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Published: October 20th 2009
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Toba to Padang
It might look beautiful but it was hell throughout the night! September 22, 2009 - September 24, 2009
Exchange Rate as of Sep 23, 2009: 1GBP = Rp15,928
HOTEL
Padang:
Immanuel Hotel
Double, fan, TV, shared bathroom--Rp125,000 inc. breakfast.
Small homely place within walking distance from Padang Beach. Price is slightly high for the quality, but it's still a spotless place.
TRANSPORT
Tuk Tuk to Parapat by ferry--Rp7,000 (1 hour)
Parapat to Padang by bus--Rp450,000 (16 hours) Super-Executive Bus
Travelling around Indonesia is never going to be easy, so why on earth did we think that it would be??
We had a 6:30pm bus to catch from the mainland town of Parapat on Lake Toba which meant we had to catch the last ferry from Tuk Tuk at 3:30pm. We waited at the pier at Samosir Cottages from 3pm and as 3:30 approached, three ferry's had already passed and pretty much ignored our frantic waving...some of them just waved back. It didn't help that the routing of these ferry's make no sense at all! We waited, and waited and waited some more and at almost 4:30 we started wondering if they had missed us out and that we were going to miss our bus to Padang and
thus the flight to Jakarta. We were told there were no more ferry's and just before Dan started to vent his temper at someone a ferry arrived and we finally left Samosir Island. The ferry journey takes about an hour and we arrived at 5:30 and went to the travel agents we had booked our bus tickets with. "The General" was waiting for us and we sat down and relaxed for a bit before he took us to his other office 2km away to catch the bus. The General is the owner of the travel agents who looks like he's just come out of the Mob. Nice guy, but somehow, you wouldn't want to cross him! At 6pm we took a bemo with him to his other office and didn't end up getting there until 7pm! The traffic was atrocious, no thanks to Idul Fitri holiday makers and luckily the bus we were catching was still an hour away, so we sat at the second office chatting and waiting around.
The bus finally arrived about 8:30 and we were rushed on in the middle of the street. The luggage compartment was full, and so was the bus. We were lucky
to have booked the last 2 seats at the back of the bus next to the toilet, and when we got on we realized we were in for a long one. The seats were almost like temporary ones, and didn't recline like the rest of them. The fact we had our backpacks in the aisle and crates under our seats meant that legroom was severely limited. It was annoying that we had paid so much for one of the highest classes of buses and got this. But to be honest it was to be expected!
The bus set off, and Dan started feeling sick already. This was the so called "vomit route" afterall and we soon found out why...
The Trans Sumatran Highway runs the whole length of Sumatra and it's anything bus a highway. A major looking road soon turns into a single track, pot holed ridden death trap! Blind hairpins, steep drops into blackness, rickety bridges...and suicidal drivers. This bus driver was one of them. We had never thought a bus could go so fast! He hardly touched the brakes, even when approaching a fully laden truck going the same direction...or the opposite. He also had a
habit of turning his lights off every now and then. Indonesian is a very illogical place!!
Dan spent the journey hanging on for dear life, while Amy tried to block everything out by listening to the iPod at full blast. People were starting to throw up (all over Dan's backpack) and then, finally at 1am we came to our first rest stop in the middle of nowhere. A well needed toilet break beckoned us, even though Dan tried the bus toilet and ended up almost knocking himself out while the bus was flying around corners!
The journey from here was even more suicidal than the first part, as the driver obviously loaded himself up with more caffeine or something perhaps a little harder! At one point we were racing another bus, through the night, down single track windy roads, with nothing on either side of the road but a drop into oblivion. We have no idea how we passed the bus but we did! We realised that sleep was impossible and you lean one way you just end up being thrown the other!
At about 5:30 the bus stopped at a mosque so people could pray. We almost thought about
joining them and after they had finished we set of yet again and as dawn broke we felt a little safer and at least managed to catch some of the amazing scenery. However, our thinking was short lived as more traffic and people were on the road and the driver really wasn't slowing down for anyone. We arrived at our breakfast stop near the equator and we had decided we weren't going to eat anything. Would you eat just before jumping on a rollercoaster??? We decided to take the opportunity for half an hours nap until the driver decided to put some music on at full blast which stayed with us for the rest of the journey!
As we neared Padang the traffic became quite bad and thankfully this was enough to slow the driver down...just!
We arrived in Padang at the bus company's depot and flagged down a taxi to our hotel. We felt rough, hungry, tired and we were sure our insides had turned to mush!! We arrived at the hotel with the last room available, not the best room, but it would do.
Sadly we didn't get to see much of Padang as all we wanted
to do was sleep. We ended up taking a trip to Padang Beach, which is lined with loads of food stalls, all selling the same things. We picked one and ordered some satay, rice and battered prawns. It wasn't great but it would do.
We ended up sleeping most of the next morning and hanging out at the cafe next door to the hotel before catching a taxi to the airport to catch our flight to Jakarta.
That would end our journey to Sumatra. A short one, which was added at the last minute, but we had to visit it. It was an adventure that's for sure! Sumatra is a beautiful island which we wished we could have explored more of, but it was time to move on and explore the rest of this excited and beautiful country.
PS... a few days after we left Padang, a devastating earthquake flattened the beautiful city of Padang and it's surroundings. Over 800 people lost their lives and thousands more were made homeless. We would like to give our condolences to the wonderful people of Padang who have had to deal with so much and we were extremely fortunate to
Toba to Padang
Graves for sale? have been able to visit this city.
Amy & Dan
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