Indonesia - West Sumatra
|
West Sumatra is the homeland of Minangkabau, one of Indonesia's most interesting and influential ethnic groups. Dominated by jungle-clad volcanic peaks and riddled with waterfall, canyons and lakes, this province is a vast and magnificent nature reserve. The name Minangkabau is believed to be coming from a myth and story of bull fighting. Facing an immanent attack by a Javanese king, the West Sumatrans proposed a fight between two bulls rather than a battle between two armies. When the time came, the West Sumatrans dispatched a tiny calf and attached sharp metals spears to its horns. Believing the Javanese bull to be its mother, the calf rushed to suckle and ripped the bull's belly to shreds. When the bull finally dropped dead; the people of West Sumatra shouted 'Minangkabau, minangkabau', which literally means 'The buffalo wins, the buffalo wins!' Until now, the most distinctive aspect of Minang culture is the magnificent architecture with soaring roofs shaped like the legendary buffalo horns.
|
Pictures:
|
|
Texts © Poni
Pictures (2048x1536) © Igor
July 2006
Reference : Lonely Planet - Indonesia - 7th edition
Day 1, 10 July 2006
Minangkabau Airport (Padang) to Lake Maninjau
There are two flights daily from Batam to Padang, Merpati airlines (depart 9.45am) and Mandala airlines (depart 10.25am) with normal cost range between Rp. 410,000 to Rp. 440,000. The price will be slightly high in the school vacancy season. The flight took 1h10 minutes to arrive at Minangkabau airport Padang. Since there is nothing much to see in Padang, we decided to start our journey from Maninjau and after climb up to Bukittinggi.
There is no direct bus to Maninjau from the airport. The simple way is to take oplet to Padang Plaza and than take Bus to Bukittinggi. The other choice is to find go out from airport area and wait in the middle of the road for the bus to pass but most of the bus will be full already. We took small aircond bus from airport that cost Rp; 15,000 / person and in the middle road, the bus driver help us to stop one of the small travel minibus that go to Bukittinggi. It cost Rp. 15,000 for 2 hours drive to Bukittinggi.
From Bukittinggi, there is normal bus (without aircond) each hour to Maninjau that cost Rp. 10,000/person and other choice is to take another aircond minibus cost Rp. 15,000. Both buses will not go until the bus is full.
The road to Bukittinggi and Maninjau was fantastic with the view of forest and paddy field. The final descent to Lake Maninjau, on the road from Bukittinggi is unforgettable. There are 44 curves/hairpin bends with fantastic view of the blue lake and the surrounding hills.
We arrived Maninjau at 5.30pm. We found Cafe 44 that cost Rp. 20,000 / night. Place is not bad with two small rooms attached to one with share bath room in the back. The price is considerably cheap.
Day 2, 11 July 2006
Maninjau, Bayur and surrounding
Swimming and relaxing in front of the lake is one of the activities besides going around with bike. We rent bike for Rp. 20,000 / person for one day. It is fantastic to go around by bike if the weather is not too hot. Going around lake is approximately 65 km.
Having ikan bakar (grilled fish) for dinner on the side of the lake is really enjoying...
Other activities are canoeing, tracking and pig hunting. Contact the hotel for more information.
Café 44 address : Jl. Panurunan Maninjau, Post Code 26471, Maninjau. Telp; (062 752 61238)
Day 3, 12 July 2006
Bukittinggi
Early in the morning, we rented a minibus to go directly to Bukittingi. It cost us Rp. 150,000 which should be the normal price. The road is smooth in the morning and the view along the way is fantastic. By 8.10am we arrived at Bukittinggi and straight check-in at Orchid Hotel. We have made booking to do the Minangkabau tour that morning.
Orchid hotel is a nice small hotel that cost Rp. 75,000 per night with hot water and little breakfast. The room is clean but a little bit too close to the mosque so the early Morning Prayer could be a good wake up call.
