Accomodation
We stayed at the Melati hotel, run by Alex and his family. There was an older section and a spotless newer section built around a beautiful courtyard, with a range of rooms, including air-con. We picked a large fan-cooled double in the new section at Rp 50,000 + 10% tax, including breakfast. This was a relaxing, friendly, and helpful place.
- Melati hotel, Alamat Jln. Gajah Mada 33, tel 21853-22934
Update 10/2001: Room rates: air condition rooms = Rp 75.000 double/night fan rooms = Rp 50.000 double/night economic rooms Rp 35.000 double/night all incl. breakfast and 10% tax. phone: (0435)822934
Restaurants Just wander around town and you’ll find plenty of options. There is a good stretch of stalls in the market, and also along Jl. Pertiwi. The dining room of the Melati hotel is also a good place to eat well (and not too expensively) while watching TV, if that’s what you want. They make the Gorontalo specialty Milu Siram, a thick soup consisting of corn, tiny shrimp, and about 20 other ingredients.
How to get around Gorontalo is somewhat stretched out, but we were energetic and did a lot of walking. There are a lot of bendis (horse-drawn carriages) and becaks as well.
What to do ?
Walking around town is pleasant. Foreigners create a bit more of a "hey mister" stir around here than in the more well-traveled parts of Sulawesi.
Gorontalo is often just a place to stop on the way between Manado and the Togians or Palu. We decided to spend a full day there "resting" after two hot days on the Pandan Sari. We met Usman, a local hustler at the Melati. He arranged a Bemo for us to visit Lombongo hotsprings and a waterfall in Dumoga Bone National Park. (Rp 60,000 shared amongst six of us, including Usman’s guide fees). The jungle walk and waterfall were pleasant but not spectacular, but the walk back to the hotsprings was made much more interesting by the torrential downpour which turned the little creek who’s valley we had followed up to the waterfall into a raging torrential river. We had to cross this several times on the way back, and only did so by forming a human chain and holding on tight. Those with more time could arrange for a longer trip to a bigger waterfall, or even an overnight trip to Maleo nesting sites and possibly other wildlife.
Transport to Manado - Usman convinced us to take a Super Kijang instead of a bus, claiming it would be faster and more comfortable. In retrospect, it was faster than a regular bus (once we finally got under way), but comfort was another matter. Unless you’re very short and small, only the front seat beside the driver would be comfortable, and this is more expensive. We got two seats in the back, and my friend who is about 180cm tall spent the next 8.5 hours with his head jammed against the ceiling of the vehicle (not to mentioned his knees jammed into his chest). It wasn’t much more comfortable for me either.
- The Super Kijang cost Rp 30,000 for the regular seats (11/98), which I think is about double the price of a regular bus. The regular buses can take 12 or 14 hours or more to make the trip, so the ones that depart at 8:00 or 10:00 AM would not get to Manado until pretty late. Note also that no vehicle is going to make the trip quickly if there are road problems. Some Dutch people we met in Gorontalo had taken 13 hours to get there from Manado by Super Kijang because one of the bridges was out (damaged by an overweight truck).
- The trip itself is quite scenic, skirting and winding along the coast and through a continuous string of villages and towns, Muslim near Gorontalo, tending towards Christian as you move further east.
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