We disembarked from the ferry, which can really only be called a rickety wooden boat, which leaked all night onto our heads and bags. The ‘ferry’ was so FULL of fresh food cargo, boxes of chickens and fried noodles that it also created an impenetrable force to our cabin door making entry and exit near impossible. We were in relative luxury however to the many locals in General Admission which can be described as two giant bunk beds made from wood that hold 30 people per level. Of the 7 westerners on board, four were destined for Kandui a $300 a night PER person resort. Dave, myself and Jonas (who we had met in KL and then freakishly ended up in the same cabin as us) on the other hand were going to wing it and wait for a ‘guide’ to approach us once we had exited the boat. Strangely the Mentawai’s only have 3 kinds of accommodation - ludicrously expensive resorts, ludicrously expensive boat charters or very few elusive homestays (or Losman in Indonesian) that you cannot book or find any info on. Even the lonely planet has failed to provide any information except - get a charter. Dave’s Surfing Indo book also had the same helpful info - stay at a resort or get a charter.
So we arrived and stood at the docks, (minus Jonas as he was getting off at a different port) and waited for a guide…nothing…so we walked in the rain with all our luggage into the little town of Tuapajat still wondering why we hadn’t been snapped up yet. Being proactive as things hadn’t quite worked out to plan we tried to call our 1 and only contact but low and behold, no reception on the mobile. We asked a nice lady if she would call for us, she did but the number was out of service. At this point it was a little bit ‘WHAT THE F%*K have we got ourselves into!!’ knowing full well the next ferry off the island is 5 days away, we don‘t speak much indo, they don‘t speak English and we‘re the only tourists to be stupid enough to arrive without anything pre-organised. We eventually found the only guesthouse in the town (far from the beach, far from the surf), checked in as the only guests, sat for 5 mins feeling depressed then snapped out of it and went out to find a SIM card that would work on the island to call Ayen for help. After wondering around aimlessly for a good 30 mins further cementing our feelings of demise, we found a shop with sim cards, waited our turn and then a man started chatting to us and it turns out he had a home stay close to the surf breaks and beach, so he kindly checked us out of the guest house, we jumped on a couple of motorbikes as he and his mate took us to his place. Dave zoomed off first and I was about 5 mins behind him…as I was on the back of the bike riding through the dense jungle with a man I didn’t know, going further into oblivion I started to think that watching ‘banged up abroad’ on Nat Geo Adventure so comprehensively wasn’t such a great idea…
Relived, we arrived to a lovely homebuilt Losman (each and every brick was hand made by Hotin!) with a little outdoor porch furnished with a natural driftwood setting. Our host Hotdin and his family run the Losman and the little shop/restaurant next door. We had everything we could need….except perhaps running water. The bathroom is an outside shed, clean of course, however one must scoop water from a well (which a couple of fishies live in too) using a bucket on a piece or rope, pour the water into a big 44 gallon drum full of sand and other natural filters, the water then drips out the other end from a hole into another bucket filtered and ready for use. There are no showers, sinks or taps in Siporna, so the humble bucket helps you wash, groom and flush the toilet.
So we arrived and stood at the docks, (minus Jonas as he was getting off at a different port) and waited for a guide…nothing…so we walked in the rain with all our luggage into the little town of Tuapajat still wondering why we hadn’t been snapped up yet. Being proactive as things hadn’t quite worked out to plan we tried to call our 1 and only contact but low and behold, no reception on the mobile. We asked a nice lady if she would call for us, she did but the number was out of service. At this point it was a little bit ‘WHAT THE F%*K have we got ourselves into!!’ knowing full well the next ferry off the island is 5 days away, we don‘t speak much indo, they don‘t speak English and we‘re the only tourists to be stupid enough to arrive without anything pre-organised. We eventually found the only guesthouse in the town (far from the beach, far from the surf), checked in as the only guests, sat for 5 mins feeling depressed then snapped out of it and went out to find a SIM card that would work on the island to call Ayen for help. After wondering around aimlessly for a good 30 mins further cementing our feelings of demise, we found a shop with sim cards, waited our turn and then a man started chatting to us and it turns out he had a home stay close to the surf breaks and beach, so he kindly checked us out of the guest house, we jumped on a couple of motorbikes as he and his mate took us to his place. Dave zoomed off first and I was about 5 mins behind him…as I was on the back of the bike riding through the dense jungle with a man I didn’t know, going further into oblivion I started to think that watching ‘banged up abroad’ on Nat Geo Adventure so comprehensively wasn’t such a great idea…
Relived, we arrived to a lovely homebuilt Losman (each and every brick was hand made by Hotin!) with a little outdoor porch furnished with a natural driftwood setting. Our host Hotdin and his family run the Losman and the little shop/restaurant next door. We had everything we could need….except perhaps running water. The bathroom is an outside shed, clean of course, however one must scoop water from a well (which a couple of fishies live in too) using a bucket on a piece or rope, pour the water into a big 44 gallon drum full of sand and other natural filters, the water then drips out the other end from a hole into another bucket filtered and ready for use. There are no showers, sinks or taps in Siporna, so the humble bucket helps you wash, groom and flush the toilet.
Monica Losman, relaxing out the front
Me with my kitty..
View of the street from our Losman
Some local boys returning from the surf
Hotdin and Dave on route to the beach
The local beach at sunset
Locals relaxing after a surf with a smoke or two
We spent the next two weeks enjoying the peace, reading and coping with the heat. Every day is HOT in the Mentawai’s, the weather is consistent as the surf with Dave disappearing for hours to explore the breaks Telescopes and Tugis. He met many fellow Aussies out surfing who were astonished at how cheap we were able to stay at the Mentawai’s, many wanting the secret to the losmens. On the last day we took a charter (Dave’s second boat) out to the breaks, which is much quicker - with 3 local surfers and us on board the large dugout canoe we headed out with a unreliable motor attached. More than 3 times we thought we would be stranded with no life jackets or oars to get us back to shore. But with a trusty screwdriver strategically placed El Capitaan was able to get us back safely.
The next pictures were taken on a walk out to Tugis, a shallow left hand reef break
After two weeks of no TV and internet - the 4 books, 2 magazines and diary I had to keep me occupied were demolished from front to back. There were also 3 kittens and one mum cat - which was rather sweet and amusing when they were sleeping in one giant ‘cat ball’ all together. So Dave had just had enough of his fill of Mentawai surf (although I suspect we could have spent another month there!) we decided to head back to Padang to allow some time to see a little more of Sumatra.
The next set of pics are from a trip Dave made into the Jungle with Hotdin
A local jungle resident
his sweet cow :)
The school that Monica (Hotdin's daughter) attends, Dave was a local celebrity when he visited with kids surrounding him
The Mentawai’s for us was the epitome of friendliness, the people were wonderful and genuinely interested to talk to us and say hello at every opportunity. The village we stayed in was full of kids that were happy to be riding waves on planks of wood and half snapped surfboards, everything is just in the name of fun and not possessions that we're so used to seeing at home. The beach is the hub of the community and every kid is riding waves, swimming in tubes and most of all laughing. Sumatra is no doubt a magic place so it was really sad to leave Hotdin and his family. We had made it our home for the last two weeks, which is so nice after traveling for nearly four months - we hope to be back again to visit.
The next pics are from a sunset at the local beach
Locals playing football
A typical Mentawai night
We made our way back to Padang via the Ambu Ambu ferry, promising to be larger than the Beriloga we were looking forward to less leaky but still a slow trip home. Unfortunately as we couldn’t afford a cabin we booked the VIP Seat option. A section that has 5 a/c units that don’t work or your fellow travelers will switch off on a regular basis. Imagine sitting in average bus like seats in 100% humidity for 12 hours with overcrowding to the point that there is people sleeping on your legs and throw in several screaming infants and some of the loudest snorers/grunters in the world and you will start to get the picture….hell on a ferry. Bring back the Beriloga! We did arrive in one piece rather tired and ready for one more night in the ludicrously expensive Padang before making our way to Bukkittingi.
Some snaps from the boat of the boys playing at Telescopes and Tugis...(Dave has no top on as usual)
Tugis showing it's teeth...
