Minangkabau culture and jungle trek
Trip Start
Jul 20, 2004
1
65
157
Trip End
Jul 20, 2012
Bukettinggi,
Indonesia
Friday, February 17, 2006
In order to immerse myself into the culture, I attended a cultural performance highlighting Minagkabau dance, costumes, music, songs and self-defence. It was a colorful and very entertaining program (40.000 rupiah)which ended with the audience being ushered onto the stage to dance away, or at least try to dance, with the performers. Before the performance, I got to meet some of Buets musicians and I was looking forward to attend their concert at the clock tower after the cultural performance but rain hampered the plan and we had to resign our self to a cafe and have a cup of Sumatra cafe instead. The next day, I left with my guide Erick for a three day jungle trip. he explained some of the peculiarities of the Minangkabay culture, pointed out plants and animals for me to so that i could learn about everything from jackfruit to bamboo to batuang and cinnamon trees and cardiomon and bitter leaves, coffee plants, banana plants, snake fruit (salah), etc
Anas Homestay - sunset
. I was very educational for me. Our fist stop was the village of Saua Dangka which means 'shallow rice field'. There, i had the time of my life as i got down and dirty harvesting rice for about 3 hours. I loved the people, they were constantly smiling and admiring my strength as i worked my way through the field in the middle of the heat. I also befriended the water buffalo which was grazing near by. The people served me food, and drinks and lots of smiles. My favorite food was black rice or bubur etam. Its almost like milk rice cooked with cinnamon but its much better. he color is purplish black and it tastes just so yummy and, I could have eaten the entire pot. But then again, I had to do some work. Later, after finishing work in the rice field, we went to Ismailīs house were we were to spend the night. But first, we went to a small waterfall to take a well deserved shower before relaxing at Ismailsīramshackle house. We had sweet tea and coffee and later lots of yummy food such as rice, beef, chicken and vegetables. The highlight was to watch Isamailīs mom preparing lemang tapei,glutinous rice cooked in bamboo. It goes very well with tea or coffee! The next morning, we headed through the village and took a look at the veggies the people are growing. One can find everything from red peppers, topiaka, bananas, lemon grass, papayas, green beans and they also get an income from selling cinnamon
Anas Homestay - dinner time
. After walking for a few hours through endless rice paddies and villages, we arrived in Lawang were we sat down for lunch. Lawang is a small chicken town with friendly and curious people. From here, we took the minibus out of town and then walked up the hill to the panorama view point Lawang. From there, we hiked through the jungle for about 1 hour to reach our next overnight stay - Anas Homestay. The home stay consists of a few ramshackle houses, a cozy lounge/kitchen/dining place and a very natural toilet and shower (using water fresh from the dirty creek). But the views are lovely, especially watching the sunset going down in the Indian Ocean. We relaxed, ate, drank beer and played games. The next morning, we left for Lake Maninjau passing a little jungle waterfall on the way and fighting of leeches that got into our socks and shoes. The lake is crater lake and has an area of 99.5 kmē, being approximately 16 km long and 7 km wide. The average depth is 105 m, with a maximum depth of 165 m. The natural outlet for excess water is the Batang Antokan river, located on the west side of the lake. Most of the people who live around Lake Maninjau are ethnically Minangkabau. Villages on the shores of the lake include Maninjau and Bayur. I, for my part, didnīt feel inclined to go swimming having seen the creeks feeding into the lake and knowing what people do in the waters of the creeks and lake.We spent about 2 hours here doing nothing but relax and eat and talk to other tourists. Around 4PM, we left for Buket in a little minibus taking in the 44 bends in the road to Buket. There were monkeys near the road waiting for handouts or just watching the traffic. Back in Buket, with a cold lingering for the past 2 days, I went for a long shower and then headed back to town to use the internet and meet up with my friend Don. I gulped down 2 cups of tea with honey and ginger and told him about my adventures inn the jungle. He also works as a guide taking tourists to the Mentawai islands. These are usually 10 day trips where people stay with the villagers and can surf and snorkel during the day (web site: www.mentawaisurfcamp.cjb.net, phone: 00628126766689).
