Of buffalos' fields & brains
Trip Start
Apr 10, 2006
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Trip End
Apr 15, 2006
Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
As always, that morning we had our breakfast at the airport. The kids were very playful and eager to fly. The flight from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Minangkabau International Airport in Padang, Sumatera took only about 1 hour. I realized that in that particular flight, there were more Indonesians than Malaysians on board. Of course, there's about 2 million Indonesians working in Malaysia while Padang obviously attracts lots of traffic as many Malaysians and Indonesians have relatives on both sides of the boundaries.
We arrived Padang (which means "field") at about 11am. It took me a while to fill up the immigration forms - 5 forms altogether. I hate filing up forms. Upon exiting the immigration, we were greeted by Pak Ari from the travel company, whom I had made ground arrangement in advanced. He would be our guide during our short stay in West Sumatera. But before that, we were approached by some local handlers who eagerly wanted to help us with the bags. Although it wasn’t necessary, they insisted. Sure it was for the money and such ruckus to help was not welcomed at all. Well, what can I say….they wanted to earn a livin, and I wasn’t to let this small matter spoil my first day of travellin. :(. Unfortunately, I didn’t have small change. I gave the guy more than what I had intended or deemed reasonable. Its his lucky day, and its another learning day for me : "Remember, when travellin, have some loose change handy, bro!".
We proceeded from Padang to Bukit Tinggi. It was a winding up-hill drive through the country side which was breathtaking. River rapids running along side the trans-Sumatera road surrounded by lush greeneries and vegetation, village houses built from smooth river stones as their foundations, buffalos roaming by the road side, and an old train steel bridge spanning across the valley were just some of the mental snapshots captured along the journey. It’s a great natural masterpiece indeed. Somehow, it reminded me a bit about Karak highway back home or perhaps the Kuala Pilah road in Negeri Sembilan! Yes, the later’s more apt as it’s a Minangkabau land also.
About an hour into the drive, we arrived at Lembah Anai or Anai Valley. Anai Valley , I was told , is situated in a Nature’s conservation area. So, it's unspoiled. It is located at Nagari Singgalang, Tanah Datar about 60KM from Minangkabau International Airport en-route to Bukit Tinggi. We made a pit-stop at the Anai Valley Wisata (tourist) area where there were many small tourist shops or huts (depending on how you perceived them) to buy some tit-bits and drinks for the kids. The Anai Waterfall was just next to the roadside, splashing majestically from about 35-40 meters. Really luv the sight of a natural waterfall, whether big or small, always a sight to be hold. It is said that those who washed their face at the waterfall would looked young. Hey….., I’m a sucker for such myth. Not because I believe them, but just to add to the fun of it all, after all, its free. :) After a quick photo session (with me looking a bit younger…LOL), we proceeded our journey towards Padang Panjang town.
In Padang Panjang town, we had lunch at a restaurant called “Rumah Makan Pak Datuk”. They said, it’s the best in town and one of the more famous amongst various “rumah makan” or literally translated as “eating house” a.k.a yep, restaurants. Make no mistake; Pak Datuk was a great find as one of the finest Padang restaurant. We had a great lunch indeed. Its famous for its daging dendeng (meat floss), ayam gulai (chicken curry), rendang daging ( meat rendang) and definitely super delish when I could sample the local exotics such as “Otak masak lemak minang”, which is cow/ox brain cooked with coconut milk minang style. Man-o-man. Frankly, I should not take too much of it. Nope, not because of its high cholesterol level, but because of its high pureen content. But lets make this as a “special event“ kinda exception ok…. ha..ha.ha….. Luv it when life is full of exceptions….:)
