WEST SUMATRA!
Sumatra is famous for it's spicey food (Masakan Padang) and buildings. Loads of buildings have the above pictured style of roof, it is said to represent the cow horns that are so ubiquitous here, look quite interesting too.
Travel costs double due to end of Ramadam holiday (idul fitri).
You can go via the TransSumatran Hwy, but due to the holiday traffic was mental and the ferry from Java, was severly clogged, [pic to come] flying was a much better option. So we flew to Padang, (no idea of cost MrsKW paid, I think about 1 million rupiah return, about $100 or 30,000 baht) and then booked a taxi to bukit tinggi via airport travel desk (350,000 Rupiah $35 or 1000 baht).
So far so good....I suspected things may not be so good when the two kids driving the car
"two drivers, whaddya we need two drivers for!!!?"
"Jaow!" (=long distance) 2-3 hours? ok, whateva!
anyway they put it into reverse and crashed into the car parked behind them before we even left the airport.
in the end they were not too bad…. Apart from playing the same 2 songs on a cassette tape over and over the entire feckn trip.
The scenery along this mountainous road was fantastic, all mountains and winding roads. (just watch out for the crazy busses overtaking at any point they feel like.)
We stopped at a waterfall, just as it started to rain….
Bukkitinggi is surrounded by 27 mountains, or so the local bureaucrat on the front cover of the tourist guide at the front desk tells me. Certainly pretty, right on the equator but at 950metres elevation reasonably cool and pleasant, in fact first night we walked down the street and I froze my ass off. (well shivered a little bit)
Aint really much to do in town itself. A center clock tower. Woopeedoo some clapped out old zoo, (didn’t go there) some broken down old dutch fort. (4,000 rupiah (40 cents) to enter but 100,000 rupiah ($10) to take photos, and another 100,000 ($10) for video)
But it is an interesting town to wander, split level town, little alleys, a couple of mosques. This picture below (sorry about qulaity, my camera and skills are shite) shows a bridge across the main street connecting the old fort and crappy zoo. A busy market place, food stalls. 2 or 3 quiet touristy style cafes and that’s about it. Plenty of horse carts to give you a ride.
Bukit Tinggi is described in the Lonely Planet as the biggest tourist stopover point in west Sumatra….? I think I saw a total of 10 bule (farang) here over the past week….local tourists perhaps…it is a small town in the mountains, with not much to do, expect wander. there is plenty of cheap accomodation, but we stayed at the The Hills+62-752 35 000 hotel[at]thehillsbukittinggi.com used to be the novotel, good location. Ok rooms. nice gardens [pictured]
some big drum thingy in the foyer of the hotel.
About 750,000 p/n, ($75) good location. there was 2 or 3 backpacker style cafe/beer shops, other than that, nothing to cater for western tastes, plenty of street stalls, sate and fried rice etc.
Due to being the end of ramadan you could buy fireworks all over the place, and the locals having nothing better to do set off fireworks every 5 minutes every night from the main square centred around a stupid clock tower....… got tiresome after the first 5 minutes. I can tell you!
market pics, I tried using the Bustak method of 'from the hip shooting' .... not too bad, need more practise I think....
dried eels.
serving food - wet curries are common food in sumatra
Rendang - beef based curry is also common.
peanuts and other snacks