Travel Guide Padang

Capital of the western province of Sumatra Barat, and one of the country's main ports, Padang is home to some 915,000 inhabitants. It's renowned for its cuisine, and everywhere, even on the most remote island of the archipelago, you'll come across a Rumah Makan Padang. Padang is also renowned for the cleanliness of its streets, for which it has twice been voted "Indonesia's most beautiful city".The old quarters with their colonial architecture near the docks are very pleasant, and you can enjoy the beautiful palm-fringed beaches nearby. The road from Padang to Solok is one of the most picturesque in Sumatra. Nearby is the tourist hub of Bukittinggi, Kerinci Seblat National Park and the surf spots of the Mentawai Islands. But there's a shadow over this charming picture: it's very hot and you'll feel heavy with fatigue. You can take a breather at Air Manis beach and in Bungus Bay. The city's main thoroughfare is Jalan Yamin.A terrible earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale devastated the city on September 30, 2009.The epicenter was located 45 km northwest of Padang and 220 km southwest of Pekanbaru. Some 1,200 people died, 135,000 homes were destroyed and at least 1.2 million people were left homeless or surviving in very precarious conditions. The area around Lake Maninjau, among others, was severely damaged. The damage is still evident, and hundreds of thousands of people are still living in very precarious conditions.