June 21-July 3, 2023
Money: Indonesian rupiah – 14,500 = $1 US
The Island of Sumatra is known for its incredible flora and fauna. Orangutans, the Sumatran Tiger in the south, orchids, exotic birds and monkeys – and the Asian hornet – also called the “murder hornet”. This particular insect led to some not as pleasant days in the region.
Let’s go back to the beginning. I spent close to 6 hours online trying to get the Indonesian e-visa done before arrival. I’d read the warnings that the lines can be long for visa on arrival, it was better to get it done before hand. The first problem I encountered was a sight that looked official – then wasn’t. Luckily, our credit card company was able to handle the charge and get it reversed. When I did find the official page – I would get to the last page and “internal error” – I tried this from several different servers in Thailand, and both Safari and Google browsers. I tried again in Singapore- success! I got to the final page for payment. I put in my credit card info – declined. I tried a different card with John’s – declined. And the site only allowed one try before needing to start all over again. We arrived at the airport in Padang in West Sumatra, Indonesia – there were only four people ahead of us at the payment for visa on arrival line (and to put it bluntly – they only want the $35, none of the other info on the website) – it took less than 15 minutes. Passport was stamped as “renewable visa” if we wanted to stay an additional 30 days (with a trip to an immigration office and another $35 each). We grabbed our bags, and our transport was waiting.
Our driver – An (pronounced “Ahn”) – drove us the 3 hours from Padang to Lake Maninjau. An is a driver, tour guide, and many other things. Like in Thailand, people drive on the left side, mainly on motorbikes and motor scooters. The narrow roads are fine for them, but often narrow when two four-wheeled vehicles need to pass. I do much better on these trips when I look out the side and not out the front window.
Lake Maninjau sits in a caldera created by a massive volcanic explosion 52,000 years ago, dropping an approximately 10,000-foot-high mountain to a ring of just over 5500 feet around a lake close to 50km in circumference. It still sits over an active area and occasionally sulfur can be smelled coming from the lake, causing die-off of the fish. Geothermal heat keeps the temperature of the lake at about 72 degrees F and nearby hot springs in the low 100’s. John remembers it as one of his favorite places – with pure, crystal-clear waters. Since he last traveled here in the early 1990’s, tilapia fisheries have become the norm on the lake, along with rice terraces and other large-scale agriculture. The lake waters are filled with algae fed by fertilizer run-off and sediment that obscures the view of anyone snorkeling or swimming – for that matter, not many swimmers can be found in the lake.
The area is Muslim, so in town I needed to wear long pants, though short sleeves are OK (shoulders need to be covered). By the lake, shorts areaccepted, and even some Muslim women will wear them in the water or in private yards with their families. Several mosques, including one about 500 meters across the lake from our lodging that sported 12 loudspeakers, seem to be spaced less than a kilometer apart around the lake. The 5 (and on Fridays and Holidays as many as 7) calls to prayer each day – some followed by sermons- can be heard loud and clear, especially the one that starts at 4:50 AM and can go on for 30-45 minutes. The musical call to prayer part is fairly pleasant. The sermon not so much.
The village has several little stores and restaurants (their windows show the offerings for the day)…
…but no international banks. On the first day, John took a motorbike over the mountain into the city of Bukittingi to get money for the next 2 weeks, navigating the 44 switchbacks for which the road is famous. I stayed at our cabin – often tucked under the mosquito netting as there were Asian Hornets flying both around the porch – and around the room. The cabin was set up to catch as much airflow as possible for the warm afternoons – meaning it is pretty open, even with the window shutters and door closed – large gaps between the wall and roof allowed easy access to the cabin.
And there were 2 active nests in the bathroom. I was reassured “they’re not aggressive” – they are huge, and I’m allergic to bees. I carried an epi pen in my pocket the entire time. John and Bibi – the owner’s nephew- took down an outside nest the first night, but it wasn’t until the 3rdevening that John removed the 2 in the bathroom (and got his finger stung in the process, half of his hand swelled for about 12 hours, and took about 36 hours for it to feel normal again). Over the week he killed at least 15 of them. By the end of the 1st week, only 3 were flying around, but since one decided to rest on my foot while I was sitting on the porch (I managed to keep very, very still, after what was likely less than a minute and felt like forever, a breeze encouraged him to take flight), we decided to change lodgings for the remainder of our time at the lake.
John had wanted to spend a total of 2 weeks at the lake (I honestly could not tell you why, the locals are generally friendly, but the town is dirty – most of the roadside in town is covered with modern day litter of bottles and wrappers, swimming in the lake is suspect, and the only decent safe place to walk is a 1/3-mile stretch of paved path between several of the guest houses). You do get some lovely sunsets, but after 3 days I was ready to be done.
We spent 5 days at the Beach Guest House – where John had stayed for a month back in the 1990’s, still run by the same family.
The Beach Guest House had a different set of issues: The toilet is technically a western toilet – but is very low to the ground and no seat (John created a temp one out of cardboard)– it’s a good thing I can do squats or I would never be able to get up from it.
The room had a lovely view of the lake on its little porch. We can hear everything from our neighbors and the locals hanging out in the restaurant in the evening (which closes at 11). Since it is a Muslim area, there are no bars, but beer (the local Bintang) is served at the restaurants of the guest houses.
We hiked up to a nearby waterfall on a dry day, John jumped in for a skinny dip at the little pond below the falls (I have some tasteful photos – but John made me promise not to share).
The path was steep in several areas, so I did the shimmy on my bottom for a few sections on the way down. We didn’t make it out to see “the world’s largest flower” – a type of corpse flower that blooms for one week which was blooming near Bukittinggi – because I picked up a stomach bug and John wasn’t interested in going on his own.
Most of my time was spent reading, working on the blog, and trying to figure out logistics for travel. This was helped by some new neighbors at the Beach Guest House – Steffi & Dave, two young Australians who got tired of working at thankless jobs and decided to head out and travel for as long as their money holds out – a great way to enjoy being young.
They had just come from Nias – where John and I had already decided we would go to next- and had even stayed at the place on the southern tip of the island we found on AirBNB. Most ferries (which are 12+ hour overnight ferries) go from Sibolga in Sumatra to the city of Gunningsitoli on the north side of Nias, then it’s another 3 hours by car to the south end where all the surfers hang out to catch the often 3-5 meter waves (and sometimes larger). They knew about another ferry that sails to the south end of the island 3 times per week – including the night we were planning on heading over. More on that trip in the next installment.
One more comment I will make on Western Sumatra – it has interesting architecture. The original people of the area are called the Minangkabau, who are the origins of the Malay peoples. Their architecture is meant to bring to mind the water buffalo, which have been important to the region for centuries. Our hosts at Eka’s guest house were Minangkabau, where the women inherit the wealth, and on marriage, the husband becomes part of the wife’s clan. No one can marry someone within their own clan.
Next stop – Nias!