Packing in Padang

At first, I thought that going to Indonesia would be filled with surfing and chilling on the beach. Little did I know that we would be traversing through rice fields, swimming with sea turtles, and jamming to electro/house music on a party bus.

We went to Padang in West Sumatra, Indonesia and stayed at Brigitte’s House, owned by an awesome woman, Brigitte, who made really good breakfasts and helped us out with everything once we landed in Padang.

At Brigitte's House [Brigitte is the woman sitting]

We stayed there the first night, and at around 5am we were woken up by the call to prayer to the mosques (and almost every subsequent morning). The first day we went island hopping to different small islands off the coast of West Sumatra. We took a very small boat for an hour and a half until we got to the islands. It was extremely beautiful until it started raining! Our guide said that we might have to stay on the island the night until it stopped…I was so down, but not everyone else was so we trekked back in the rain to Padang.

We didn’t have any plans (or places to stay…) for the next two days, and we heard a recommendation of Ricky’s House, which was 2 hours away from Padang. So, after the island hopping tour a driver took us to Ricky’s. It ended up being a village far from any civilization, so the road to get there was a bit bumpy. But we finally arrived safe and sound to Ricky’s, located in a small village called Nagari Sungai Pinang. They welcomed us with open arms, ushering us out of the rain and giving us an amazing meal. 

Looking around, I soon realized that everyone at Ricky’s were only kids! One of them couldn’t be more than 15 years old, and he was the one wearing the apron and giving us the food. Ricky himself was only 20 years old. They just decided to start a business I guess, and a very successful one at that. It was awesome to be talking to people our age from across the world. After a full stomach we went to bed in bungalows right on the beach.

Our 3-person bungalow

View of the beach from the bungalow

The next morning we toured the village, everyone was so friendly and wanted to take pictures with us, especially the children. They followed us wherever we went screaming “hello!” They were so fun to play with. Life in the village was simple, but everyone worked together to make it work.

This kid = future photographer

Another UNC student and I with some of the children

Group of kids riding on a motorbike

Everyone working together to clean caught fish

That day we also wanted to trek to waterfalls that were near the village. Unfortunately, it was too rainy the previous night for us to get there, but we still made it to a beautiful river past the rice fields! Getting there was the hardest (yet most fun) part. We had to walk through the rice fields to get there.

Rice Fields

Everything was just so muddy and we saw first-hand how the Indonesians harvest the rice. After getting my shoes filthy, we finally made it to the river where we just chilled and cooled off in the fresh water.

That night we just ended up playing cards (a ton of Kemps and Presidents) and went back to Brigitte’s the next morning. We walked around Padang, and took these minivans/taxis to get around. Now this was one of the coolest things in Padang. The drivers completely trick out these vans and then drive around certain routes based on the color. They have sick sound systems and play the best music. So, people just get in these minivans and pay 200,000 rupiah (only about 20 cents) to get from one place to the next. There are also these party buses which are even bigger and better versions of the minivans.

Additionally, I found it interesting how many people stared at us whenever we walked around. Padang was not a tourist destination, so we were probably the only white people in the city. Whenever we would enter a restaurant, everyone would stop eating and stare at us. A ton of people wanted to take their pictures with us too. But everyone was so nice and helpful, definitely different than Kuala Lumpur. I also noticed that every woman was dressed very conservatively, never wearing any shorts/skirts above the knee (most of them also wore hijabs).

So, overall, this trip to Indonesia was fantastic. Ricky’s was an unforgettable experience, and I would definitely go back to Nagari Sungai Pinang if I have the time.

Road in the village

Goats roaming the town

Moo

Inside of Ricky's House

View of the village from the road

What is so great about this semester is that I am traveling to different places but always get to come back to Singapore, which is still an amazing city with so much to do! So I’m back, safe and sound (hopefully without malaria) and can’t wait to head off to The Philippines for recess week.