HELLO MISTER, WHAT'S YOUR NAME?- West Sumatra, Padang and Bukittinggi

....previous blog post of our train trip around Thailand's Deep South....

Having loved our trip to North Sumatra a few years ago so much, we had always wanted to return to the island. Having a spare month in August, we thought we would take advantage of Indonesia's one month visa exemption, and spend it in West Sumatra, flying into the city of Padang.

Young girls praying, Bukittinggi

West Sumatra is home to the Minangkabau people, who are most well know for a having a matriarchal society, with property and family name passed through the women. Unlike the Bataks of North Sumatra, they never converted to Christianity, and their Islamic faith is mixed with a touch of animism. Visual signs of the culture are apparent in the Minangkabau style houses (rumah gadang) with their pointy roofs, and costumes seen on people during weddings and their Independence Day.

Musician at a Minangkabau wedding

Traditional Minangkabau garb

Those eyes! Sumatran girl

Minangkabau wedding, Danau Maninjau

All of our Indonesian trips start by flying into a big city. They are typically busy, noisy, polluted and without too many sights, but we generally give them a go, and try to find some redeeming features!!

The rough area of our journey in West Sumatra

The most pleasant experience in Padang was our day exploring the decrepit and photogenic area down by the river, with old Dutch and Chinese buildings mixing with disused warehouses and colourful mosques in the small streets, and the green hills as a backdrop. The colourful boats moored on the river were pleasant to watch, but the never ending rubbish stream floating alongside for miles was shocking.

Backwaters of Padang, West Sumatra

Plastic rubbish everywhere in the waterways, Padang, West Sumatra

Ooops! Padang, West Sumatra

Playing in her front yard, Padang, West Sumatra

Disused warehouses, Padang, West Sumatra

In a swirl, Padang, West Sumatra

Typical back street, Padang, Sumatra

Major mosque, Padang, West Sumatra

Moving between Padang and Bukittinggi was easy with a old, but comfortable van picking us up at our digs and dropping us off where we wanted to stay in Bukittinggi. The feeling of escaping to the misty and cooler hills was somewhat a relief, and every little village we passed seemed to specialize in a particular seasonal fruit. Agricultural crops grew up into the mountainsides and we glimpsed some old style Minangkabau houses now and then dotted about. Unfortunately, the traffic on the road grew to a horrendous continuous stream, and we were glad to eventually arrive at the guesthouse.

Bus to take us to Bukittinggi from Padang

A funny side note about our accommodation in Bukittinggi.....We had to change hotels for a couple of days mid stay due to a couple of factors. One was the guesthouse we mostly stayed in was of an excellent standard, with a buffet breakfast included in the price, and full of information about travelling in the area. Consequently it was often booked out. The other factor was the busy Independence Day holiday period. The bizarre old rambling hotel we moved to was a bargain, thanks to the funny old Chinese lady owner loving Australia and Australians and immediately giving us a 50% discount. Once we had the sheets changed (one covered in blood stains, the other looked like it had been pissed on), it was fine!!

Blood stained sheets, Bukuittinggi

Attractions in Bukittinggi town were solely aimed at Indonesian tourists. The horse and cart rides didn't interest us, and we gave the zoo a miss. The Panorama Park, with views of the Sianok Canyon was talked up by locals- the views were dramatic and the adjoining tunnels which the Japanese used during the war of some interest. 

Bendi transport for Indonesian tourists, Bukittinggi

View of Sianok Canyon from town, Bukittinggi

Japanese tunnels, Bukittinggi

Looking out from Panorama Park, Bukittinggi

Once we discovered the central markets, away from the tourist tack, they were great. A warren of muddy narrow paths with poky shops on either side, overhead tarps so low we had to duck under to proceed, and plenty of friendly waves and hellos. 

Mosque toppers at Bukittinggi

Metal worker on a break, Bukittinggi market

Drinks seller, Bukittinggi market

Quiet section, Bukittinggi market

The best part of Bukittinggi was simply walking around the outskirts of town where the feeling was more village-y and we could have random positive encounters with people. The school kids practising marching for Independence Day were so cute, and one old man approached Rich with a huge grin and gently stroked his beard in the middle of the street.

Cutest ever! Bukittinggi school kids

More posers, Bukittinggi

Little musician practising, Bukittinggi

Rich and his gang, Bukittinggi

The supposed highlight around Bukittinggi was Sianok Canyon. It probably was a beautifully scenic area once, but within a two km radius of the town, the rubbish strewn along the river bed and road made us feel like we were walking through a tip. 

