5 days - Bukittinggi, Padang, advice needed

I have never been in S.E.A. I am living in Seoul. Recently I was
invited into an event in Singapore from 24~27 April. So I have a plan
to travel in Bukittinggi Sumatra for 5 days after the event. I will be
back to Seoul with 2 May 9:30 a.m. flight from Singapore.

After search with lonely-planet-book and something, I figured out an
itinerary. I am alone.

SIN(27 April) - Padang - Bukittinggi - Padang - SIN(2 May 9:30 a.m.
flight)

From 27 April I am free from the event. I can use the hotel room free
even that night, but there is no reason not to leave Singapore if I
have a flight to Sumatra.

I guess if only I get to Padang I have no problem to go to Bukit with
bus or something. Medan might be an option, but then Bukit is too far
from there. And I heard Padang-Bukit route is beautiful. I will visit
some lakes like Singkarak and Maninjau in the mean time.

Is the plan reasonable, or better option? FYI, I like sea. Even
mediocre scenary of sea will attact me. If I have an opportunity of
fishing I may give up all and may stay there all the time. So to speak
I have no fixed travel plan^^.

Is there anyone who makes my 5 days of first S.E.A travel funniest?

Thanks for your reading.

p.s. Earlier I was privately helped by Peter Loud. Repeating again my
thanks here.

Hi Han,

Fly up to Medan and go to Lake Toba. It's beautiful, cool, decent hotels
that are unbelievable cheap. I personally much prefer Lake Toba to Maninjau,
of course different people like different things.

Selamat Jalan,

Pete
"Maps of Indonesia"
http://users.powernet.co.uk/mkmarina...indonesia.html


"Han" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have never been in S.E.A. I am living in Seoul. Recently I was
invited into an event in Singapore from 24~27 April. So I have a plan
to travel in Bukittinggi Sumatra for 5 days after the event. I will be
back to Seoul with 2 May 9:30 a.m. flight from Singapore.

After search with lonely-planet-book and something, I figured out an
itinerary. I am alone.

SIN(27 April) - Padang - Bukittinggi - Padang - SIN(2 May 9:30 a.m.
flight)

From 27 April I am free from the event. I can use the hotel room free
even that night, but there is no reason not to leave Singapore if I
have a flight to Sumatra.

I guess if only I get to Padang I have no problem to go to Bukit with
bus or something. Medan might be an option, but then Bukit is too far
from there. And I heard Padang-Bukit route is beautiful. I will visit
some lakes like Singkarak and Maninjau in the mean time.

Is the plan reasonable, or better option? FYI, I like sea. Even
mediocre scenary of sea will attact me. If I have an opportunity of
fishing I may give up all and may stay there all the time. So to speak
I have no fixed travel plan^^.

Is there anyone who makes my 5 days of first S.E.A travel funniest?

Thanks for your reading.

p.s. Earlier I was privately helped by Peter Loud. Repeating again my
thanks here.

Hi Han,

Fly up to Medan and go to Lake Toba. It's beautiful, cool, decent hotels
that are unbelievable cheap. I personally much prefer Lake Toba to Maninjau,
of course different people like different things.

Selamat Jalan,

Pete
"Maps of Indonesia"
http://users.powernet.co.uk/mkmarina...indonesia.html


"Han" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have never been in S.E.A. I am living in Seoul. Recently I was
invited into an event in Singapore from 24~27 April. So I have a plan
to travel in Bukittinggi Sumatra for 5 days after the event. I will be
back to Seoul with 2 May 9:30 a.m. flight from Singapore.

After search with lonely-planet-book and something, I figured out an
itinerary. I am alone.

SIN(27 April) - Padang - Bukittinggi - Padang - SIN(2 May 9:30 a.m.
flight)

From 27 April I am free from the event. I can use the hotel room free
even that night, but there is no reason not to leave Singapore if I
have a flight to Sumatra.

I guess if only I get to Padang I have no problem to go to Bukit with
bus or something. Medan might be an option, but then Bukit is too far
from there. And I heard Padang-Bukit route is beautiful. I will visit
some lakes like Singkarak and Maninjau in the mean time.

Is the plan reasonable, or better option? FYI, I like sea. Even
mediocre scenary of sea will attact me. If I have an opportunity of
fishing I may give up all and may stay there all the time. So to speak
I have no fixed travel plan^^.

Is there anyone who makes my 5 days of first S.E.A travel funniest?

Thanks for your reading.

p.s. Earlier I was privately helped by Peter Loud. Repeating again my
thanks here.

Hi,

I've just updated my website,
http://users.powernet.co.uk/mkmarina...indonesia.html to include a
photograph of the hotel, Samosir Cottages, that I stay at on Samosir, Lake
Toba. The link is next to the map of Lake Toba.

I had one of those three rooms at the top. It cost less than £1 per night,
(less then US$2). A friend and his wife had one of the best rooms in the
place, complete with a full bathtub, hot water, a/c. and garden, that was
about £3 per night.

