There are numerous angkot (3000Rp) around town, operating out of the Angkot terminal ( GOOGLE MAP ; Jl M Yamin), but you have to know where you’re going.
Around Padang
If Padang’s traffic is frying your brains, or you’re waiting for a boat, kick back on one of the nearby beaches. Pantai Bungus, 23km south of Padang, is conveniently close to the ferry port of Teluk Kabung, but still sufficiently relaxed to unkink the most frazzled traveller. There’s a host of nearby islands to explore, plus the odd gem in the hinterland. Further south along the coast is Sungai Pinang with its somnolent fishing village vibe.
To reach Pantai Bungus from Padang, take a blue angkot labelled ‘Kabung Bungus’ (15,000Rp, one hour) or a taxi (140,000Rp). There’s no public transport to Sungai Pinang; it’s an hour’s drive along a very rough road from Bungus, so arrange transport from Padang.
1Sights
Air Terjun Tiga TingkatWATERFALL
(Three Tier Waterfall; Pantai Bungus)
This spectacular three-storey waterfall is close to Teluk Kabung, by the village of Koto Lubuk Hitam. It’s an hour’s hike up to the base of the falls for swimming.
Pulau PagangISLAND
Pulau Pagang is a beautiful small island, 1½-hours offshore from Bungus, with white sandy beaches and a handful of basic bungalows. It’s possible to rent a boat from Bungus and stay the night. Ask at Tin Tin Homestay, or among the local fishermen.
4Sleeping
TinTin HomestayHOMESTAY$
(%0812 6683 6668; http://tintinhomestay.blogspot.com; Pantai Bungus; r 120,000Rp)
TinTin Homestay is a small, quiet, family-run losmen on Pantai Bungus offering basic, netted rooms a couple of kilometres from the port. It’s run by friendly Raoul who can arrange overnight island trips and multiday trips to the Mentawais.
Jophira TinTin, reachable via a 45-minute boat ride from Pantai Bungus and owned by TinTin Homestay, is a clutch of adorable thatched bungalows on a near-pristine beach. Boat transfers cost 450,000Rp and activities include fishing and snorkelling.
Rimba EcolodgeBUNGALOW$$
(%0821 7082 6361, 0888 0740 2278; www.rimba-ecoproject.com; r 125,000-225,000Rp)S
Rimba Ecolodge is an intimate French-Indonesian-run place reachable by boat from the mainland. Monkeys come to explore the beach where the breeze-cooled bungalows are situated and there’s a timeless, tranquil air to the whole place. Staff are involved in coral reef and wildlife rehabilitation, working closely with the local fishing communities. The menu features plenty of fresh fish and seafood.
Cubadak Paradiso VillageRESORT$$$
(%0812 660 3766; www.cubadak-paradisovillage.com; Pulau Cubadak; r incl full board US$140-190, minimum 2 nights)
Cubadak Paradiso Village is found on tranquil Pulau Cubadak where 13 bungalows perch above teal waters. You can snorkel off your front porch or go diving or canoeing. Pickup from Padang and boat transport is included.
Ricky’s Beach HouseGUESTHOUSE$$
(%0813 6381 1786; Sungai Pinang; r 150,000-200,000Rp; aW)
Ricky’s Beach House in Sungai Pinang fishing village is the kind of place where backpackers end up extending their stay indefinitely. And why would you want to leave the Rasta-coloured beach house, the little beach bungalows or the hammock-hung bar where someone is always ready to break out the guitar and the bongos? Call ahead for transport.
Mentawai Islands
Though not a great distance from the mainland, the Mentawai Islands and its people were kept isolated until the 19th century by strong winds, unpredictable currents and razor-sharp reefs.
It’s thought that the archipelago separated from Sumatra some 500,000 years ago, resulting in unique flora and fauna that sees Mentawai ranked alongside Madagascar in terms of endemic primate population. Of particular interest is siamang kerdil, a rare species of black-and-yellow monkey, named simpai Mentawai by the locals.
