North Sulawesi, Indonesia 2010

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Lake Linow was open even in the rainy days. But we figured it would be a waste of Rp25,000 per person admission fee to see the lake in the rain.

So instead we want around and took a peek. This won't be the last time we visit Lake Linow.

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We are in season for the local red skinned peanuts. We bought quite a bit and that would be our snack for the next few days. I didn't know how much we paid, but probably very cheap.

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The two very common modes of transportation - ox cart in the village, and horse drawn cart in the hilly towns.

There are many ox in the field and on the village road. There were many times I saw an adult whose job seemed to be just to take care of one ox. Either the ox is highly priced or there is really nothing else to do. But I imagine if I was born in a Manado village, that would also be the extend of my productivity.

In the Manado city proper, there is no horse drawn carts. But in the nearby town, such as Tomahon where I took the second picture from inside our car, horse power is necessary because the underpowered small street tricycles cannot handle the hilly streets.

In the first picture, you can see the typical local dogs. There are small, and not afraid of motor vehicles. The road is their sun bathing ground. And the locals eat them too. RW (pronounced like AiirrWei) is the name to ask in a restaurant. Once I saw a man on the road side using a huge fire breathing torch on a dead dog to get rid of the hairs. The group of dogs in this picture was owned (or managed) by a woman walking behind the ox cart. I have to think that they are not sentimental about eating the dogs, since they are raised as utilities and for the meat.

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Our next stop is the Bukit Kasih - Hill of Love.

The first thing caught my sight is the sulphur and hotspring. The local shop keepers just dump bags of corn into the hot spring and wait for them to be cooked. We bought some and they were very good. They were not as sweet as the probably GMed corn engineered by the likes of Monsanto, but full of corn to the senses. (It's like eating free range chicken vs farm grown chicken - less meat but tastier by a wide margin.)

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I once watched a TV program on scientific theory on how life started on earth. From what I can remember, one of the key steps was the formation of protein in sulphur hot springs.

The following pictures are in some sense contrasting - heat and sulphur can burn organic materials and even metals, yet life form flourish just short distance away.

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On the way up, I saw this eagle, chained to the rail. I did not got the chance to find out what it was about. But still a nice picture IMHO. 

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A more official description of Bukit Kasih is here.

On top of the hill are 5 small houses of worship, representing the 5 officially recognized religions in Indonesia.

In Indonesia, you have to declare a religion on your id, and can only choose one of the 5. The reason is supposedly to build harmony. How does limiting choices promote harmony? I imagine the reason is that when you choose 1 out of the 5, the OTHERS in the society feel less threatened?!

Too bad for the godless communists or the Falun Gongers who believed their leader Li Hong Zhi is the reincarnation of Budha Guanyin Jesus all-in-one.

The official link above also has the story of the faces craved on the hill.

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While the monument at the bottom of the hill is pentagonal shaped with equal size for each side representing one religion, the road to the hill and the many crosses along the path simply show you who is the dominating religious force here.

Every single scenery outlook has a little picture like this one.

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I took this picture at one of the scenery outlooks. There are some points of interest in this picture.

The large monument at the bottom is the pentagonal shaped one. The sulphur hot spring runs in the middle.

A bit top right of the monument is a nice white building. The building is the tomb of a former governor. he certainly picked a nice spot.

I went up the hill by this stair, and came down on the opposite side where there is a large cross on the top right of the picture.

Only after I came down, I realized that there are path to go further up. Well, I should have studied the maps before going up... 

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I took pictures of the houses of warship on the hill, but they were really just small and simple houses, many with broken windows. On the way down, I say this nice and seem to be well maintained building, sitting in the middle of nowhere!

At the back toward the right, there seems to be another unfinished or abandoned structure.