Sat 17 the November - Lake Maninjau

Decided to take a day trip to Lake Maninjau today. By myself on the Public bus system.

It can be quite an arduous process getting anywhere by Bus\Minibus. First of all the Bus station ( Terminal) is about 3km away and the mini busses manage to take about ¾ of an hour to do this, the traffic is horrendous and they tend stop at a couple of points to wait for the bus to fill up. The journey is hot, noisy and the diesel fumes are terrible. Then you need to wait for the Public bus to fill up which can take half an hour or more. Today it took me about 2 hours before we were out of Bukittinggi. Of course I picked a bad day, Market day, but it’s not much better on other days. However once you get into the country the scenery is stunning and worth it in the end.

On the public bus today we stopped to pick up some ducks. About 20 of them stuffed into 4 sacks with holes cut in the sack for the heads and necks to stick out. They were then put on the roof of the bus. They looked quite comical up there but I felt sorry for them.

Lake Maninjau is in the middle of a gigantic volcanic crater. I decided to get off the bus at Embun Pagi before you descend to the lake, as suggested in Emma’s blog. There are some fantastic views of the lake from here. I then started to walk down the 44 bends which are required to get the road to the bottom. It was a lovely hot sunny day and it wasn’t long before I realized that 9km may be a little too far to walk. Bend 39 I think. Each bend has a sign with the number on it. The good thing about transport in Sumatra is that there is always a mini bus or Odjek coming along. I stopped a Mini bus and descended the remaining bends with it to the town of Maninjau, a spectacular journey with troops of monkeys crossing the road.

I visited a couple of beach side chalets which were sign posted from the main road. The first one ( I don’t remember the name) was a little run down but in a fantastic position right on the beach and surrounded by Palm trees, 40 000 rupeea a night (2 pounds). With free use of a canoe, one carved out of a single tree trunk. There were at least three chalets but no customers at the time. The next one was a bit further along just after the town of Bayur. I think it was called Arlens Homestay. Really nice chalets, again in a beautiful location on the beach with a well maintained garden and of course Palm trees. These were 100 000 rupeea and the guy I spoke to either wouldn’t negotiate on the price or didn’t have the authority. Still I am tempted. The only problem is that there were no guests here either. I’d get a bit lonesome staying there on my own I think. It’s the low season and I’m told things are much better in July and August.

On the minibus back to Maninjau town I spotted a guy with a wheelbarrow full of coconuts and a large monkey sitting on top of them. I assume the monkey is used to gather the coconuts, now that would be something to see.

The bus back was much easier and I probably got back to the Hotel in about half the time.

Anyway off for a few Bintangs now

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