The largest island, Siberut, is home to the majority of the Mentawai population and is the most studied and protected island in the archipelago. About 60% of Siberut is still covered with tropical rainforest, which shelters a rich biological community that has earned it a designation as a Unesco biosphere reserve. The western half of the island is protected as the Siberut National Park.
Pulau Sipora is home to Tua Pejat, the seat of regional government and a surfer drop-off point. The archipelago’s airport is located at Rokot. With only 10% original rainforest remaining, it’s also the most developed of the Mentawai Islands.
Further south are the Pulau Pagai islands – Utara (North) and Selatan (South) – which rarely see independent travellers.
Change has come quickly to the Mentawai Islands. Tourism, logging, transmigrasi (a government-sponsored scheme enabling settlers to move from overcrowded regions to sparsely populated ones) and other government-backed attempts to mainstream the culture have separated the people from the jungle and whittled the jungle into profit. It isn’t what it used to be, but it is a long way from being like everywhere else.
Surfers comprise the other island-bound pilgrims, many of whom rank the Mentawais as the ride of their life.
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit the islands in October 2010, with a resulting tsunami killing more than 500 people and leaving more than 8000 homeless in the archipelago’s southern islands.
2Activities
Hiking
The river scene from Apocalypse Now has a tendency to flash into your mind as you head upstream in a longboat and watch the people and villages growing wilder by the minute. Soon you’re out of the canoe and following a wild-eyed sikerei (shaman) covered in tattoos and a loincloth through the mud for the next few hours, passing waterfalls, balancing on slippery tree branches and swimming across rivers until you reach his humble abode on poles in the middle of nowhere.
There’s been fervent discussion about the authenticity of these trips, and what actually constitutes a traditional lifestyle. There is scope for both off-the-beaten-track adventure, where you turn up in remote villages and witness Mentawai life as it really is, and more organised ventures where villagers get paid by your guide to dress up in traditional gear, show you how to fish and hunt and engage you in their daily activities.
Mainland tour agencies tend to offer multiday treks, ranging from six to 10 days, but it’s entirely possible to find your own guide, do an independent trip and decide for yourself how long you wish to go for. That said, longer hikes allow you to penetrate deeper into the island and stay in more remote villages, whereas if you opt for just a couple of nights with the Mentawai people, you’re more likely to end up in a village not far removed from Muara Siberut where the villagers expect to be paid to have their photos taken.
Many hotels and guesthouses in and around Padang offer treks or can recommend guides. Blogs, forums and other travellers can be invaluable resources as well. If you have plenty of time, you can just turn up in the Mentawais and ask around at the jetty cafes in Maileppet and Siberut, though a good, recommended guide that you make advance arrangements with can be invaluable. Prices start around 300,000Rp per day, but don’t include transport, food, accommodation or tips. When talking to a prospective guide, clarify exactly what is and isn’t included and see if you can get a detailed breakdown of prices (guide fee per day, food, accommodation and boat), bearing in mind that accommodation prices will be the least of your expenses.
If you prefer a mainland-organised trek, prices in Bukittinggi and Padang start at around US$500 for six days and normally include a guide, accommodation, food and transport. Always check for any additional costs.
MENTAWAI HIKING TIPS
Dress for mud wrestling. Most of your gear will get trashed, so leave behind your finest garments and bear in mind you may need to swim across the odd river.
Double-bag everything in plastic bags (or carry your gear in a dry bag) and keep one set of clothes dry for the evenings.
Don’t walk in flip-flops – step into deep bog and you’ll never see them again. Trainers or trekking
boots are a must. Keep flip-flops handy for downtime in the villages.
Travel light. Large packs are a hindrance and anything tied to the outside is a goner.
Prepare for poor water sanitation. The local rivers serve all purposes, so water purification (tablets or Steripen) is recommended, as is a water pump to filter out impurities. Alternatively, you can carry your weight in bottled water.