Such a shame about all the rubbish, Sianok Canyon, Bukittinggi

The further we walked, though, the more pleasant it became, and the scenery of ultra-green terraced rice paddies, palm trees, soaring cliffs and water buffaloes grazing, all with a mountainous backdrop was a joy to walk through. Via the canyon, we were able to visit the quiet and delightful village of Kota Gadang, accessed from the river by a long steep series of steps to the top. Originally a silver smith village, it became popular with the Dutch during colonial times, and was full of quaint old cottages with a green rural backdrop. We were lucky enough to meet a Couchsurfer and her host who kindly dropped us back in Bukittinggi, thus saving us an opelet (minibus) ride back.

Rural scenery, around Bukittinggi

Pleasant cafe stop, around Bukittinggi

Old Dutch house, Kota Gadang, around Bukittinggi

Looking at at the village, Kota Gadang, around Bukittinggi

Central building, Kota Gadang, around Bukittinggi

Coming from school, around Bukittinggi

Other walks we took around Bukittinggi were to the serene and diminutive villages of Pandai Sikat and Guguak Tinggi. They were both full of lovely old Minangkabau style house with their pointy roofs and small farms growing and harvesting their crops, mostly rice. The cloud-covered Merapi volcano in the background completed the lush, bright green satisfying rural picture. 

Many old buildings in the villages around Bukittinggi

Whole street full of Minangkabau style houses, around Bukittinggi

Harvesting carrots, around Bukittinggi

Another beauty, around Bukittinggi

Detail of carving on the side of traditional house, around Bukittinggi

Rice fields, around Bukittinggi

Lush scenery, around Bukittinggi

The complicated water irrigation systems in place had water trickling off the hills into various stone, bamboo and concrete gullys and ponds. The ponds surrounded the little villages houses and were full of fish of various sizes. Unfortunately, once again, the rubbish dumped everywhere spoiled the effect a little. 

Walking through the irrigation, around Bukittinggi

House with pond, around Bukittinggi

Happy laundry ladies, around Bukittinggi

Both villages were unused to wandering tourists, and the residents of Guguak Tinggi, in particular, were very happy to talk with us, as it turned out around 200 of it's inhabitants were in Australia! Every second person that was introduced to us had lived in Sydney or Melbourne.

Village woman, around Bukittinggi

A man and his hat, around Bukittinggi

Protection against the sun in the field, around Bukittinggi

On their way to mosque, around Bukittinggi

Caught just in time, around Bukittinggi

Pleasing garden, around Bukittinggi

We loved these colourful, carved designs on the traditional houses......

The completely bonkers market at Padang Lua was another stop on the agenda. It was almost too overwhelming with stall holders and shoppers constantly yelling loudly to us for a photo, to shake hands, ask a question, to gape, or just for us to turn around so they could get a good look. We were good sports for a while, then cleared out when Sal was starting to feel a little smothered!

Lovely smile, juice lady, Padang Lua market, Bukittinggi

Looking for a sale,  Padang Lua market, Bukittinggi

Old man observing,  Padang Lua market, Bukittinggi

Looking very suspicious of the camera!  Padang Lua market, Bukittinggi

Spring onion season,  Padang Lua market, Bukittinggi

Loved having their photo taken,  Padang Lua market, Bukittinggi

We're not ones to complain about mosque noise. When travelling in Muslim countries, we usually quickly become accustomed to the call to prayer and don't even notice it, or we lie in bed at dawn enjoying the melodious prayer wash over us and easily fall back to sleep. This was definitely not the case in Bukittinggi. For a start, there were mosques literally everywhere- every few hundred meters. Call to prayer was five times a day as usual in Sunni Muslim areas, but instead of a simple melody that lasted a few minutes, here the noise continued relentlessly for between one and two hours a time. The call to prayer was followed by long and loud sermons and speeches of varying ferocity and volume, going well into overdrive (with the usual bad speakers making everything seem so much worse). Our hotel room was filled with the racket for hours on end, and mornings particularly were difficult, with it being impossible to return to sleep at 6 am after two hours of it. The fact that the numbers of mosques clustered around the center of town was so high amplified the effect. We realize we are visitors in the country by choice, but surely this noise is unbearable for everyone who lives here. I suppose they are conditioned to it, and just put up with it. Needless to say, we weren't impressed!

