Dymen'S Airport Bukittinggi

... br><br>As soon as I arrived at the airport, I was reminded of how amazing Indonesia is! I had forgotten how different things feel in this country, but I defenitely felt the difference as soon as I arrived at the airport in Pekanbaru. I decided that in Indonesia, people even seem friendly when they are trying to screw you over! Seriously! An immigrations officer asked me if I had a return ticket, and since i can't lie I said 'no'. He kept asking me the ...

... out the score of the 2nd B&amp;I Lions test that was going on while we were on the bus. I'd bought a bottle of Guinness in anticipation of a victory but was ready to pour it over those lads by 2am. We were traveling down the trans-Sumatran highway but whoever named it a highway is one cruel person. I don't know how we made it through some sections without 4-wheel drive. It was the worst public road we've ever been on. Anyway, after a 2am dinner stop, a 5am mosque stop ...

... sunrise. Having never entertained a midnight climb before this was quite an experience yet a very pleasurable time and met up with some great people. The climb was relentless through fields, jungle and volcanic rock to reach to summit and experience one of the wonders of my trip to date.<br>

... it, let me know, I'll be<br>impressed). <br><br><br>So I flew in to Padang, my first stop in Sumatra, which the Lonely<br>Planet describes as "an adventure, the kind of demanding ride that<br>requires a dusty backpack and a tough travelling skin"...but to tell<br>you the truth, my experience so far is far from this description. It's<br>just simply a wonderful place with wonderful people. Not so scary at<br>all! So somehow it was more expensive to get transport ...

... lunch, honest! Buttinggi was surprisingly dead for a Sunday afternoon. The food stalls were all closed which caused a lot of walking around. The sun was blazing and it was hot.I had tossed my hat days ago because it was just getting gross. The grommets were rusting, leaving brown stains. The rest of the hat was salt stained and just plain dirty. I was roasting. Seeing as how it was Sunday, I was surprised when a couple of teenaged girls ...

... Herman started a chat. He is a tour guide, mostly of multi-day treks to see the aborinal tribes on the nearby islands. I revealed to him my dilemma and he revealed that it was off season so he was able to throw me on the back of his motorbike and he would drive me there for the low low price os 150k rp. The same to get me there on my own. I agreed and at 8am this morning, i found my ...

... voyage en direction du lac de Maninjau, un lac qui s'est formé dans le cratère d'un volcan. Nous avons entendu de bonnes choses à propos de cet endroit et c'est la porte à côté. Nous atteindrons Maninjau en prenant un bus local...Trouver la station de bus a été relativement facile en revanche quitter la ville a été beaucoup plus compliqué. Avec nos gros sacs sur le dos, nous avons été l'attraction du centre ville pendant quelques minutes et plusieurs locaux ...

... were walking around the hospital I even saw staff smoking in the hospital! After some lunch, supplied from his father's Nasi Goreng stall, we headed off for a walk around the town and then in the evening we headed out for a drink, soft drink of course as ...

... nothing for hours already and at least now it was quiet and we could get some sleep. After numerous fixes and eight hours lost in the mountains we arrived in Bukittinggi. <br><br>Bukittinggi used to be one of the stars of Sumatran tourism industry, a town in the middle of volcanic mountains and surrounded by rice paddies and traditional villages. Tourism has pretty much died down and you really feel like a celebrity walking down the street, people ...

... and everyone gets off for morning prayers. The place where the flower was was approx 12km out of town so whilst I was waiting for a local bus out of town Ribwan came over to talk to me. He was a student ...