Take precautions against chloroquine-resistant malaria which still exists on Siberut, though SurfAid (www.surfaidinternational.org) has been actively working to limit its spread. DDT-strength insect repellent is advisable, as are mosquito nets if you’re travelling independently (tour agencies tend to provide them).
Don’t expect electricity in the evenings. A torch is your best friend, especially when it comes to negotiating your way to the local privy at night.
Prepare for rain. May is generally the driest month, while October and November are the wettest – but it can rain at any time. The easiest thing is to just accept that you’re going to get wet.
Buy essential supplies in Padang, where there is greater choice (and cheaper prices) than in Siberut.
Buy items for bartering and gifts. If heading to remote communities, remember that everything tends to be shared, so bring plenty of food.
Surfing
The Mentawai islands have consistent surf year-round at dozens of legendary breaks. The season peaks between April and October, with off-season waves kinder on intermediate surfers. Mentawai waves are not for beginners; most breaks are reef breaks, some of them very shallow. Choose between staying at land-based losmen, surf camps and resorts; live-aboard boat charters head further afield.
With patience, attitude and a handful of contacts it’s possible to put together your own independent surfing safari for a fraction of the cost of a package tour. Budget accommodation is on the increase throughout the Mentawais, and chartering a longboat is relatively easy.
The most consistent cluster of waves is in the Playground area, but things can get rather crowded during peak season. The most unpeopled waves are off the practically uninhabited Pulau Pagai Selatan; due to their remoteness, they’re the premise of charter boat surfers.
Check some of the more popular surfing blogs, such as GlobalSurfers (www.globalsurfers.com) and WannaSurf (www.wannasurf.com), for the latest intel.
FIXING A SURFING SAFARI
A good fixer is worth their weight in gold. They will meet you at the airport, show you where you can procure various supplies, then get the whole lot to the port and safely stowed on the ferry. They will have already arranged your arrival day to coincide with the ferry schedule, and secured you a cabin or seat. On your return, they’ll meet the ferry and get you and all your gear back to the airport.
You then need a second fixer out in the islands, who will meet your ferry, tee up a longboat, ship your gear, and drop you at a cheap losmen or basic hut somewhere close to your favourite break. They’ll even arrange a cook if you want one. Of course, all this costs money, and rest assured, your fixer is taking a cut from everybody. But with careful planning and bargaining it’s still going to be a whole lot cheaper than two weeks in a resort.
How do you find a fixer? Without any recommendations, your first trip will always be a learning curve. Experienced surfers come back year after year and use the same fixers, boat drivers and hut owners. All business is conducted by mobile phone, and good fixers will also have email addresses. Watch closely what other groups are doing – maybe you can share a taxi to the port, or bum a lift in a speedboat – all the time filling your mobile phone with contact numbers.
There’s nothing stopping you doing all this organising yourself, but it’s time and energy you’d most likely rather leave for the waves.
If you’re looking to set something up before you arrive, contact Harris Smile (%0821 2241 0133; [email protected]), a friendly, English-speaking Tua Pejat local. But be sure to bargain hard, and if you can, ask around first about boat prices before you commit to anything.
TTours
Tours and surf charters can be organised in Padang.
THE MENTAWAIANS
The untouched, the unbaptised and the unphotographed have long drawn Westerners to distant corners of the globe. And the Mentawaians have seen every sort of self-anointed discoverer: the colonial entrepreneurs hoping to harness the land for profit, missionaries trading medicine for souls and modern-day tourists eager to experience life before the machine.
Very little is known about the origins of the Mentawaians, but it is assumed that they emigrated from Sumatra to Nias and made their way to Siberut from there.
At the time of contact with missionaries, the Mentawaians had their own language, adat (traditional laws and regulations) and religion, and were skilled boat builders. They lived a hunter-gatherer existence.
Traditional clothing was a loincloth made from the bark of the breadfruit tree for men and a bark skirt for women. Mentawaians wore bands of red-coloured rattan, beads and imported brass rings. They filed their teeth into points and decorated their bodies with tattoos.
