Last days in Padang....

...and our journey ends in Bali

My last 3 days in Padang I mostly spend surfing at Air Manis Beach, approx. 1 hour from Padang. I'm still surprised how fast I was able to stand on the board and ride on the wave and this is one of the most awesome feelings ever! So now I'm kind of addicted to this :)

I still can't believe that this is it! 8 weeks of travelling and 6 weeks of internship in West Sumatra are over.
Our last stop will be Bali and I'm really excited now to go there!

Even though Padang seemed to be really challenging to me in the first place and especially the first week wasn't easy for me at all. When I look back at those 6 weeks I don't regret one single day I spent here or the decision going to Indonesia. Because when I'm honest, this is exactly what I wanted: totally different culture, different religion, way of life, awesome islands, surfing, adventure, food, climate and so on. And on top of this I was to spent this time with some pretty awesome people I met here from all over the world, who I don't want to miss anymore.
Of course, there are still things where you can only shake your head and try to ignore, because I could go on to write about things and behaviors which I just don't understand or don't want to understand and/or accept...but nevertheless, after 6 weeks you can't help but feel kind of home, like when you return back to Padang after a weekend trip or so. You know the streets you wander, you know where to go, know what to eat....and even more important: know what not to eat :)
I'll especially miss my hostfamily, since they are just such nice, hospitable and kind people. Always made me feel welcome and made me feel like home.
Terima Kasih!!!!

Kerinci National Park

Those 4 days were as adventures as the last seven weeks all together...

1. Adventure: How to find a bus going to the National Park
   Our plan was leaving Padang at late evening, spend the night in the bus which takes us in just 7 hours to Indonesias largest National Park.
   In the afternoon everything was set: we reserved 5 seats in a bus which departures at 9pm. Luckily at around 6pm we checked again and what a surprise: our seats were somehow not confirmed and thus given away. No seats no bus! We were advised that there is a “bus terminal” where many bus companies offer rides to the park. We went there...the bus terminal turned out to be a normal shop, selling street food and other little things, with 2 guys claiming that they have a car which will take us to the park...3 hours later we are sitting in a minivan heading off to Kerinci National Park
2. Adventure: How to survive a 7 houre ride with road conditions that are literally made for suicide and a crazy driver...who obviously wants to commit suicide...
3. Adventure: How to find a homestay at 4am in a remote village somewhere in a National Park?
   After stopping, asking, knocking, calling, 5 homestays, we eventually were lucky and got 2 rooms
   5am – 9am sleep
   breakfast: nasi goreng and hot tea (1/3 tea, 2/3 sugar)
   Our plan for today: taking ankot (“taxi” for up to 20 persons, although space available for max.10) to go to Pelompek, from where we start our hike up to Danau Gunung Tujuh, being the highest volcanic lake in South East Asia (1966m).
   So far so good...
   

   

   Gunung Kerinci, highest volcano in Indonesia, 3,805 m (12,484 ft)

    

   

   Danau Gunung Tujuh

   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Adventure: How to NOT collapse in the jungle
   As we will find out at the way down the next day, the way we take up to the lake is one of the most challenging climbs you can take...challenge accepted! 4 hours straight up, mostly using your hands to pull you up the hill covered with roots which you have to hold on to, what makes it a little bit easier to not slip away.
   Panting and totally exhausted we suddenly can see the lake through palm trees and jungle brush. Beaming and grinning from ear to ear, we made it!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   

   lake

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
   
   

   

   happy about our achievement

   
   But the excitement doesn't last too long → this is where the real adventure starts:
   
5. Where is the camping beach?
   I don't know how this could have happened but we must have totally misunderstood our lonely planet guide which says: “ It takes 4 hours to climb the lake (…) an additional 2 hours hike leads to a camping beach.
   It's already 4pm, we are staring at the lake and the remoteness around us. There is nothing! Slowly we realize that we won't make it to the camping beach before dawn and besides that we don't even have a tent or any other equipment to survive the night.
6. How to survive THIS boat ride?
   Out of the blue, there is a man in his boat on the lake, paddeling torwards us. With a few words of Indonesian we try to explain to the old man that we have to get to the other side of the lake to get to the camping beach. He nods approvingly and points to his “boat” (made of one piece of wood). We are desperate...really desperate! That's why we decide to enter the boat and at this point still hoping that everything will turn out well...
   The boat is as unsteady as it looks. Every single move makes the boat shakes and rocks from side to side. I'm afraid we will capsize any minute, we are in the middle of this huge vulcanic crator lake and for the first time I am afraid of not surviving...
7. Are you kidding me?
   After some time which seems like forever, we arrive. And suddenly it begins to dawn on us. This little places at the shore of the lake , where you can find one little hut covered with awning is what our new friend calls home and this is where we are going to sleep tonight.
   We make him understand that we don't have a tent to sleep in and he generously offeres us to sleep in his hut, where he just lit a fire...hello smoke poisoning!
   We can't help but laugh about this totally messed up situation we stuck in.
   Despite the fire we are sitting at, at 10pm we can't stand the cold outside anymore and reluctantly have to move inside. 
   

   

   our new buddy

   

   our homestay and host :D

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   

   the interior...

   

   nice view...at least

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
     
   Covered with only a light blanket and a towel, I'm freezing and shivering like never before the hole night through. When I get up at 6am my body is all stiff from the cold, my back hurts from the “bed” which is made of a wooden matress and covered with awning and my head is numb from the lack of sleep...best conditions to get up and climb back down the volcanic lake...that's what we did.
   Up-to-date Condition: haven't got anything to eat since 12pm the day before. Running out of water, no more than 2 hours sleep that night, aching body
   

   

   trying to warm-up in the morning sun

   
   We litterarly run down the hill in 2 hours, almost collapsing of exhaustion when we arrive back civilization, in Pelompek where it all started 24hours ago.
   Breakfast: Magnum Classic, Sprite and Water. Feels like heaven!
   
   
   Going to Kersik Tua, renting a room in a homestay, having an ice cold shower that still feels perfect when you haven't showered for 2 day, in which you experienced extreme heat and extreme cold.
   Sleep for 4 hours.
   We decide to go back to Padang this evening. Since the ride takes 7 hours we don't want to spend all day long, we rather go at night.
   
   
   Arriving in Padang at 4am. Trying to call my hostsister to wake her up so she can open the door for me ( yes I told her before that I'll arrive at this late hour). No chance! Little sleepyhead does not hear her phone ringing. So I spend the next 2 hours in front of the house, sitting on my towle, trying keep my eyes open.
   
   Perfect ending for such a crazy and adventures weekend :)