The hotel satellite TV, films on CD to watch, even a table tennis table. It
was right on the lakeside. I could stand on the garden wall and dive into
the clean clear lake. It is one of the best places I've stayed at in
Indonesia.

Selamat Jalan.

Pete



"Pete Loud" wrote in message
...
Hi Han,

Fly up to Medan and go to Lake Toba. It's beautiful, cool, decent hotels
that are unbelievable cheap. I personally much prefer Lake Toba to
Maninjau,
of course different people like different things.

Selamat Jalan,

Pete
"Maps of Indonesia"
http://users.powernet.co.uk/mkmarina...indonesia.html


"Han" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have never been in S.E.A. I am living in Seoul. Recently I was
invited into an event in Singapore from 24~27 April. So I have a plan
to travel in Bukittinggi Sumatra for 5 days after the event. I will be
back to Seoul with 2 May 9:30 a.m. flight from Singapore.

After search with lonely-planet-book and something, I figured out an
itinerary. I am alone.

SIN(27 April) - Padang - Bukittinggi - Padang - SIN(2 May 9:30 a.m.
flight)

From 27 April I am free from the event. I can use the hotel room free
even that night, but there is no reason not to leave Singapore if I
have a flight to Sumatra.

I guess if only I get to Padang I have no problem to go to Bukit with
bus or something. Medan might be an option, but then Bukit is too far
from there. And I heard Padang-Bukit route is beautiful. I will visit
some lakes like Singkarak and Maninjau in the mean time.

Is the plan reasonable, or better option? FYI, I like sea. Even
mediocre scenary of sea will attact me. If I have an opportunity of
fishing I may give up all and may stay there all the time. So to speak
I have no fixed travel plan^^.

Is there anyone who makes my 5 days of first S.E.A travel funniest?

Thanks for your reading.

p.s. Earlier I was privately helped by Peter Loud. Repeating again my
thanks here.

Hi,

I've just updated my website,
http://users.powernet.co.uk/mkmarina...indonesia.html to include a
photograph of the hotel, Samosir Cottages, that I stay at on Samosir, Lake
Toba. The link is next to the map of Lake Toba.

I had one of those three rooms at the top. It cost less than £1 per night,
(less then US$2). A friend and his wife had one of the best rooms in the
place, complete with a full bathtub, hot water, a/c. and garden, that was
about £3 per night.

The hotel satellite TV, films on CD to watch, even a table tennis table. It
was right on the lakeside. I could stand on the garden wall and dive into
the clean clear lake. It is one of the best places I've stayed at in
Indonesia.

Selamat Jalan.

Pete



"Pete Loud" wrote in message
...
Hi Han,

Fly up to Medan and go to Lake Toba. It's beautiful, cool, decent hotels
that are unbelievable cheap. I personally much prefer Lake Toba to
Maninjau,
of course different people like different things.

Selamat Jalan,

Pete
"Maps of Indonesia"
http://users.powernet.co.uk/mkmarina...indonesia.html


"Han" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have never been in S.E.A. I am living in Seoul. Recently I was
invited into an event in Singapore from 24~27 April. So I have a plan
to travel in Bukittinggi Sumatra for 5 days after the event. I will be
back to Seoul with 2 May 9:30 a.m. flight from Singapore.

After search with lonely-planet-book and something, I figured out an
itinerary. I am alone.

SIN(27 April) - Padang - Bukittinggi - Padang - SIN(2 May 9:30 a.m.
flight)

From 27 April I am free from the event. I can use the hotel room free
even that night, but there is no reason not to leave Singapore if I
have a flight to Sumatra.

I guess if only I get to Padang I have no problem to go to Bukit with
bus or something. Medan might be an option, but then Bukit is too far
from there. And I heard Padang-Bukit route is beautiful. I will visit
some lakes like Singkarak and Maninjau in the mean time.

Is the plan reasonable, or better option? FYI, I like sea. Even
mediocre scenary of sea will attact me. If I have an opportunity of
fishing I may give up all and may stay there all the time. So to speak
I have no fixed travel plan^^.

Is there anyone who makes my 5 days of first S.E.A travel funniest?

Thanks for your reading.

p.s. Earlier I was privately helped by Peter Loud. Repeating again my
thanks here.

Han wrote:
I have never been in S.E.A. I am living in Seoul. Recently I was
invited into an event in Singapore from 24~27 April. So I have a plan
to travel in Bukittinggi Sumatra for 5 days after the event. I will
be
back to Seoul with 2 May 9:30 a.m. flight from Singapore.

After search with lonely-planet-book and something, I figured out an
itinerary. I am alone.

SIN(27 April) - Padang - Bukittinggi - Padang - SIN(2 May 9:30 a.m.
flight)

From 27 April I am free from the event. I can use the hotel room
free
even that night, but there is no reason not to leave Singapore if I
have a flight to Sumatra.

