Departure out of Lake Toba to Bukittinggi September 1, Sunday

A Trip to Remember!

Wow what a day we had!  We were at the pier at 7:45 am and the ferry brought us into Parapat and we went to the Bagus Travel where we had booked the taxi for Bukittinggi!  Rebecca who had finished her week at the conference on the island would be traveling with us again - she is planning to see a little of Indonesia before she heads back to the US!  She was pleased to go with us and then on to Padang where she would catch a flight to Bali and spend another week there!

We were so pleased to share the ride with her and she too was pleased to do the same!  Would you believe it.....we even had the same driver that took us from Medan to Parapat a week ago...yes Markos! Hey Markos...how nice you are our driver again...and even Rebecca is with us again too!!!!

We got into the SUV and loaded up the suitcases and off we went...departure

time 9 am - and drove till 10:30 pm through the jungle of Sumatra on a two or 1 1/2 lane road called the Trans Sumatra Highway...pot holes, rain, ditches and cars, buses and scooters on it!  Markos is a good driver BUT oh my goodness you guys...Markos drove fast and it was a continuous passing of cars and sharp mountain roads!

We will remember this trip!  We saw some  really beautiful scenery which I will enter ~ we did a clip on the conditions on this road....and it was a bumpy video clip! Well Rebecca, Nick & I said - "we have experienced a new thing - a trip through the jungle...and we will all remember it"

 A river shot off the bridge ~

 Markos was alert and he kept driving through the rain, the muddy roads and the pot holes and passing cars...he did a good job and we were thankful!

 We did a stop for lunch and Mister Bood who was in the oil business traveling for many years even in Germany...warmly received us hungry travelers and gave us a warm welcome!

(Oh by the way...a little insert..ha....you know those toilet's that you have to squat to use? Yes you do remember don't you?  Well guess what? Ellen either uses those or doesn't go! Oh my goodness - is that ever a experience! I am always looking for doors to hold onto, a knob, a hook, anything....BUT when you gotta go you gotta go! Little by little I too am learning to squat...oh my goodness I just had to share that with you all! And guess what?????? Yes you just better have toilet paper with you! OR else you are in BIG trouble!!!!) 

These little motorized enclosures are common in this area!  Cute huh?

              

Well around 8 pm the cars up ahead had come to a stand still....oh oh....what is going on?

We found out a tree had fallen across the road - there was cars and trucks turning around and others moving up and in he distance we could hear a chain saw!

We waited for about 30 min - a nice break really! And then the cars began to move again.  The villagers in the area that live along this highway just came out of their houses and they sawed this tree right there on the two lane road...it was at least 4 ft across judging when we passed!  Everyone passed a little money out of the window to the kind hard workers - they were drenched from the rain...out there working with their bare hands...so many people rolling the cut trees away!  Amazing how everyone just comes to help!

Well at 9:15 pm - we actually drove over the Equator! Yes that was pretty cool!

Markos stopped so we could take a picture! 

Hey how often does one travel from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere!

Pretty cool huh?!!!!

Like we said 10:30 pm we arrived at our hotel...bushed but safe and sound!  We thanked Markos and we knew he would be heading back to Lake Toba in the morning again...that long and windy road! Poor Markos! 

We were beat...bed time in Bukittinggi! 

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Today Monday ~ 

Taken from our balcony we took some morning pictures of Bukittinggi ~ a cute mountain with a 900 meter elevation (2700 ft) it was nice and cool - just comfortable like Lake Toba~

Cute roof tops huh? It is a different style then in Lake Toba area from the Batak people.  This has the pointed  Minangkabua roof.  

 We were on a center plaza in the middle of town.

We had a good rest and then got up to a new day in a new town! 

Rebecca, Nick & I had a bit to eat and then we went out to look around.  Our hotel manager called a taxi show us some highlight's of the town.

Bukittinggi has a European flavor to it and we enjoyed our day out! 

As we enjoyed the sights we were surrounded by school

children and they had a homework assignment: Go find a tourist and ask them questions: where they are from? how old they were? how many days are you in Bukinttinggi? and if we would sign our names to their homework booklet, and last take a picture with them!  Yes! 

We will....and we signed and we took pictures and more pictures and the kids came warm and friendly with lovely smiles...look at the pictures we took of them...they were all so sweet and so pleased to have a picture of us!  

I said to Nick & Rebecca "now I know how those movie stars feel....ha!"  We were very very popular for a while...until we finally had to pull away and have a bit to eat....but from a distance 4 young boys

kept an eye on us and then - when our lunch was finished - they came into the restaurant and graciously asked if we would answer some questions! Well of course we will!

 But they were sweet and appreciative!

We walked around ....nosing through a market place...

We visited the Fort de Kock

                                                                      a Dutch fort

This location was used because it is the highest point in Bukittinggi and so the Dutch protected the area. 

We also went to another sight Panorama Park ~ This park was in a beautiful setting overlooking this deep canyon!  With the mountain in the background! Rebecca said "pose" you two!

and a Japanese Cave  - a Plaza with a clock on it that our Dutch Queen had donated in 1920 -
and nosed around in a market place!  But the biggest treat was a horse drawn cart - Yes the 3 of us plus the driver all piled into this little cart and off we went!  Our horse was named "Melanie" and I was feeling bad for the horse pulling all four of us!  But he was surely tired of standing in one position too waiting for a tourist to come along!  Melanie went off with a good trot!  A fun experience for sure! 

 I am having a hard time downloading pictures here at this hotel...it is going one at a time and it is taking f o r e v e r.....so bear with us...we will try at our next location!  It is Tuesday morning and we are taking a cab to a reservation park here 55 km from our hotel and also going to see a flower that is a meter in width (3ft wide) and it only blooms two months out of the year! 

So that is our plan for today  - tomorrow we are heading by bus to Padang the coastal town.

We hope to settle there for a few weeks ~ Rebecca will be flying out to Bali from the airport there -

So will catch up with you all soon with pictures ~ but did want to let you know we are well and safe and enjoying our time here in Bukittinggi ~ Looking forward to more contact in a few days ~

Wifi here at the hotel is not good.....again!  Ugh!