Quick stop and a bite to eat.

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Trip Start Dec 28, 2009 Previous
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  Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia
Saturday, June 12, 2010

The flight went very well and was only about 3 hours long. Manado is 1 hour ahead of Jakarta so we made sure we change our watch so not to get caught out again.  Manado has got a nice island feel to it, the airport is surrounded by coconut trees and it all looks very green.  We got accosted again, a lady was trying to get us to use her taxi company, she was being very helpful but people just seem to latch onto us and do the talking for us which we don't like as it usually means we get ripped off, but we followed her to the tourist information and got some maps of the town. 

We managed to lose the taxi lady and we go the bus into town, the rain came pouring down on the way but eased off by the time the bus driver dropped us at our hotel.  The accommodation in Indonesia is very basic, many hotels don’t have sinks, I think you just use the floor to spit out your toothpaste and there aren’t many showers, just buckets and taps for you to pour the lovely browny cold water over yourself, it’s lovely, you feel so clean afterwards.

Manado is quite a big town and we went to a recommended restaurant on the tourist map, it was the best meal we have had in ages, really really nice, on the way back we stopped off at a supermarket and we had little kids following us round the shop, I get called mister as well which is funny, Justin was looking at some alcohol, unsure what it was and a little boy around 9 shouted out that it was sherry, very helpful if not a little bit worrying.  On the way out of the shop a woman spotted us and came over to us like we were long lost friends and stroked our arms.  We tried to book our next bus to Gorontalo but were unable to do so as it had got quite late but was advised that we could go to the bus station in the morning and catch the bus.  Many people book private mini buses or 4WD for the 10 hour journey but we decided to travel with the locals as it’s usually more fun.

The next morning we set off at 6.30am and a very helpful man took us to the bus station.  On arrival we were surrounded by about 7 men who all seemed to be trying to sell us a ticket, they were pushing each other about a bit and trying to climb into the taxi, one got his fingers jammed in the door but one man managed to climb in and wrote us a ticket.  It was a bit much for that time in the morning but we survived.  We attempted to buy some breakfast, but we can’t get used to eating rice and chicken scraps or ground up dried fish for breakfast so opted for some chocolate buns and some crackers instead dipped in peanut butter.  Everyone on the bus seemed very excited about us getting on the bus and all said hello and showed us where to sit.  Along the way every time I turned round 2 of the women were staring at me which was funny, they don’t even turn away they just continue to stare.  It’s a little bit overwhelming but there really aren’t any tourists that visit here, most people come on organized tours and rarely stop in town so we have turned into the tourist attraction.  Indonesian people are the nicest people we have met so far, you walk around town and everyone wants to say hello and all the kids get really excited/shy when they see you.

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