9) Bengkulu - the colonial flair

August 21st we arrived in Bengkulu after a 12h bus ride through horrible road conditions. We were exhausted after the ride as if we were working the whole day^^
After some good sleep we visited the colonial town of Bengkulu, first owned by the British and later given to the Dutch. Obviously they had a good taste... that influenced the city in a very positive way. See the pictures as a proof :P
Bengkulu had a nice stretch of beach, but due to waves and no shade on the beach, it was not the best choice for swimming and relaxing^^
Once again our celebrity status seemed to rise even more... at the British fortress we landed on pictures of a whole school class :) And when walking on the beach people stopped at the street, went out of there car/motorbike and ran to us asking for a picture :P
We enjoyed our 2 days in Bengkulu.. the great weather helped it ofcourse :)

British fortress

the kids watching and photographing us all the time^^

entrance to the governor house

church and the superb sky

quite a nice mosque :)

busy market

8) Kersik Tuo and Sungaipenuh - visiting Kerinci Valley

sorry for the late update... after the last post we were really lazy... but now we try to catch up with the last weeks ;)

So after Padang and the islands we went to Kerinci Valley in West Sumatra. In Kersik Tuo - a little village surrounded by tea plantations with a great view to the Gunung (mountain) Kerinci. We stayed with the very hospital family Subandi in their homestay. The village treated us like celebrities^^ When walking over the small evening market everyone was staring at us, drivers on the road nearly crashed as the watched us instead of the street :P

Cute little village it was and the walk through the tea plantations was gorgeous. The cool climate cooled us down from the island feeling. The next day (20.August) we continued to the "big" town in the valley - Sungaipenuh. Unluckily the town had not much to offer and all attractions were at least an hour bus ride away, so we decided to move to Bengkulu the following day.

Benni smelling the tea leaves

fast transportation^^

market in Sungaipenuh