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Introducing Padang
Travel Alert: Padang continues to rebuild following September's devastating earthquake. Travellers should expect delays as the region recovers. Check the BBC for news updates, as well as Safe Travel for updated government warnings.
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Padang is typical of Sumatra’s modern landscape: a sprawling noisy place circumnavigated by tripped-out opelet blasting squeaks-and-beeps techno music. As the capital of West Sumatra province, Padang might have once been a showpiece, but the economic depression that has followed the 1997 currency crash means that the city’s infrastructure gets used but never renewed. Capital, more so than capability, feeds the modern machine.
Padang is an entry point into Sumatra to/from Jakarta, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Arriving in Padang after the relative comfort of mainland Southeast Asia makes for a rough landing. Padang has few tourist amenities and limited English. Despite the urge to hide from the smell of kerosene and diesel exhaust, you’ll find that the locals are genuinely friendly and curious about the few foreigners who find their way into town.
Savvier travellers skip the heat and humidity and migrate to the beaches around Padang sandwiched between the Indian Ocean and the Bukit Barisan range, until they’ve adjusted to Indonesia’s frenetic pace. Or they spend a night in town and head off for surf or trekking tours on Mentawai Islands. Others plough straight through to the hill town of Bukittinggi or to Kerinci Seblat National Park.
Last updated: Nov 13, 2009
