This trip was arranged back in March to avail of some offers (although when we finally made up our minds to go, the fare had gone up). No tour arrangement was made and I only made hotel bookings a few days before our departure. To make things more challenging, there aren’t that many write-ups on transfers within the area but we still decided to stick to not making any tour arrangements.
Sunday, 22 January 2012
A very early start today as our flight was at 0750 and departing from the cattle terminal (aka LCCT). Met up with Aud at 0510 at the bus stand at KL Sentral (now relocated to near the KLIA Express train departure area). We took the SkyBus, not knowing it’d detour to pick up passengers at One Utama. This resulted in us reaching the cattle terminal only at 0630. We went in to the departure area after I had performed prayers.
We took off at around 8 am and before long, were flying above the mountains of Sumatra. We landed at Padang Minangkabau Airport just before 8 am local time. The airport is by the sea.
There was a long slow queue to clear immigration. I noticed different treatment applied on different passengers. Some passengers had to scan their finger prints (all fingers, both hands), some had to look into a camera, and some had to do both.
Finally we were out. How do you know you’re in Indonesia? When you smell kretek and when people start approaching you, wanting to take you places. We initially thought of taking a bus to town and from there, change for another bus to Bukittinggi. However, a chap approached us and offered us seats in a vehicle for Rp45K (although when we were seated, he asked Rp50K from us. We protested of course. Funny how prices can inflate by Rp5K within a few minutes but that’s Indonesia for you). The journey would have taken us about 2 hours but because of a couple of inconsiderate passengers, it took us 4 hours instead. We had to detour miles to drop them off (at least 30 minutes each way). We were not in a hurry but it is really annoying that we had to go out of our way to satisfy some incosiderate selfish oaf.
We were dropped at our hotel and fortunately for us, we could check in immediately. We spent some time in the room before venturing out to the town centre. We took an angkot to the lower market and then walked up to the upper market. The lower market sells mainly food stuff - fruits (I think the vegetables are in the covered area) - and as you ascend up, clothes and various stuff.
We walked around the Jam Gadang (Clock Tower). It being a Sunday, there were a lot of people at the Clock Square. There is a tourist information centre conveniently located off the square so we paid it a short visit. The guy was very helpful and informative - I think he’s someone who loves his job and city - and after giving us some suggestions, we left.
We walked to Lobang Jepang (Japanese Tunnel/Caves) and paid for admission - into the grounds. Turns out there’s a separate charge to enter the tunnel. Apparently the tunnel is 1.4 km long. We left soon after and decided to walk to Benteng Fort de Kock. On the way, we sighted a small restaurant with durians outside so we decided to stop for a short break. I had durian and tea.
Feeling refreshed (after all, we didn’t have any lunch), we walked on to Benteng Fort de Kock. There were so many people there (Indonesians sure love public spaces. This explains the crowds at KLCC park) and we decided to return the following day instead. We walked back to the Clock Square and checked out Plaza Bukittinggi. It was getting dark when we emerged, and we descended down to the lower market. Dinner was had at Bakso Bandung, a small restaurant at the junction.
We had to change angkot and waited a while before the second angkot made its move. Spent the rest of the evening online at the hotel lobby and resting.
Monday, 23 January 2012. Chinese New Year
We had breakfast at 7 and left just after 8. The roads were clear this morning. We took an angkot before changing for another bound for the bus terminal (Terminal Aur Kuning). We boarded a Harmonis bus bound for Lake Maninjau. It was some time before the bus even moved. Sigh. Welcome to Indonesia.
The bus ride to Lake Maninjau took us 75 minutes. If you are from Bukittinggi heading towards Maninjau, there are 44 road bends that you must navigate as you descend. The view all the way down was breathtaking.
We got down and walked to the lakefront. I was surprised to find that the waves were pretty strong. We then checked out a guesthouse and walked around the village. It was a hot, hot day and there was no wind at all. Lunch was had at a restaurant that said it served Maninjau food. The fish we had were definitely from the lake.
