The Great Bukittinggi Adventure: Day #1 (The Wheels On The Bus Go 'Round & 'Round)

 Well hello, reader! Aaaahh, I can't tell you how excited I am to write this part. This trip has been incredibly wonderful to me, so I'm much more than happy to write this (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠). Alright, I'm a perfectly-mature teen, let's get serious. Usually, for trips with destinations that are quite far from my house, I wake up very early (usually at 2 or 3 am) and usually that's because me & my family would use our car, so we'll arrive at the destination quickly. But this trip, this trip is a bit...different.

Friday, July 30th, 2023. I woke up at 5 (that's a normal time for me to wake up since I have to do my Fajr prayer), with that burst of excitement knowing I'm gonna go to Bukittinggi, the city where my Dad's side of the family came from. I got myself some good breakfast, then at 7, me & my family walked with our suitcases and duffel bags to my grandma's house (which is only a few house away from me). Okay. So usually, for big trips, I only went with my family (coz I'm a teen so I defo can't travel alone) or with my aunt's family (Aunt Tya, Uncle Jiffi and my little cousin Rei) and my grandma. But right now, two of my grandma's sisters (one of em brought her husband) and my other aunt's family (Aunt Revi, Uncle Harra, and three of my younger cousins; Ayna, Syifa & Abdar) are coming with us. So we're going in a large group: 17 people, if my math is mathing. That's a lot, ain't it?

We gathered at my grandma's house so it's kind of like a meeting point. The thing is, my grandma & grandpa, and Aunt Revi's fams can't come with us at Friday, so they're gonna get to Bukittinggi by plane tomorrow noon. Maybe you're thinking right now, "aren't you going to Bukittinggi by plane too, Rara?" Oop, nuh-uh girl, everyone except the plane group are going to Bukittinggi by bus. And that's why this trip was super exciting for me because I've never went on a far trip with bus. At 9, the bus is departing, so at 8.30 the bus group was on their way to the bus station which is not too far from my grandma's house.

So, I'm gonna go to Bukittinggi on that blue bus with "A. N. S." on top of the license plate. My Mom said it's the best type of bus that the company have. I still lowered my expectations tho, cause usually the buses I've been in have pretty small leg room and are highly uncomfortable. After waiting for the group to assemble at the bus station (we took different cabs obv), putting the suitcases at the luggage part of the bus, and saying some goodbyes to other family members that drove us here, I got inside the bus. I was...surprised. Just...just remove the "small legroom" type of bus away from your mind, because this is different.

Ooh, the interior is mostly blue. So 1989 TV coded (if you're a Swiftie, you'll get it. If you're not, just forget it). The seats were definitely comfortable, they even have a pillow and a blanket for every seat. Small legroom? Absolutely not. It's enough for you to pull out the leg rest and relax your legs. My Mom said we're gonna be at the bus for ±37 hours, which means I'm gonna spend almost two days at the bus. But that was so okay, since it was so comfortable here.

It's such a comfy place to read, so thank God I brought myself a book:)

The bus ticket

The weather is awesome!,

It's 9.30, the bus took off. Turns out, the bus didn't went straight to the toll road. The driver took us to 2 more bus stations to pick up the rest of the passengers that booked a seat in this bus. Oops, sorry, I forgot to show you the routes. Here it is.

I know, if you search it in Google Maps, it said you only need 25 hours to get to Bukittinggi. But, don't forget that the bus stop at lunch/dinner/breakfast time, Fajr prayer, Dzuhr prayer, etc. At ±11 a.m., the bus arrived at Merak Seaport, where we're gonna take a ferry to get across the Sunda strait, a small strait that lies between Java and Sumatra island. 

Two long waits happened here. First, I don't know what were we waiting, but the bus stop right before it enter the seaport gate for ±1 or ±1½ hour. I was fine with it tho, since I have my book, and my earphone and Spotify, there's nothing to complain about. Then after we got into the seaport, we wait for ±45 minutes for the ferry to come, and that was fine to me since that's the moment where I could take my lunch. Aunt Tya already prepared lots lunch boxes for lunch and dinner at Friday for the bus group, so we ate that while waiting for the ferry.

We're gonna get into the ship! Yay

The wait is over, my friend! Ahoy!

After the wait, the bus got into the ferry ship. Then, after the bus driver parked the bus, we went up to the cabin. I can't stand just sitting and waiting for the ship to arrive at the Bakauheni Seaport, so I decided to went up to the main deck.

Not really crowded, but yeah, just boring.

The view from the deck (1).

The view from the deck (2). That's the Java Island, btw, and we're leaving it!

The cool breeze hit my body as soon as I open the door to the main deck. There's a lot of people there too, I didn't really expect that. The view of the vast blue waters and the cloudy blue sky must be the reason of why those people were there. I stayed at the upper deck for quite a time, probably ±15 minutes. I mean, if we could see the ocean and the sky, why choose to see a normal room full of people?

But my Mom asked me to came back to the cabin because she doesn't want me to catch a cold from the breeze. Alright, then. Time to came down and watch some videos on YouTube.

A few travel & lego videos from one of my favorite YouTube channel, Half-Asleep Chris, has been played on my phone when there was an announcement which pretty much announced that the ship's going to arrive at Bakauheni Seaport.

The land, again.

Now, we're back at the land, again. But, it's a bit different here. Right now, we're not in the Java island anymore, we're in Sumatra island!

Sumatra island, baby!

The wheels on the bus keep spinning. It was almost sunset, and the view from the bus was amazing. It was all just so comfortable. The view, the seat in the bus, everything's good. 

Pre-sunset in the bus (1).

Pre-sunset in the bus (2).

Pre-sunset in the bus (3).

Pre-sunset in the bus (4).

Pre-sunset in the bus (5).

A few hours later, when it was 6 p.m., the bus stopped at a small mosque for Maghrib prayer. After that quick pit-stop, it continues and my Mom told me that the next stop is for Fajr prayer which is next morning. Good thing, Aunt Tya also prepared dinner for the bus group, so we ate that for dinner. 

Not-so-fun story: I challenged my lil brother, Ammar, and see who could stay up the latest. But it turns out we both fell asleep even before 8 p.m., which I know cause I woke up at ±8:30 p.m. I feel weirdly energetic, smiling and laughing all the time but only for a few minutes cause I fell asleep shortly after that. But that sleep didn't last long; I was awaken by God-knows-what at 9 p.m., and feeling the same kind of energetic I felt earlier. I fell asleep again after a few minutes feeling like that, then I woke up again at 11 p.m., also feeling weirdly energetic. Huh. Weird.

Another not-so-fun story: the bus driver keeps blasting out loud-ass Indonesian songs! It was upbeat, pop songs at the evening, but at 10 or 11, the music changed to slow songs that are at least better than the upbeat songs. My Dad says the driver keeps blasting out loud music because most of the passengers are from Bukittinggi and most people there love to blast out music. So, if you can't sleep with a lot of noises around you, I think you wouldn't love going to Bukittinggi with bus.

Okay, so that's all for the first day. I'm sorry it took me WEEKS to write this post since my school has been incredibly busy and chaotic. I'll try to write the second day ASAP. As usual, I'll see you later, reader.

All the love, -R-