A day in the Minahasa Highlands, North Sulawesi – 2

After a long morning of sightseeing in the Minahasa Highlands and a much needed pit-stop for lunch in Tomohon, we continued with the rest of our tour.

Woloan Village

Our first stop post-lunch was the world famous village of Woloan, which lies a couple of kilometers to the west of Tomohon. Here, skilled carpenters build traditional wooden houses that can easily be knocked down and reassembled at a different location (IKEA customers – sounds familiar, right?!). These sturdy, prefabricated houses are shipped all over the world and the main street of the village is lined with sample houses for customers to choose from. Despite the knock-down design, these houses are earthquake proof. Says something about the superlative design and expert craftsmanship!

Prefabricated houses of various designs, line the main street of Woloan village

A close-up of one of the knock-down houses

By this point in the afternoon, I was wishing one of these show houses had a bed, so I could take a quick nap!

Lake Linow

About 3km west of Tomohon, lies the remarkable Lake Linow. The name ‘Linow’ comes from the Minahasa word ‘Lilinowan’, which means ‘the gathering place of water’. This lake is a water filled, volcanic crater that changes colour over the course of the day, from shades of deep green to bright blue tones.

Of course, there is a logical explanation for this phenomenon. Small vents in the ground surface of the lake (both above and below the water level) emit volcanic gases like sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide etc. The minerals in the water, combined with the reflection-refraction of sunlight, cause the lake to change colour. The volcanic gases also give the area a distinct ‘rotten egg’ smell.

The colour changing waters of Lake Linow. A couple of active steam vents can be seen in the background

Much to my relief, there was a small café by the lake and the caffeine shot was very welcome! 🙂

Watu Pinawatengan

Refreshed by the caffeine infusion, we headed to a site of great cultural significance to the Minahasa people – the irregularly shaped boulder of ‘Watu Pinawatengan’. The name loosely translates to ‘stone of the discussion about sharing’.

Outside view of the Watu Pinawatengan

A closer look at the inscribed stone of Watu Pinawatengan

According to some historians, in 670 CE, the various Minahasa tribes met at this stone to discuss the division of the land among them. The hieroglyphs inscribed on the stone are said to reflect this agreement. This lead to the formation of a community of independent states, which in case of an external enemy attack, would unite to defend the land.

Pulutan, Pottery Village

Our final stop for the day was Pulutan village, famous for its pottery artisans and ceramic wares.

Home of an artisan at Pulutan, the pottery village

Lake Tondano

Lastly, I must mention Lake Tondano, the largest lake in North Sulawesi, also created by volcanic activity. We passed this lake from a distance, on our journey into the Minahasa Highlands, and back.

View of Lake Tondano from a distance

Once visited by the great British naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, during his time in Sulawesi (Jun -Sep 1859); Lake Tondano is today a popular tourist destination, with several seafood restaurants located around the lake.

At the end of this culturally rich day, I was wishing I had a lot more time to appreciate all the details and nuances. I guess, I’ll just have to read about it or may be I could start planning our return to North Sulawesi 😉

Our thanks to the team at Lembeh Resorts for organizing this fabulous day trip 

A day in the Minahasa Highlands, North Sulawesi – 1

Getting a sense of the history and culture of a place is an important part of all our travels. Sulawesi was no different. So after hubby had had his fill of muck diving in the Lembeh Straits and I was done with birdwatching in the Tangkoko Nature Reserve, we planned for a day in the Minahasa highlands.

This hill country, located in the extreme northern-eastern part of Sulawesi island is named after the Minahasa people, an overarching ethnic group from North Sulawesi, with an ancient and multi-layered history. Minahasa means ‘to become one’ in a local Minahasa language and is symbolic of the various tribes that came together in the 17^th century, to present a united front before the Dutch colonists.

A short 10-minute ferry ride from our resort on Lembeh Island to the port city of Bitung on the Sulawesi mainland, was followed by a 2-hour circuitous car journey, to get to the historical and cultural sites in the Minahasa region. This region being an upland, has a cool climate and the descriptor ‘mist-covered’ pretty much applies to everything here!

These are the highlights from our day in the Minahasa highlands…..

Waruga, Airmadidi district

The waruga site in Airmadidi district

From the 9^th till the early 19^th century, the Minahasa placed their dead in a cubical stone tomb, covered with an engraved stone roof. These were known as waruga and the body was placed inside, in a crouching position. The waruga were always constructed facing north as the Minahasa believed that their ancestors came from that direction. The carvings on these sarcophagi reveal the social status or occupation of the person inside, while the notches on the side indicate how many family members were buried inside.

The engraving on this waruga shows a woman giving birth, which indicates that she died during labour.

