It was a pretty drive. Life seems pretty simple here. No movie theatre, no shopping mall, no grocery store that I could see. Past Tomohon, we were pretty far removed from the city. Markets and little shops in the front of people’s homes appear to be the main source of daily needs in these parts. By the look of things- the number of people with scooters were evenly split with those who didn’t. A lot of people seemed to get where they were going by foot or mikrolet van/bus.

I was surprised to see as many bamboo homes as I did. This isn’t a post disaster area, but poverty touches a lot of people throughout the country, and I’m not surprised in many cases that’s all people could afford.

Tondano Lake is beautiful. It’s a hike from Manado (30km), but a picturesque one. Elevation here is 600m above sea level, so it’s cooler. Here’s what it looks like: