PADANG - INDONESIA

After the journey from hell since lake Toba we finally arrived in Padang, the minute we got there it did nothing but rain all day but we were just glad for hot showers and other comforts. Ordered a massive pizza and crashed out.

The following day the problem was obvious, we had intended to stay in the previous town several days but were forced to move on because everywhere was booked up solid. We now had 5 days to kill in Padang and it was hardly a great place to be.

Now as bad as Medan but it was rundown, noisy, hot and in general horrible. The beach was awful, it was so full of litter it looked like a giant landfill. To top it all off there was next to nothing to see or do in the city. The locals however were very friendly and it was obvious foreigners are a very rare sight, in the time there we seen one couple on the first day and that was it.

Managed to find a bar with the football on and that was nearly empty, our only entertainment was cut short by a power cut so that was that.

A massive walk round town in the midday heat confirmed what we already knew, there was nothing of interest in the city. The thought of spending new year eve there knowing only a couple of hours flight away there was a good time to be had was not good. Robbie booked his flight to Bali on the 30th December.

I had my flight booked for January 2 but the thought of spending one day on my own there let alone three was not good. Got on to the internet and paid for another flight back to Kuala Lumpur, it was 30 pounds I wasted on the other flight but it was a decision I did not regret. Robbie described the last day as a prisoner waiting for his sentence to finish !!!!!!

Robbie's trip turned into a bit of a nightmare, I later found out he couldn't find anywhere to stay so he had to sleep rough on new years eve. He was soon on the plane back home.......

On my final morning I was due to leave at 6am, I had paid the owner of the hostel to take me to the airport but they were not in any hurry to take me. I was standing there waiting with my bags but they kept smiling and giving me the "in a minute" treatment. I was waiting well over an hour and got very mad with them in the end. If my flight had not been delayed I would have missed it.....

It could have all been a lot worse 9 months later while still traveling Padang was hit by a massive earthquake.