The waruga practice was stopped by the Dutch colonial government in the 1860s, for fear of diseases spreading from the rotting corpses inside. There are well over 100 waruga graves in this location including those of some colonial soldiers/officials entombed in the early 1800s. These tombs are empty, with the remains having been removed a long time ago.

Waruga depicting a colonial officer/soldier

It definitely felt like we had stepped through a time portal!

Japanese Caves

Following the Japanese occupation of some parts of Sulawesi in January 1942, the Japanese Army constructed a set of interlinked caves, along the road between the villages of Kiawa and Kawangkoan.

A peek into the caves created by the Japanese Army during WWII

The cave halls were used to store food and ammunition, and tunnels connected them to neighbouring villages. Forced local labour was used in the construction of these caves, with the construction process taking about a year (1943-44). While these caves are a reminder of the brutality faced by the Minahasa people, it is a more peaceful place today, fenced off by local authorities and many swallows have made their nests inside.

One of the many swallow nests inside the caves

Signage at the site of the Japanese caves

Mount Mahuwu

The minute you arrive at the car park of Mount Mahawu, you are welcomed by an ear-splitting buzz. The insects here are that noisy! If you have sensitive ears, you’ve been warned.

Entry point at the base of Mahawu mountain

One of the gazillion noisy critters at Mount Mahawu!

Mount Mahawu is a volcano that had its last recorded eruption (albeit a small one)  in the late 18^th century. So it is pretty safe to walk along the rim of the crater.

The crater of Mahawu mountain

The height above sea level at the crater rim

We started with our walk around the rim but the annoyingly shrill insects got the better of us.

Tomohon Market

The Minahasa highlands are a predominantly agricultural region and the market in Tomohon city is a must visit.

The slopes of Mount Mahawu used for growing vegetables

The fresh produce section at Tomohon market

We nibbled on some fried snacks while we debated about venturing into the meat market.

Sweet, fried snacks at the Tomohon market

Pasar Ekstrim (or Extreme Market) as it is known, has the reputation of being one of the grisliest markets in the world, with locals selling forest creatures like pythons, monkeys, mountain rats, among others. Even dogs (which are considered a delicacy here) are available in this market. Definitely not for me!

The Pasar Ekstrim (Extreme Market) at Tomohon

There was heavy military presence during our time at the market and we were later informed that Indonesian President Joko Widodo would be visiting the next day.

By this time, we were ravenous and stopped for lunch. The restaurant on the outskirts of Tomohon had a spectacular view of Mount Lokon, an active volcano that last erupted as recently as August 2015. While the eruption did not cause any fatalities, the thick volcanic ash had led to flights getting delayed or rescheduled.

View of the mist-covered Mount Lokon from the restaurant

Our meal became even more interesting at the thought of possibly witnessing some volcanic activity. But no such luck! 😦

As you can well imagine, this was turning out to be a really long day! For more about our post-lunch activities in the Minahasa highlands, click here.

Our thanks to the team at Lembeh Resorts for organizing this fabulous day trip 🙂

Tangkoko Nature Reserve, Sulawesi – A birdwatcher’s delight!

A couple of months ago, when hubby suggested he wanted go diving in the Lembeh Strait, my first reaction was to look for it on the map.

Located off North Sulawesi (Indonesia), Lembeh Strait is famous in the diving community as a ‘muck diving’ haven, where all kinds of weird and wonderful underwater critters like octopi, sea horses, nudibranchs etc, abound.

Only much later did I realise that our trip to North Sulawesi would bring me right back in the footsteps of Alfred Russel Wallace. Between June and September 1859, Wallace spent time collecting specimens from around North Sulawesi. The below map from his book, The Malay Archipelago, shows his route across North Sulawesi.

Interestingly, in the North-East corner of this map, is ‘Limbe Island’ (what is known today as Lembeh Island). Lembeh Resort on this very island was our home for the week that we stayed in North Sulawesi. (More on Lembeh Island and diving in the Lembeh Strait, in an upcoming post. )

One of the main objectives of Wallace’s visit to North Sulawesi was to collect specimens of the maleo bird. Maleos, which are endemic to Sulawesi, are highly endangered today and rarely seen.

We had hoped we would spot a maleo during our day at the Tangkoko Nature Reserve (wishful thinking on our part!) but we had no such luck. We did however manage to photograph nearly 30 species of birds, most of which are found only in Sulawesi, as well as endemic mammals like the endangered black crested macaques, bear cuscus and the spectral tarsier.

Tangkoko Nature Reserve is accessed from Batu Putih village (which can also been seen on Wallace’s map). If you decide to stay on Lembeh Island (like us), after the ferry crossing to Bitung, the drive to Batu Putih takes little less than an hour.

Batu Putih can also be reached from Manado but the journey takes much longer (about 2 hours), than if you were coming from Bitung.

