Well, Kuta is not really my type of place, so it is a good place
to catch with the journal...here are the next three days of Indonesia...
THURSDAY JUNE 15
Arrived in Bukitinggi just after Fajr. Bukitinnggi is a very pleasant and beautiful little town.
The people were also very friendly.
We got a lot of looks here also, and we actually like the attention, but they were very friendly
looks. People here didn't just look but
they also came and talked to us. If they saw Mustafa first they'd ask "From Arab?". On seeing me
first they'd question "Indian?".
Not just here but locals everywhere are more intrigued by us than the regular Western travellers.
They see Europeans all the time but most have
never seen a Bengali in their whole lives! And of course we always say that we are from Bangladesh
and not from England. Unlike some, we see ourselves
as Bengalis who happen to live in Britain, rather than Brits who were happen to be born in
Bangladesh (or whose parents were born there). They also like the fact
that we are Muslims and that, more than anything, makes me feel great.
After breakfast we went on a walk around the central part of town. First up was the clothes market
near the clock tower. The baju Melayu hunting wasn't very
successful though - they all had silly decorations. Man, I saw the most beautiful one in Khota
Bharu but didn't buy as I thought it was too
expensive. With hindsight I know that it wasn't and Kelatan was the best region for buying them.
Next up was the Bukitinnggi zoo. Hadn't been to a zoo since I was a kid, I think. It was very
interesting, particularly throwing peanuts in to the mouths
of black bears. The rampaging monkeys and and the casual orang-utans were also fun to see!
We then visited Fort de Kock, which was built by the Dutch on a hill near the zoo. It was shit.
Booked in to a guesthouse and decided that we'd visit the equator at the
village of Bonjol. But before that we had to see Sianok Canyon, on the banks of which stood
Bukitinnggi. The canyon was pretty though not spectacular. Met
lots of people who were curious about us there.
Near the canyon was the Japanese tunnels/caves. They were built with slave labour during their
occupation in the Second World War. The tunnels were quite
extensive, their height and width being much bigger than those of the Vinh Hoc tunnels of Vietnam,
but the this was built by the military rather than by
ordinary villiagers.
Took a bus to Bonjol at about 3:30pm. The scenary en route was fantastic but the winding roads
were head spinning to say the least. It was too much for the guy
next to me - he vomitted all over my feet! Got to the equator an hour or so after setting off.
Walked back and forth betwen the two hemisphers. Mustafa carried out an experiment to test for the
coriolis effect. It wasn't very successful.
Then went to the Imam Bonjol museum, which is split in two by the equator. Imam Bonjol is the
great Minangkabu leader who put up the strongest resistance against
the invading Dutch.
Got on a minibus bound for Bukittinggi at around 5:30pm. It broke down not much after 5:45pm. It
was impossible to fix on site so we, along with the other five
passengers, hitched a ride on the back of a pick-up truck. Didn't wanna hang around to meet the
Sumateran tigers!
Met three students who study at the Universitas Negeri Padang. They invited us to their university
and though they were all engineering students, I was happy to accept!
FRIDAY JUNE 16
Quite a reasonable start to the day. We arrived in Danau (lake) Maninjau just before the Adhan for
Jum'a. Maninjau is a beautiful crater lake, about 40km
west of Bukitinnggi, on the site of an ancient volcano. Surrounding the lake but within the
crater are marvelously beautiful rice terraces and villages.
Descending to the lake involved turning through 44 hairpins in quick succession - dizzying, but
great views of the lake and it's environs!
On the bus we met a group of very nice tablighi brothers. They were on their way to a jamat a few
miles past but stopped to pray Jum'a
in Maninjau. After Jum'a they invited us to join them. We had to decline but joined them for lunch
at the masjid. They brought their own food
and, unfortunately for me, no vegetarian dishes on the menu apart from rice. But the 13 of us ate
from just three plates and so I was
able to discretely avoid eating any meat or fish! I think this was the first time that I ate
from the same plate as a group of others. It felt good!
Booked in to a guesthouse right on the lake - our chalet was literally 8 meters from the water. It
was a fantastic setting, not as picturesque as the
location of the chalet of the Perhentian but this was more practical. Went for a swim in the lake
straight away. It was great not having to worry
about tasting salty water!
After Asr and a second lunch went for a walk in the nearby villages. The countryside,
particularly the rice terraces, in Sumatera are
astoundingly beautiful and thise in Maninjau's environs are some of the best. We were both is awe
of it.
Prayed Maghrib at a village masjid before heading back to the guesthouse. At the masjid, besides
us and the Imam there was only one other
guy but there were plenty of females. That's one of the most impressive things about Indonesia and
South East Asia in general, you see
plenty of women in mosques and all the masjids have prayer areas for women. The sub-continent
could learn a lot from that. (But more on
this topic later.)
Maninjau was a grand place. The people were so friendly and the countryside spectacularly
beautiful. Plus, it seemed that we were
the talk of the whole town! We'd be walking by and hear people we've never met talking about a
couple of guys from Bangladesh. On leaving the masjid
after Maghrib, escorted by the Imam with his flashlight, we heard some people talking about us
over the loud speaker!
There was a full moon party at the guesthouse. Joined in for a little but it wasn't of much
interest, just a bunch of stoned people sitting around
a fire singing sad songs. But had some interesting conversations with the locals though, including
with a 16-year old who promised to
teach Mustafa about Islam in return for English lessons and another kid who embarrassed me for not
knowing the meaning of "wahi" !
SATURDAY JUNE 17
This was one of the best days ever! But it didn't start off too well though. We were to cycle
around Lake Maninjau, a distance of 70km or so. By the time we'd
hired the bikes it was nearly noon. And within the first 15 minutes Mustafa was involved in an
accident and got a punch in the head for his troubles - crashed
in to a crazy pedestrian whilst trying to correctly position his feet on the pedals for maximum
efficiency.
It took us about 5 and half hours to complete the circuit. The first hour and a half and the last
hour were very comfortable. But the middle three on the
heavily rocky road were a real pain! It was a lot of fun though and would've been even more so had
we worn cycling gloves - our fingers, especially mine, were
in great pain and often rigid due to the constant jolting. But it was definitely well worth it!
The last hour, after we'd seen "The Gap" ( a break in the crater after which the road was paved
again) was especially fantastic! The views of the rice
fields, villages, mosques and farmers doing what they do were to marvel at. And so I did, taking
my time and not being conservative with the camera. Arrived
at the guesthouse 15 miuntes after Mustafa. For both of us it was the best day of cycling ever!
After Aceh, West Sumatera is the most Islamic of the provinces of Sumatera and so there were
plenty of masjids around the lake to photograph. I've got quite a
collection of masjid photos from around the world now. Islam Uddin, can you register a domain name
such as masjidphotos.org or something similar. Thanks!
A bath in the lake, dinner and it was time to head for Padang. Our landlady, a very nice expat
from New Zealand, was so impressed that after the grueling bike
rides we still had the energy to travel! That's just the way we travel, not the "two weeks on the
beach" types!
Had to first go to Bukitinnggi in order to go to Padang. On the bus I realized that I'd left my
tracksuit bottoms at the guesthouse but didn't wanna
backtrack to get it back. Sent them a postcard the following day asking that they post them to a
friend's address in Jakarta.
By the time we got to Bukitinnggi the last bus for Padang had already left. Taking a taxi was not
an option so we stayed in Buki.
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