On our departure of the HODR crib there was a large volunteer gang keen for another Bukittingi trip. Will and I fancied somewhere new so instead we headed for a short stay on Lake Maninjau which is 16km from Bukittingi. Lake Maninjau has an area of 99.5km², being approximately 16km long and 7km wide – a pretty big lake.
We convinced two volunteers to come with us (UK Lucy and Italian Elisa). We used the SE Asia loneley planet to chose our accommodation and found only a few places. We opted for ‘Arlen’ – Nova’s Paradise. On arrival is was a fair distance from the road side and we had a five minute walk across some muddy fields towards the lake.
arlen
Thinking I would be at the HODR project for longer I had bought some pasta and sauce in KL for a treat at some point. Armed with my pasta and sauce we arrived hungry and kindly the guesthouse owners let me loose in the kitchen to prepare us a pasta dish.
the chef
Arlen was a really cool guesthouse – out of the way from civilisation sat on the lake it was extremely relaxing. The owners spoke excellent English and were really helpful.
Arlen room rates; 150,000Rp/night for a twin room.
lake maninjau
Highly recommend the guesthouse to experience the lake retreat – it also has awesome food. The porridge there is a must.
Arlen Nova Paradise – email; novavf@hotmail.com