The black sand beach of Batu Putih 

I leave you with some pictures from our day at Tangkoko Nature Reserve. It’s a goldmine of endemic species and a must visit for any nature lover!

The stunning male Sulawesi wrinkled hornbill

We almost missed this Green-backed Kingfisher (endemic to Sulawesi)

Another species endemic to Sulawesi – the Yellow-billed Malkoha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A striking specimen of the Sulawesi Drongo

A male Ashy Woodpecker, busy at work. Also endemic to Sulawesi.

A pair of Sulawesi Scops Owl asleep in a bamboo grove

A family of Black-crested macaques with a newborn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These macaques are critically endangered and only about 5,000 individuals remain in their original habitat in North Sulawesi.

A Sulawesi Bear Cuscus high up on a tree branch

The Bear Cuscus is a small bear, similar to the koala. Very little is known about these bears but what is known for sure is that it’s a marsupial – the female carries the baby in an external belly pouch.

A pair of White-rumped Cuckoo shrikes spotted in the mangroves off Batu Putih village (endemic to Sulawesi)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Great-billed Kingfisher resting in the mangroves (endemic to Sulawesi)

At the end of that really long day in Tangkoko, my legs were riddled with bites (insect/mite/whatever the hell can bite through my pants) but the sheer joy of seeing these magnificent creatures first-hand surpassed all discomfort! I know I will be back for more! 🙂

With that, we headed back to the comfort of our cozy resort on Lembeh island, just in time for another of those glorious Lembeh sunsets!

Another sublime sunset over Lembeh Strait!

A pioneer painter in Makassar, Indonesia

6 months ago, I blogged about a brilliant painter based out of Makassar in Sulawesi, Indonesia – Pak Zaenal Beta.

Pak Zaenal, in all likelihood, is the only person in the world who creates large-sized paintings using different coloured clay, as paint. Read more about him in my post, The Maestro of Makassar.

I’m thrilled to able to share his story once again via the Dec’14 issue of SILKWINDS, the in-flight magazine of Silk Air (the regional subsidiary of Singapore Airlines).

So if you are flying Silk Air in Dec’14, don’t forget to turn to pg10 of their in-flight magazine.

(Reproduced with the permission of the Editor)

The Maestro of Makassar

For the first time on this blog, I’m writing about a person I’m yet to meet. But his story is so remarkable and inspiring, it just had to be shared.

A few months ago, a dear friend was visiting Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Makassar has been a major trading port in South East Asia since the early 16th century. It was colonized first by the Portuguese (1500s – 1600s) and then by the Dutch, for the next 2 centuries.

My friend (who is familiar with my interest in indigenous art) surprised me with this beautiful painting from Makassar. The painting shows a local fishing boat called phinisi headed out to sea.

‘What is so unique about this painting?’ you may ask. Well, the interesting fact here is that the artist has used clay (instead of paints) and a thin bamboo strip (instead of brushes) to create this rustic masterpiece.

The artist – Makassar based painter Zainal Beta. He is probably one of the few painters in the world (if not the only) who uses clay instead of traditional paints. In his hometown, Zainal is hailed as the inventor of this unique painting technique but he is yet to patent it.

Zainal’s entry into the world of clay painting happened by a stroke of serendipity. When he was about 20 years old, Zainal was running to submit his entry to an art competition. Suddenly, the paper he was carrying fell into wet mud. When he picked it up, it was completely soiled.

Zainal was heartbroken at first. But then he began to notice shapes and forms on the mud stained paper. Inspired by this, he decided to experiment with using clay as a substitute for paint. Over the years, he continued to paint with clay and slowly built a reputation for himself, in and around Makassar.

Today, he carefully chooses clay soil from various parts of South Sulawesi to depict different colors. He mostly uses 4 colors – red, yellow, black and grey. Finding the right texture of clay and processing it, takes him anywhere between 3 to 6 months. A real labour of love!

His favourite scenes are from local life – boats, houses, people like fishermen and farmers. The left-handed Zainal is able to complete a simple piece (as in this video) in a matter of minutes but detailed ones with faces and people take him longer.

In this video, he is painting the ancestral home of the Torajan people (an ethnic group in South Sulawesi). His effortless style is testament to his sheer genius.

Here’s Zainal adding a personal message in Bahasa Indonesia to my precious gift.

Zainal overcame strong parental opposition and financial challenges to pursue his passion. His work hanging in my living room is a constant reminder that despite all of life’s challenges, we must hold on to our dreams. There is just no other way to live life!

So if you ever happen to be in Makassar, stop by his studio in Fort Rotterdam. I promise you, you won’t be disappointed.

Read Zainal’s interview in the Dec’14 issue of SILKWINDS, the in-flight magazine of Silk Air (the regional subsidiary of Singapore Airlines) – A pioneer painter in Makassar