Padang Day 1
1. Departing from Batam
We depart from Duta Mas at around 10 AM and we went to Supin's place first to return the rented car and pay the rental fee. The rental fee is 800k rupiah for 3 days.
We arrive at Hang Nadim International Airport at around 11AM and we had our brunch at one of the cafe, ordered Ayam Penyet and Fried Rice with chicken and vegitable plus drink. It cost around 60k rupiah
Checked-in at the Batavia Air counter behind a few ladies who carried so many souvenir boxes from Batam. The queque is short but each passenger was able to carry up to 35kg per person, and this make the queque took up quite a long time. We spent only 5 minutes at the check-in counter since we only have 1 bag weight of 17kg.
After check-in, we went directly to pay domestic airport tax cost 30k rupiah per person
Direct to gate A3, another 2 domestic flights were in the same gate as ours, to Jakarta and to Tanjung Pinang. We took seats near a TV, and after some time the news in TV said about the phenomenal car accident at that time which cause 9 person dead. A lady came near to the TV,well she intented to volume up the TV but accidentaly she switch it to other channel. Almost everyone was screaming to her because we were so intense for the news. For a few minutes the waiting room was out from its silentness. I was sorry for her, embarrased because of her careless :)
Jakarta flight was called for boarding, and I just realized that MAX5, a new Indonesian boy band were sitting near to us just now.. hmm what a coincidence..
Finally, 10 minutes after Jakarta flight passengers boarded,our flight was called. Since there's no good system, it was so crowded at the exit door. The plane was old.Window shade was broken a little bit at one of its corner and the space of the seats were limmitted. At the first place, we sat at the wrong seat =P, our seat number was 14A/B. The stewardess were friendly but they were bigger size for Indonesian.
We're so tired and it made us sleeping during the flight untill they served coffee bun with mineral water.
The plane landed quite smoothly. The landing track is long enough but there is no side-way, so the plane should turn to the airport gate using the same landing track. The track condition is ok but not as smooth as the landing track at Batam, Jakarta or Singapore.
2. Arrive at Padang - Minangkabau Airport
We arrived at Minangkabau Airport at around 2PM local time. Flight is about 1 hr 20 mins. The airport is big and the design of the ceiling was nice :)
It took us for about almost 30 mins to complete our bagage claimed. Maybe because we're checked in early at Batam so our bagage out last.
Before we reach the exit gate, Anto saw our name on a small board hold by a tall, dark looking guy. He must be Uda Andi, our guide. We approach him, he smile and with he assist us very friendly.
We went towards the car. It was hot and sunny outside. The car provided by the travel agent was Black Toyota Avanza. Uda Andi was not only our guide, he is the driver as well. So for the next 5 days 4 night, we will be travelling around Bukittingi and Padang with him.
Uda Andi explained that Minangkabau Airport is a new airport, the old location was too near from hills around.
We turned to the left at a big road intersection towards Bukittingi.
3. First Lunch at Padang - Lamun Ombak Restaurant
Our first stop was Lamun Ombak Restaurant for lunch. It is a big restaurant which can cater around 200 persons.They served us with 14 types of local dishes, and the taste is soooo heavenly delicious !!! We choose some dishes that we rarely get in Batam , Jakarta or singapore, they are : Ikan Bilis Pedas, Belut Goreng (Fried Belut), and Ayam Pop (Steam Chicken), Local fish balls. Ayam Pop and Belut Goreng are the BEST !!! The sambal of Ayam Pop was really really tasty and Belut Goreng is salty, crispy, quite spicy and they are all very very very nice. It was a 45 minutes in food of heaven, and only cost us 50,000 rupiahs.
We continue our journey towards Bukittingi and along the road there is an alod train railway. Many old train railway-bridge as well, still look good, it makes this city looks old but it was a nice experience :)
4. Lembah Anai Waterfall
On the way towards Bukittingi, we stopped by at Lembah Anai Waterfall. My first imagination of Lembah Anai waterfall was we need to stop at the small forest, take a few km walk, and enjoy the view of the waterfall, and I was shocked that Lembah Anai waterfall was only just beside the main road. It is amazing ! Something that we could not find in Java.
We stopped our car just a few metres from the waterfall, and then walk through some snack stalls, and with less than 100 steps we enjoyed the beauty of Lembah Anai Waterfall. It took up our tiredness, and I was so happy to see the waterfall. Some locals were enjoying the waterfall by swimming, some only took out their shoes, sat on the rock with their feet in the water. The water was cold and really fresh :)
