[2024 South Tondano Attraction] Travel Guide for Tree House Puncak Urongo (Updated Dec)

Manado has some lesser-known spots that are great for photography

Manado has some super niche photography spots, where it's quiet and the scenery is beautiful. The location of photos 1, 2, and 9 is over an hour's drive from the center of Manado to the urongo tondano tree house. This is a very niche place, there are no day trips available online, you must charter a car to get there. We went on our last day, stopping by the Jesus statue for photos on the way from the city center, then to this place, followed by the multicolored lake, and finally to the airport. We spent a long time taking photos, so we were quite rushed afterwards. Honestly, the multicolored lake is not very impressive, it can't compare to the scenery in my great China. Photo 9 is the entrance. The most recommended spot here is the swing in the treehouse, similar to those in Bali. When we first arrived, there was no one there, but later two young staff members came. Don't play on it alone if they're not there, it's very dangerous! Manado really has a simple and honest folk custom. The people of Manado are super enthusiastic. The young men here deserve praise for their professional photography skills. They take videos, photos, panoramas, and even use HDR, with great patience. They can take photos of one person for a long time, until you're tired. In the end, they were reluctant to take a tip, but we insisted. After that, we went to a nearby restaurant that looked upscale from the outside. There was a young man who spoke very good English, so communication was basically barrier-free. The first floor was very hot without air conditioning, so they let us eat downstairs and even lit a candle for us (haha, a candle in broad daylight). Photo 8 is from there. The fish we ate were freshly caught from the lake, super fresh. The place was quite spacious, and it was quite pleasant to stroll around and enjoy the scenery while waiting for our food. The multicolored lake is not recommended. If you drive there, just take a look and leave. Don't buy a ticket to go in. They also try to bundle sell their coffee. Photo 3 is a sea turtle seen while diving, photo 4 is a beach sunset, photos 5 and 6 are paragliding, and photo 7 was taken at the Sunset Restaurant. In summary, Manado is not yet fully developed and remains unpolluted. The people here are warm and genuine. We felt like celebrities here; wherever we went, the locals wanted to take photos with us. They were as curious as if they were seeing aliens. Curious children would follow us in groups, passersby would say hello, and our honest driver went out of his way to find us a restaurant, even feeling embarrassed to charge us less. Passengers in the local 'blue cars' would switch vehicles to give us space when they saw we were a large group. The diving instructor who could sing, rap, and joke was also great at taking photos... Manado is truly unforgettable!