After performing prayers, we left and walked to the junction where we were dropped off. Had to wait some time before a long bus came. It was full (some had to stand for some miles) but we went in anyway. Somehow we managed to doze off along the way.
Back at Bukittinggi, we took an angkot to the city and climbed up to the Animal Park. The park housed two elephants, a camel, two kangaroos, some deer, a tapir, birds, a wild boar... Admission was Rp8K (as it was a public holiday); Rp5K on other weekdays. We checked out the museum before crossing the Limpapeh Bridge to Benteng Fort de Kock. The fort didn’t look anything like a fort and looked pretty modern too (not like a structure built decades ago). We crossed the bridge again, exited the park and made our way to the covered double-storey upper market. I had to buy some shirts for Abah and prayer attire for my niece.
The shops at the upper market close at 6 so after our purchase, we went to the Clock Square. There were a lot of sellers at the square, selling souvenirs, prayer attire, t-shirts and snack (popcorn, cotton candy). We sat at a bench and people-watched for a while before checking out some textile shops and a shoes shop. Dinner was again had at Bakso Bandung. We decided to walk back to our hotel. The walk took us 25 minutes.
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
After breakfast, we checked out and took an angkot. The driver mentioned we could take Tranex (short for Transportation Express. Good thing they didn’t call it Transex instead. Heh) besides trafel (an MPV that can accommodate 6 passengers). We decided to check out Tranex. Now Transportation Express the name may be but the service frequency is anything but express. We stood up waiting for more than 30 minutes before one came. We reached Padang after two hours.
From the terminal (which didn’t look like a terminal at all) in front if Ion Hotel, we took angkot no. 4 to where our hotel is. We checked in and rested for a while before venturing out. It was too hot to venture out any sooner anyway.
We went out after 3 pm and it was hot, hot, hot. There wasn’t much of a beach near our hotel, just the ocean and the waterfront restaurants. There were also the occasional chap selling fresh fish and other seafood like crabs. We turned and walked around a bit. While asking for directions, a man told us where we could buy crackers (tapioca, pumpkin, cow skin etc) so we headed there. I didn’t buy a lot as my bag was almost full, just enough as snacks at home.
We returned to the hotel and stayed there until 7 when we ventured out for dinner. Dinner was had at Luang Nasi Mama, an eatery at Jalan Veteran serving Nasi Padang. After dinner, we walked back, stopping at The Sriwijaya Hotel to check out the rates (lower than where we were staying). We then arranged with a cabbie to pick us up the next morning and send us to the airport. We agreed for him to pick us up at 0645. We bargained for the fare and finally agreed on Rp90K.
The rest of the evening was spent resting, packing and watching TV.
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
I woke up with rumbling sounds from my tummy which turned out to be mini-diarrhoea. To add to my discomfort, my right contact lens decided to orbit my eyeball. Thankfully I managed to coax it out (the last time that happened, it took a few hours before I managed to coax it out).
We had breakfast just after 6 am (the spread wasn’t much and I was bothered by my tummy). Aud gave me some anti-diarrhoea pills (how did I forget to pack that?) which I ate quickly.
We left at 0645 and as promised, the cabbie got us to the airport in 30 minutes (most people told us the journey would take at least 45 minutes to an hour). We went up to the departure area, paid the Rp100K departure tax and went through immigration. The queue was long enough and the process slow enough that I was able to visit the washroom again and still only three persons had been processed...
After custom, we went through security check before boarding the plane about 15 minutes later. We landed at 1030 and I quickly trekked back to the terminal and on to the bus stop for my bus to KL Sentral (the direct Skybus service to KL Sentral would only depart at 12 noon so of course I took the yellow bus). I was home by 1230. Unpacked, cleaned the kitchen mess, had a quick lunch and left for work at 1315.
Hope you had a good Chinese New Year break too!
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