Blogs from Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia, Asia - page 3

Es war ein traumhaft sonniger Tag heute und die Ausblicke auf den See waren noch einmal überwältigend. Ich fuhr die gut 10 km um die Nordseite des Sees herum und bog dann rechts ab in Richtung Küste. Es folgte eine ca. 15 km lange Abfahrt durch ein schönes Tal, und bei Lubuk Basung war dann die Küstenebene erreicht. Die ersten knapp 40 km zwischen Tiku und Pariaman führte die Straße nah am Meer entlang, eine typisch tropische Küstenlandschaft, teils mit Ausblicken auf den blau funkelnden Indischen Ozean, wenn auch die grauen Strände nicht sonderlich einladend waren. Die restliche Strecke bis Padang verlief dann weiter im Landesinneren, war jedoch weiterhin flach, und der Belag war wesentlich besser als auf dem Trans-Sumatra-Highway. Die Straße nach Padang hinein war allerdings sehr stark befahren. Die Hauptstadt West Sumatras, die ... read more

We arrived in West Sumatra late at night on December 4. A larger airport at Padang than expected but bit of a melee from the start and very hot and humid. The two men at Immigation took an inordinate amount of time reviewing passports and then stamped forms with vigour. After an hour we were waived through to collect our bags which I managed after only a short sharp tussle with shark-like wannabe baggage handlers. Customs officers smiling, but far too interested in the 4 arriving foreigners i(ncluding your fearless friends). Chatted with a friendly officer from Bukittinngi who expressed genuine pleasure that we were going hiking in the highlands the following week. For some reason I became separated from the missus and the Customs officer I was dealing with asked to go through the heavy ... read more

So where was i, oh yeah, meeting my friend mardi, throwing away ideas about budgets, and deciding on pulau pagang to be my next destination. Although it cost a bit, it was so worthwhile. The island is situated just off the coast of Padang, absolutely nobody there, very robinson crusoe-like. The days food was the days catch, i'm talking fresh fish, eaten by (right) hand. All those years of parents trying to teach you not to touch your food, and then in indonesia just getting away with it. Absolutely love it. Beforehand i bought a kamus (dictionary) in padang for as little as 2 euro. So the 3 days i spend on pulau pagang i learned quite a bit of bahasa indonesia. I had a great time snorkling right off the beach, including a big drop-off. ... read more

After arriving in Indonesia I stayed a night in Padang to adept a bit to all the new things. Here I first had what is known in all Indonesia as 'Padang Food', in many places the only food. And I was not to happy with it. Being hot to very spicy and ready made in the morning it is than left for presentation (roting...) in the restaurant window. I did never get ill seriously from it, but certainly my stomach didn't enjoy it too much. A very distinctive and beautiful arcitectural highlight is the Minangkabau roof. Many commercial and official buildings in Padang and the surounding region feature its pointing corners. The Minangkabau are an ethnic group that live in west Sumatra.... read more