After independence, the Indonesian government banned many of the Mentawaians’ customs, such as tattoos, sharpened teeth and long hair. Although the ban has not been enforced, many villagers have adopted modern fashions.
Traditional villages are built along riverbanks and consist of one or more uma (communal house) surrounded by lalep (single-storey family houses). Several families live in the same building. Bachelors and widows have their own quarters, known as rusuk, identical to the family longhouse except they have no altar.
Although essentially patriarchal, society is organised on egalitarian principles. There are no inherited titles or positions and no subordinate roles. It is the uma, not the village itself, which is pivotal to society. It is here that discussions affecting the community take place.
The native Sibulungan religion is a form of animism, involving the worship of nature spirits and a belief in the existence of ghosts, as well as the soul. The chief nature spirits are those of the sky, the sea, the jungle and the earth. The sky spirits are considered the most influential. There are also two river spirits: Ina Oinan (Mother of Rivers) is beneficent, while Kameinan (Father’s Sister) is regarded as evil.
German missionary August Lett was the first to attempt to convert the local people, but he was not entirely successful: eight years after his arrival Lett was murdered by the locals. Somehow the mission managed to survive, however, and 11 baptisms had been recorded by 1916. There are now more than 80 Protestant churches throughout the islands.
More than 50 years after the Protestants, Catholic missionaries moved in to vie for converts. They opened a mission – a combined church, school and clinic – and free medicines and clothes were given to any islander who converted.
Islam was introduced when government officials were appointed from Padang during the Dutch era. Today more than half the population claims to be Protestant, 16% Catholic and 13% Muslim, though the number of the latter is growing due to government efforts at Islamisation. An Italian priest, Padre Pio, who has lived on the Mentawaians for decades, returned from Italy recently to find his village school in ruins, a concrete mosque in place and the headman riding a new motorbike.
4Sleeping
Along with transport, accommodation will be your primary expense in the Mentawais. Trekking guides will organise family homestays for around 100,000Rp per night.
For surfers, accommodation falls roughly into three price categories: losmen (around US$35 to US$40 per night, including meals) and surf camps and resorts (US$100 to US$200 per night for a midrange place and over US$300 for top end). The best-located losmen are found on Masokut Island (in the middle of Playground), just south of Pulau Siberut; in Katiet, at the bottom of Pulau Sipora (in front of the iconic HT’s break); on Pulau Pagai Utara (in front of the Macca’s breaks); and facing the Telescopes break on Tua Pejat. Bring all your supplies, drinking water and mosquito nets. To get to Masokut, either
bum a lift with another group, or charter a longboat from Siberut. As for the rest, interisland ferries can get you reasonably close.
Surf camp and resort prices typically include transfers to/from the nearest port (Siberut, Tua Pejat) and two speedboat outings per day to catch the best waves. Most top-end places include private speedboat transfer from Padang. Most operate on a package basis for around 10 days, and prebooking is required.
There’s a plethora of surf resorts in the Playground and Tua Pejat areas, a couple in Katiet and just one apiece in the far-flung Pulau Pagai Utara and Pulau Pagai Selatan.
There are a couple of basic hotels in both Siberut and Tua Pejat, for the unlikely event that you get stuck waiting for a ferry.
Playground
Bintang Surf CampSURF CAMP$$
(%0812 6617 4454; Pulau Masokut; per person 400,000Rp)
A short walk from Ebay on Pulau Masokut, this chilled-out surf camp is the best of the local budget lot, with basic thatched huts and shared rooms, ample portions of delicious Indonesian food and the kind of camaraderie you get when you throw 20 young Brazilians, Aussies, Irish and Norwegians together. Can be booked through Regina Adventures in Padang.
Mentawai Surf RetreatSURF CAMP$$
(%0812 6157 0187, 0751-36345; www.mentawaisurfingretreat.com; Masokut Island; 10 nights US$2500; hFeb-Nov; W)
Lonely Planet Indonesia Page 105