and not too far to walk to grab a cold beer if the mood struck.

Our patch of paradise - Bunaken Island
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Most days we did 2 dives - one at 8.30 and another at 1.30. Our first dive was a bit of a disaster as we had to remember how to do everything but we soon got the hang of it again although we were never completely comfortable in anything more than a gentle current. We went down deeper than we had before and saw lots of tropical fish and giant turtles!

The dives were either around Bunaken Island or the nearby island of Manado Tua. Getting to the dive site was just a short boat ride, between 10 to 30 minutes. Both islands are surrounded by coral reefs with a most impressive drop-off to the ocean depths. Much of the diving consisted of going down to around 20m and drifting along the wall in the current - which at times was quite strong. The wall of coral and the life it supports were both truly amazing. New Year’s Eve was spent in the very pleasant company of the other guests and staff of Two fish Divers. A few Bir Bintang were sufficient for us, while younger people got stuck into the local firewater, arak. We were the ones looking not quite so bleary the next morning! New Year's Day we walked into the nearby village for a look around, to find festivities still in full swing. Copious amounts of arak were still being consumed and everyone was very friendly! The second of January is apparently the traditional day on the island for the womenfolk to join in the drinking. Keith went for a walk to the village after our day's diving to make a phone call, to find no-one in the village willing or able to operate the wartel. Again, everyone was most friendly!

The dive crew - Bunaken
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We left Bunaken on Thursday 5th for the one hour return trip to the mainland. Here we were greeted enthusiastically by our old friends Pak Albiner and Ibu Marpaung. We were crammed into Albiner's Kijang with a large number of other relatives and spent the rest of the day taking a scenic route to Ibu's home village. We first indulged in the favourite Indonesian pastime of eating, a delicious fish meal which was the first of many large meals for the next few days. We drove via Lake Tondano and some small villages, including one specialising in pottery products, and the town of Kawankoan, peanut capital of the province. As Pak Albiner's house was 'not yet finished' arrangements were made for us to stay in the only hotel around in the nearby city of Amurang. Despite having 'the executive suite' this was a dodgy little dive that offered nothing in the way of breakfast or other food so Ibu took on the Herculean task of ensuring that we were well supplied with food for every meal. Breakfast would be delivered to the room promptly in the morning (from the relatives place around 15 minutes away!)

On the beach at Tumpaan with Pak Albiner & Lisa
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We were collected on Friday to return to the relatives place and demonstration cookery lessons. We learnt the fine art of kampung style nasi goreng and mie goreng! But then we had to consume it too! Pak and Ibu have a farm nearby and it is their plan to eventually retire to the area so they are currently in the process of planting trees on the farm and building a house. We headed up to the farm for a fish barbeque - the only problem was that Keith and Albiner had to catch the fish first. Keith was a fetching sight - there he stood in the pouring rain with his traditional conical hat on hoping that a fish would commit suicide without him having to take an active part in its demise. Fortunately two did so he wasn't seen as a complete failure! Once the fish were obtained, a few quick mobile phone calls later (it is Indonesia afterall and they simply cannot exist without constant phone calls) and the various relatives and employees came trooping across the padi fields laden with rice cookers, portable stoves, water and lots of other goodies for our barbeque. Feverish activity ensued and soon we were feasting on barbequed fish, rice (of course!) freshly picked green vegetables and sambal. Not forgetting the durian that had to be eaten prior to the barbeque. (Wendy sat this one out - if you know what durian smells like, you'll know why! She maintained a good distance from the durian eating area!)

Albiner's farm
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The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the ever increasing rain come down from the safety of the partially completed house. Fortunately there was a toilet already at the house as the constant sound of rain would have done us in otherwise. Eventually, around 5pm (after the relatives had been dispatched to find umbrellas) the rain eased off enough for us to make the walk back to the car. For some reason (that escaped us) we didn't return across the padi fields but instead had to walk down the slippery slope behind the house in our bare feet.... squelching through the mud! A memorable day and the location for the farm is truly stunning.... surrounded by lush green fields and coconut palms. Stocked up with food for the evening (we'd not even finished digesting lunch!) we were driven back to the hotel.

Bunaken village
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We spent the next day exploring the town of Amurang as the family was busy with church activities and we were not involved. There was not a lot to explore but Keith found lots of friendly folk wanting to chat to him once they found he spoke Indonesian. It's a nice enough place, but special visits to Amurang are not necessarily recommended!

Sunday morning we decided to head back to Manado by bus for the morning to catch up on emails - a pretty trip along the coast road, over hills and into lush valleys. Have we mentioned that coconut products are the main industry here? Everywhere there are untold numbers of coconut palms. Returning to the village of Tumpaan in the afternoon the Marpaungs took us for a walk to a nearby waterfall - guided by Lisa, their niece who speaks good English and is also a very nice young person! On Monday we had decided it was time for a move to the town of Tomohon, in the mountains. Which will continue in the next chapter!