Sumatra, Indonesia

I suppose I still owe you a report about my latest Indonesia trip to Sumatra. Since the exam period is starting now I uploaded a lot of pictures, but will be less detailed in my descriptions. I know you like pictures better than text anyway... ;-)

Yeah, I guess you recognized it - that's the new Airbus A380. We saw it when we were taxiing to the runway.

Welcome to Indonesia: You can see a REAL Indonesian toilet :-D
...pimped busses (bemos) in Padang...
...and of course yummy Padang food served in small bowls.

This was a real jungle trip. We walked about 1h (one way) on some (sometimes very) small trails through the jungle to see the Rafflesia, the biggest flower of the world.

After that we got a nice refreshment under a water fall!

On the next day we could see more of the amazing nature around Bukittinggi: Crazy shaped hills formed by erosion, many volcanoes, canyons, giant bats (more than one meter wingspan) and a huge crater lake (including a bath, of course). The roof shape of the houses is by the way special for West Sumatra (Minangkabau) and shall resemble the horns of a Buffalo.

In conclusion (West) Sumatra is really an amazing place (as you can hopefully see from the pictures). There is a huge variety of different landscapes - sometimes you find yourself just marveling at it with an open mouth... Despite the fact that the rainy season had already started we had awesome weather - sunny with some scattered clouds and no rain at all! Another great thing is that it is not very touristy place. You will find some tourist at some popular spots, but apart from that you are either alone or among locals. If you hate places where you can see more tourists than locals - Sumatra is THE place to go!