Bukittinggi mosque

On the outskirts of Bukittinggi

An old beauty in Padang

Distracted from prayers, Bukittinggi, West Sumatra

A peculiarity we noticed around West Sumatra was the healthy looking dogs everywhere, often being lead by leads. Dogs are haram (forbidden) in Islam, and usually are unseen in Muslim places, or sometimes tolerated as guard dogs and certainly not cared for. Apparently here an exception is made due to the local's love of wild boar hunting. Again, it's bizarre, as pigs are also haram in Islam, but it's a traditional sport that been undertaken for generations, and also keeps wild pigs numbers down, and helps with damage to crops. Although we still carried our usual stick on walks, the dogs we encountered in the countryside were always obedient and submissive, and we had no problems.

One of the main reasons in coming to the West Sumatra area was food. We find generally most Indonesian food can be a bit tedious, especially in more remote areas where there isn't much choice. Nasi goreng (fried rice), ayam penyet (chicken, rice and salad), mie goreng (fried noodles), mie rebus (boiled noodles), sate (meat BBQ on sticks), soto (soup), bakso (meat ball soup) and gado gado (salad with peanut sauce) are the most common offerings. So, when we arrive in an Indonesian city or town, we always look for a padang restaurant. These amazing places are the exception to the rule. They have a large array of delicious food displayed on plates in a glass window, with a little curtain to deter flies, and we point at dishes and smile to indicate what we'd like to eat. The stand out dish is always rendang daging. Slow cooked, melt in your mouth beef, with a lightly spiced coconut based thick sauce- it's perfect with some sambal (Indonesia's superior chilli sauce/paste), green vegetables and rice. It's one of our favourite foods in the world! So, our first stop in Padang was a padang restaurant- it would make sense that if this was where it was invented, they must have the best food, right? Well, the food was tasty alright, but when the bill came at the basic little restaurant, we were horrified to find it three times the price we would usually pay. The unhelpful attitude of the staff and owner when we asked why the price was so high was extremely defensive, so we paid the bill and we left the place with them yelling at us. Not a great experience, but we got on the wagon again in Danau Maninjau, where we found the same to die for padang food at a fraction of the cost.

A typical mie goreng (fried noodle) dish

Incredible spread of food in Bukittinggi

Fruits in season seemed to be plentiful- pineapples, papaya, mangosteens, snake fruit, mangoes, avocados, oranges, guava, and our continuing favourite soursop. They were also all available in delicious shakes, although we would have to say they weren't quite up to Vietnam's high standards! We had to add on "tanpa gula" (no sugar) to almost everything we ordered, and once we discovered this, drinks were much more enjoyable. Instead of four or more giant tablespoons of sugar per drink, we might be lucky to end up with one or two!! As well as the kopi telur we had tried in North Sumatra (egg coffee made by whisking an egg white to a meringue texture, and adding it to black coffee), Bukittinggi also offered teh telur (egg tea), as well as a mixture of strange herbal concoctions sold around town from little carts.

Accommodation in the cities of West Sumatra was more expensive than we expected, with (decent) rooms at 150,000- 185,000 rupiah (AU$14-17). That is three times what we were paying in NorthSumatra, but that trip was a few years ago. We did, however, nab a bargain while staying at Danau Maninjau, with our little balcony room complete with stunning lake view coming in at 75,000 rupiah (AU$7) a night.

Trips to the villages around Bukittinggi were taken in opelets (squishy local minibus within towns) for less than 5,000 rupiah (AU$0.46) a trip. All the other trips- between the airport, Padang, Bukittinggi, and Lake Maninjau, were all plied in in spacious minibuses or large shared taxis of various states of repair. As well as Grab motorbike taxis in the towns, Sumatra now has Go-jek, a local version playing on the word ojek, which means motorbike taxi. They are extremely cheap and popular. Sometimes having a smart phone has it's advantages- maybe we'll have to get one......

Opelets for short trips, Bukittinggi, West Sumatra

Hello Kitty themed opelet, Bukittinggi

During the first few days in Padang and Bukittinggi, we weren't sure what to make of West Sumatra. There were many tourists (foreign and Indonesian), and everyone was on the same track. We usually avoid Indonesia in high season for this reason, but we thought it would be quiet in this part of Sumatra. We didn't realize many tourists combine West Sumatra with North Sumatra in one mega trip, some even flying to Java for a quick look there. We very much felt on “the trail”, and were missing the usual reactions of locals to meeting strange bule (foreigners). Then we discovered we only had to get away from the main sights (very easy), and explore other parts of the towns and surrounding countryside to find those typically open, welcoming, curious and lovely people we always find on our trips to Indonesia. They are the main reason we return time and time again to the country. And we will be back!!! 


There is a part 2 of this blog about Lake Maninjau. You can see it HERE!!!