I guess if only I get to Padang I have no problem to go to Bukit with
bus or something. Medan might be an option, but then Bukit is too far
from there. And I heard Padang-Bukit route is beautiful. I will visit
some lakes like Singkarak and Maninjau in the mean time.

Is the plan reasonable, or better option? FYI, I like sea. Even
mediocre scenary of sea will attact me. If I have an opportunity of
fishing I may give up all and may stay there all the time. So to
speak
I have no fixed travel plan^^.

Plan seems very reasonable. Bukittinggi is quite beautiful.

While you're there, they make a candy that's kind of like thick peanut
brittle. Absolutely delicious. I forget the name. Available at just
about any small grocery store.

Han wrote:
I have never been in S.E.A. I am living in Seoul. Recently I was
invited into an event in Singapore from 24~27 April. So I have a plan
to travel in Bukittinggi Sumatra for 5 days after the event. I will
be
back to Seoul with 2 May 9:30 a.m. flight from Singapore.

After search with lonely-planet-book and something, I figured out an
itinerary. I am alone.

SIN(27 April) - Padang - Bukittinggi - Padang - SIN(2 May 9:30 a.m.
flight)

From 27 April I am free from the event. I can use the hotel room
free
even that night, but there is no reason not to leave Singapore if I
have a flight to Sumatra.

I guess if only I get to Padang I have no problem to go to Bukit with
bus or something. Medan might be an option, but then Bukit is too far
from there. And I heard Padang-Bukit route is beautiful. I will visit
some lakes like Singkarak and Maninjau in the mean time.

Is the plan reasonable, or better option? FYI, I like sea. Even
mediocre scenary of sea will attact me. If I have an opportunity of
fishing I may give up all and may stay there all the time. So to
speak
I have no fixed travel plan^^.

Plan seems very reasonable. Bukittinggi is quite beautiful.

While you're there, they make a candy that's kind of like thick peanut
brittle. Absolutely delicious. I forget the name. Available at just
about any small grocery store.

Thank you very much Pete and Tchiowa. Both idea and comment are
valuable for me.

In addition to Padang-Bukittinggi scenario, Medan-Toba is another
option now. That may depend on airlines schedule : Which destination
has flights of my convenient time when I depart from Singapore.

Schedule :
27 April afternoon : depart from Singapore, Bintan or Batam.
1 May afternoon : return to Singapore, Bintan or Batam to get the next
day 9:00 flight to Seoul. If possible, returning to there 2 May is
better.

If all is same, I prefer Padang- scenario. I worry Medan- scenario
takes too much time in bus for my limited time asset.

If only I have one month or something!

Hi,

Bukittinggi is a great place for travellers, good accommodation and
reasonable restaurants. Lake Maninjau is OK, but I was disappointed
considering the write-ups. Padang is terrible.

Medan is a big noisy, dusty city but it's possible to get direct from
airport to Lake Toba. If I remember correctly, the time from Medan to Toba,
by road, is less than Bukittinggi to Padang, but there not a lot in it.

I found Lake Toba to be much cleaner and better for swimming etc. than Lake
Maninjau. The accommodation is certainly much better at Samosir than at
Maninjau. The easiest way to fly to Medan from Singapore might be via Kuala
Lumpur rather than Batam. You might even be able to fly direct from
Singapore to Medan.

The one place to avoid en route to Bukittinggi is Pekanbaru. In my many
years in Indonesia I have had dozens and dozens and dozens of pick-pockets
try to rob me. The only place they succeeded was in Pecuniary. They didn't
get much, about Sin$12, but it hurt my pride ;-)

Have a good holiday, Han.

Cheers,


Pete







"Han" wrote in message
ups.com...
Thank you very much Pete and Tchiowa. Both idea and comment are
valuable for me.

In addition to Padang-Bukittinggi scenario, Medan-Toba is another
option now. That may depend on airlines schedule : Which destination
has flights of my convenient time when I depart from Singapore.

Schedule :
27 April afternoon : depart from Singapore, Bintan or Batam.
1 May afternoon : return to Singapore, Bintan or Batam to get the next
day 9:00 flight to Seoul. If possible, returning to there 2 May is
better.

If all is same, I prefer Padang- scenario. I worry Medan- scenario
takes too much time in bus for my limited time asset.

If only I have one month or something!

Thank you very much Pete. Then I will seriously consider Medan-Toba
route. According to lonely-planet book, Medan-Prapat takes 5 hours bus,
Padang-Bukittinggi 2 hours. On the other hand, Singapore-Medan seems to
have more flights than Singapore-Padang has. You let me have another
option Kuala Lumpur en route. I have never been there. I heard earlier
Lake Maninjau is a bit contaminated while Lake Toba is too touristic.
North Sumatra people is aggressive while West Sumatra is nice.
pick-pockets. Then wandering urban area looks not a good idea.