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Published: February 28th 2010
I woke early, a glance out the porthole window showed the advancing arc of Bungus Bay. The morning mist evaporating to reveal volcanic mountains, and a scattering of tiny fishing boats returning to port with their catch.
Leaving these sights and our aquatic transport behind we turned inland and caught a predictably overfilled minibus north to Bukittinggi.
Surrounded by coffee plantations, volcanoes, richly diverse forest, crater lakes and waterfalls the town of Bukittinggi is certainly well located for exploring.
The thriving market town itself also impressed us, it turned out to have something for everyone. But before any of that we had to find some accommodation.
Hotel Rajawali was a quirky ramshackle hostel, and Ulrich the German owner was as scatty as Basil Fawlty. When we arrived he animatedly flitted about the foyer imparting his wisdom on the activities de jour. His Indonesian wife, daughter and baby grandson, born four months ago during an earthquake, completed the homely welcome.
Our rooftop room, the last available, was apparently under repair and a couple of days later we understood why. As the puddles on the floor got larger and the rain continued to pour we persuaded Ulrich to
let us swap.
We hadn't slept very well for the past few nights, partly due to my healing weeping leg, but mainly because of the noisy combination of mosque chatter and terrible karaoke that drifted in through our window at all times of the day and night.
Bukittinggi has a majority Muslim population and on almost every corner you will find a sparkling sliver domed mosque with the loudspeaker playing "Allah Akbar" at the top of it's capacity.
Beautiful horse drawn carts dominate the streets around the crowded fruit and veg market and up to the clock tower. Here was a great place to enjoy a 'Padang' lunch. 'Padang food' describes the manner of service of the meal, small portions of all available dishes are brought to your table along with a few plates of rice and a jug of freshly boiled water. Its a good system as you experience new foods you might not have otherwise chosen, and only pay for what you have eaten. The food is all displayed prettily in the shopfront window, which looks nice but how long the food has been there is the only downside you have to consider.
The
Panorama Park afforded great views over Sianok Canyon and at sunset we watched hundreds of giant bats in their dusk migration from one end to the other. Some of these flying foxes can grow up to two metres from tip-to-tip, and the sheer volume of bats silhouetted against the lilac sky was a sight to behold!
The road from Rajawali towards the town centre was lined with small restaurants so of course we were obliged to try them all. By the end of the five days we spent here all the proprieters waved in recognition at us whenever we passed by, which was a very friendly feeling.
The best of these joints served the most delicious Lontong we've tasted. Lontong is an Indonesian breakfast dish; consisting of cubes of compacted rice, artichokes and green beans, a boiled egg and tofu, in a chilli coconut soup with sate sauce drizzled over the top, oh and prawns crackers! How amazing does that sound?!
Another favourite spot was 'Haus Tea House', which funnily enough served the tastiest filtered cup of Sumatran Coffee with two free refills for the equavilant of sixty pence. A deal we took advantage of quite a
few times, along with their handily located powerpoints (our hotel didn't have them).
The enormous Sianok Canyon had looked imposing from above, but staring up the sheer cliffs from the valley of paddy fields and rivers below was even more impressive. We took a short walk along the valley floor one afternoon, over a suspiciously rickety bridge and past a small house where coffee beans were laid out to dry in the hot sun. Their vinegary scent was powerful and rather odd.
As we strolled back into town we passed a barbers, I hinted that perhaps now would be a good time to lose the wild man of Borneo beard? To my surprise Lewi aggreed, so with a few sweeps of the razor and some interesting halfway through looks, the original fresh-faced Lewi re-emerged. Fresh-faced indeed, he looked at least 5 years younger! What was funniest was our restauranteur friends shocked faces and compliments... "wow, so different" as we returned to the hotel.
Having spent quite a few days in town due to both of us feeling a bit under-par, it was great to get out and explore the surrounding dramatic countryside. A motorbike is the popular
mode of transport for travellers about these parts, but having witnessed a near miss accident outside our door yesterday and the general level of traffic we decided that the more long winded opelet hopping would suit us better for our rural tour.
Although it was more hassle to be constantly switching minivans, it was cheaper and we both got to appreciate the beautiful scenery flying by the windows. Mt Merapi appeared and disappeared behind the clouds that had been present since we arrived in Bukittinggi, to think that this volcano is still very much active is a little concerning to say the least. But it looked fantastic, encircled by forest and flat farmland either rice or any varity of exotic fruits. Whole fields of papayas would be followed by avacado orchards, and unrecognisable fruits in all shapes and sizes.
The other people using these vans, namely school children and residents of the passing villages, found our presense and interest in their countryside very amusing.
We left them to their giggles at TabaPutah, where we jumped off to visit Kopi Kiniko Enterprises, a coffee roastary. The aroma of roasting coffee was delicious and very powerful so we followed
our noses to the collection of buildings that were 'the enterprise'. First we found a large cafe giving free coffee, coffee leaf tea, ginger coffee, and mulberry leaf tea. We sampled them all before checking out the gardens and the roastary itself. Almost chocolatey the smell of roasting coffee was intoxicating, and in a small barn we watched two men work the rusty looking equipment to produce sacks and sacks of wonderful Kopi. Passing through the gift shop on our way out we just had to buy some handy sachets of Kopi for a bargain price.
After lunch the exploration continued to BatuSangkar. Another minibus and then an ojek, motorbike taxi, took us to the Rumah Gandang Payarugung (Queen's Palace). This is a huge Minangkabau style house with the beautiful buffalo horned roofs that top many of the houses in Sumatra. A replica to replace the original 'queens palace' that burnt to the ground in a thunderstorm three years ago, the palace was probably another year away from completion. The ark like buildiing was carvernous inside and the whole of the outer walls were pannelled with hand carved and painted motifs, it was truely impressive. Lewi has grand designs
to model his future house on this scale and style.
We returned to the town and did some impromptu shopping. There was an array of cool shops with unique designs and low prices, I had to convince Lewi that two new tshirts was enough!
It had been a long day which was finished perfectly with some BBQ sate sticks served by a smiley toothless vendor, a result of the Indo sugar love perhaps? We were guilty of a sugary indulgence or two too, the best/worst being a giant custard chocolate pancake creation, phew it was sickly sweet.
On our last day, saturday, we were accosted many a time by hordes of high school students wishing to practice their English with us. Practice their English generally translated to a few questions followed by "can we have photo with you? "At one point Lewi left the cafe where we were camped out until our bus was due to leave, and was instantly swarmed by a gaggle of ten girls and their teacher. He was coerced into listening to the same speech and filling out an assesment form on how well each girl had spoken. It took him quite a
Rumah Gadang
Future Housewhile, and one girl brazenly stated "you are very handsome" causing much giggling.
We had thoroughly enjoyed our stay here, like I said... Something for everyone!
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mouty and mod
non-member comment
Beardless wonder and proximate volcanoes!
Hi Han and Lewis, Well another set of experiences and fantastic pics.It really is great and makes us feel part of your travels.A still live volcano is quite a companion. I wonder how the schoolgirls would have reacted to Lewi with a beard? Not so handsome perhaps! Han you look so brown and healthy in the pictures, and Lewis you are always eating! Saskia says she is practisng making perfume which she will bottle and keep for your return. Not so sure about the end product of that.Mod says the accounts of your fun and travails are almost all too much for him, but glad the beard is no more. Lok forward to the next episode. Love M