trip to bukittinggi indonesia

view as we were about to land (nice sun)

starting from friday last week until tuesday this week, i was in indonesia. i went there with my parents, uncle and aunts. my brother send us to lcct. our flight to padang is 7am, but we were there early, about 5.40am. we don't want to be late since both of my sisters told us from experienced, it will be crowded. we departed from lcct, not from klia. we checked in and alhamdulillah, everything went on smoothly. after checked in, we went for subuh prayers. the prayer room was a little bit crowded. after that, we had some light breakfast. the flight was as scheduled and we arrived as scheduled as well. it was a smooth flight. my seat, as usual is by the window and by the wings. i love to sit at the wings 'cos i love to see it flaps, hehe.. some might say that i love to see at the wings, so that i'm among the first to realize malfunction at the wings.

car broke down (from left : putri's dad, my dad & handsome stranger =p)

at the airport, we went through the immigration. it took quite sometimes because only two counters were available and honestly i was impressed by their system. they took all of aur fingerprints and our picture. we didn't done that in malaysia (i think). putri (my sister maid's) was already there waiting with her father. we planned to check in at the hotel first (parai hotel) and after that went to visit putri's house. unfortunately, our rental car broke time a few times and it made the journey longer. one time, we even met another person with his car broke down as well (may i mention that he's quite good looking, hoho..). the journey from the airport (the indonesians called aiport as 'bandara' as 'bandar udara' which translated into 'air city') to our hotel is about 90km but it took almost 5 hours. the road there was also small and winding (since it climbing hills).

from left : mak ijat, ririn (putri's sis), mak yah, my mom, putri and her brother, aziz

we checked in our hotel and went to putri's house. from our hotel to putri's house is only 6km by again because of the road condition, it took 15 minutes. the first thing i bought is a local prepaid for easy communication. putri's family welcome us with open arms and greeted us warmly. her mom had already prepared quite a grand meals for us (we actually had lunch while waiting for the car to get fixed). we considered the meals as our dinner. putri's the eldest and she have 2 younger sisters and 1 brother (the youngest). her house is very small and consist only 1 living room adn 1 bedroom. toilet and kitchen are outside. made me felt guilty for taking the luxury i had for granted. yup, compared to them, our middle class homes are a luxury. but they do have electrical gadgets such as tv and fridge. after meals, putri and her siblings took us around her village and i truly felt at village. there were paddy fields, kids palting kites and many more that are significant to village. after touring the village, putri's sister's boyfriend sent us back to the hotel and we rest for tomorrow began our journey as tourists, hehe...

self taken pic in front of 'istana pagar ruyung'

on our second day, we went to see istana pagar ruyung for padang is famous for its minangkabau. and minangkabau (negeri sembilan) in malaysia originated from padang as well. unfortunately, the castle was strucked by lightning in 2007 and they still recimstructing it and we could only see the outside. they sold alot of 'sawo' or 'ciku' in malay. along the way, we saw a lot of 'ciku' trees. they were sweet. we also bought a few souvniers. and if i'm not mistaken, the journey from our hotel to the castle took also 2 hours. there's no highway or big roads here. they have only small and winding roads. and they also honked quite a lot. at first, we were quite shocked to see the frequency of the honking, hehe.. next, we have dinner at 'danau singkarak' or singkarak lake. the lake is very big. we also stopped to buy some salted fish for they were fresh and cheap. then, we went to the city (famous for its 'jam gadang') adn shop a little more. that night, putri and her family will be staying with us at the hotel. so, we bought some fried chicken and other foods. i also bought some 'bunga api' but it were not good, 'masuk angin'.

we crossed the equator

the next day, we went to the equator. at the 'equator' there's also a museum called 'imam bonjol museum.' imam bonjol is one of the brave people that fought for indonesia's independence. after taking photos, buying souveniers and visiting the museum, we went back to bukittinggi. this time, we entered the zoo. putri and i went through all of the exhibits,but the elders (huhu, elders..), only went to some and they have to wait for us. for the next day, we were on our own. putri and her family were busy making preparation for small 'kenduri kesyukuran.' the first thing we visit is the market called 'aur kunin' for another shopping spree. me and my mom were quite done with our shopping, so we just wait for my two aunts to get their shopping done. shopping done, we went to the historical part of bukittinggi known as 'lubang jepang' or 'japanese tunnel.' it was very interesting knowing all the history behind the tunnelm construction (we have a tour guide to explain everything to us). the tunnel was undone since japan lost the WWII. but the research they did to build the tunnel (at that time, with old technology etc) was marvellous and unbelievable. after finishing our visit, we again went to putri's house for the 'kenduri.'

another self taken pic in front of the waterfall

so, the last day finally came. our group went first to the airport since we wanted to make a few stops a long the way. we stoped at the beautiful waterfall. it was breathtaking, subhnallah. we also had lunch before heading to the airport. we waited for putri and her family. we said our thanks and goodbye. putri was very sad leaving her family and also only days from ramadhan. our flight home was again smooth and on scheduled. my brother was already waiting and we went home. i had such a nice time there and my 5 days there flew by just like that. if i fave the time and money, i would love to have another holiday just like this but perhaps to another country. the countries i had in mind are thailand and cambodia, hehe... insyaAllah, one day i will...