PADANG
Padang is the capital of West Sumatra. The town is quite nice
and deserves a longer visit. The main sights in the city include
Adityawarman Museum (close to the bus station) in a traditional
Minangkabau house and featuring a good collection of antiques
and the cultural center where we can see traditional dances on
Sundays. It is an arts institute, which often stages Minang dance
and pencak silat (martial arts) performance. The cultural center
also offers free tours to the city.
Padang has several houses built in traditional architecture,
including Padang Museum, which houses objects of cultural and
historical interest. Its beach on Bungus bay with its white sands
is good for swimming, boating or just watching the fishing boats
going out to sea in the afternoon. Small boats can be hired from
here to some small islands nearby: Sirandah, Sikoai, Pagang, Parsumpahan.
Padang is a prosperous city and major ports, which has retained
the atmosphere of a market town. It is the third largest city
of Indonesia with a population of more than 300,000. South of
Padang, the massive Kerinci-Strait, Nature Reserve is Indonesia's
largest national parks sprawls across a 345 sq km stretch of Jungle
Mountain dominated by the volcanic core of Mount Kerinci, which
is Sumatra's highest mountain.
Padang has some pretty beaches. The most popular ones are located
south of Padang. The beaches are good for swimming, boating or
just watching fishing boats going out in the afternoon. On Sundays,
the beaches are usually crowded with families and youngsters enjoying
their weekly day off. On other days, however, we will find the
beaches deserted.
One of the most famous attractions in Padang is the renowned
'Nasi Padang'. Numerous restaurants serve it. One of the most
famous is Simpang Raya, which has branches throughout West Sumatra
and Riau, but also in other cities in Indonesia. When we sit down
at a table, in no time the waiter will fill the whole table with
plates, containing Kari, chicken and fish prepared in coconut
curry, Rendang, meat in coconut gravy and Dendeng Balado, thin
slices of dried and fried beef served with red chilies.
History
Since the 16th century Padang has been a trade centre. During
the 16th and 17th century pepper was cultivated and traded with
India, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In 1663
the city came under the Dutch authority. The city came under British
authority twice, the first time during the war between United
Kingdom and the Netherlands (1781-1784) and again when the United
Kingdom managed the area for the Netherlands during the Napoleonic
wars (1795-1815). Afterwards the city was transferred back to
the Netherlands. Up to approximately 1780 the most important trade
product was gold, originating from the gold mines in the region.
When the mines where exhausted, the emphasis turned to other products
such as coffee, salts and textiles.
