I stayed at the Swiss-Bel in Manado. The entrance foyer looks quite grand and the staff are good.
As far as cities go, I think Manado is pretty good. I stopped there on the way to and from Morotai. It was an easy place to get around either by walking , the mini vans or taxi. I preferred the walking as you can see/experience more.
I had one long hike that went for hours through the streets and along the waterfront. I visited temples, churches, shops, malls and the seaside. I finished by having a great iced latte.
It was a pretty town with a long white sand beach fringed by an assortment of trees.
I stayed in a room in the family house of Oci, Ronda and Fanda. The room was big with a stand fan (150 000R with meals). The house was big and cool. Oci was a local pastor. The people were strongly practising Christians, They seemed to be regularly off on a church project.
The house was a short distance from the beach so I spent a lot of time sitting/lying/reading/chatting on a raised platform under the shade of a tree during the middle of the day hours. The beach was nice for a swim at high tide.
Across the main road from me were living three westerners - Callum, Jennise and Lizzie. They worked for an educational group called Liquid Foundation. I watched them working with the local kids on the beach teaching them various water skills. It was all very cool, They were very nice people. We went for a hike one afternoon to look for a waterfall. We didn;t find the waterfall but it was still a fun jungle walk.
I finally managed two surfs, One okay surf on the reef in front of where I was staying with a few of the local kids and one at another reef further north. The second surf was better but the wind blew it apart after 40 miniutes. It was fun getting there with one of the local guys by motorbike then a pick up two hours later.
Once again the local people were lovely. They were polite and friendly and ready for a chat.
I was getting restless for surfing. The main reasons I came to Morotai was surf and adventure. I got plenty of adventure but little surf. Time to move on!
Highlights of Bido:
walking along the beautiful white sand beach.
watching sedated beach activity.
getting free mangoes from the local kids.
conversations with my host family in my limited Indonesian
surfing, at last.
swimming, snorkelling and surfing in clean and clear water.
walking through the village.
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