The Minangkabau tour is start from 09am until around 18pm back to the hotel. The tour cost Rp. 150,000/person for minimum 2 persons and the price is slightly cheaper which Rp. 125,000/persons are for more than 2. After full with a big cup of hot tea and the bread toast, we start our tour exactly at 09am.
The tour consists of visiting :
- Pariangan/Tabek Patah to walk in the rice fields. We managed to do some paddy cutting.
- Sungai Tarab to see coffee and rice mills which are still driven by an ancient water wheel system.
- Pagaruyung where the King's palace is located.
- Limo Kaum to see sole sacred Sanskrit stone, writing and calligraphy. Nothing much left to be seen thought.
- Ombilin River to view the river from the mountain. The panorama was really magnificent.
- Lake Singkarak to stop and swim. The weather was not supporting us to swim and due to the rain and fogging, we can't really see the lake. The lake Maninjau is far more too interesting than this one.
- Pandai Sikat to see the wood carving and hand weaving.
On the way back to hotel, we stop by on the little traditional pancake shop. The pancake was too delicious.
We enjoyed the tour very much and the view was splendid. It worth to take this tour.
Orchid hotel : 11 Teuku Umar street Bukittinggi, Telp (062 752 32634)
Tour Operator :
Roni HP 062 8126750688
email : roni_orchid@hotmail.com
Day 4, 13 July 2006
Bukittinggi - Trakking to Koto Gadang
Koto Gadang is a small village known for its silverwork. It is approximately an hour walk from Orchid Hotel through Ngarai Sianok. It is a very nice path for trekking although the road is a little bit hilly but the panoramic view is too good to miss. Go through Taman Panorama and take the back exit down a series of over grown steps. Turn left on the road and path is to the left on the first sharp bend. It is not very hard to find and you can always ask the local if you can't find the path.
Day 5, 14 July 2006
Pantai Bungus ( Padang)
From Bukittinggi to Padang we took an opelet from Ahmad Yani street to go to Aur Kuning terminal that cost Rp. 1,500 and from the terminal, there are two possibilities to go to Padang by big bus that cost Rp. 10,000 or by small aircond minibus that cost Rp. 15,000. The big bus provided with big space but the time wasted for waiting the bus to be full can become annoying. The bus could stop for more than 2-3 hours in many places for the bus to go full. It is better to take the minibus and can save a lots of time.
From the bus terminal in Padang, we took opelet to Pasar Raya opelet Terminal that cost Rp. 2,000. From there we take opelet no. 437 that go to Pantai Bungus. The image in the opelet could be quite amazing. With small minibus type of car, it can take almost 20 people in it. Off course you will have to squeeze yourself until the driver think that it is not possible to add any more person. Just tell the opelet driver where the place you want to get down or the name of the hotel.
We stayed at Losmen Carlos near to the beach. There are 3 types of rooms available, one is very standard without bathroom that cost Rp. 40,000/night. This room is very poorly maintained but it is not too close to the roadside. The second row of rooms with simple bathroom cost Rp. 50,000/night also very basic and bad maintenance. The last upgraded newly build rooms is the best room with hot water and bathroom cost Rp. 100,000/night. Losmen Carlos is also provided with little restaurant with standard price and eatable food.
Day 6, 15 July 2006
Losmen Carlos also organizes one day snorkeling trips to the small island that cost Rp. 200,000/person from 09am till afternoon. The standard has really been gone down. They only provided snorkeling mask and a jug of hot tea with some fried rice. We were only accompanied by the boat driver. But despite all thos things, the small island is really beautiful with white sand and clear water and many fishes.
Cautions : It is strongly advisable to check and verify with other people before going to the island. The facility and the boat provided are not up to the safety standard. The travel time to the island can be almost 2 hours drive and if the water is rough, the small boat cannot stand the blow and they are not equipped with the lifebuoys, etc. Losmen Carlos is mostly lacked with the responsibility with the guest safety.
