“High Hill” is the meaning of the city name, located on the peak of the easy to defend ‘Jirek Heights’, 930m above sea level, our location for the second rest day. With its cool climate it is the most comfortable city West Sumatra’s; with the usual 3 pm afternoon shower.
Henry and Nellie ‘designing’ the highlights for the forthcoming stages
Museum in the Bukittinggi Zoo, with the
Emperor’s Wedding Throne
If you ever wanted to know, how your text messages are delivered 
This was the longest riding day of the tour (distance wise; 178 km), and the longest accumulated climb so far (2408 m), I’ve never done such a long distance on my MTB with that much of a climb! TdA, you make me break all my records. However, one never knows what Cristiano & Co. have been setup ahead of us.
We got it all in one day – a perfect Sunday workout! Morning mist, sunshine and heavy rain; steep uphills and fast downhills; spectacular views and scenic landscapes; white water rivers from the nightly rains. I left my DLR in my daily bag today, to be able to carry extra water and knowing it will eventually be raining and there is little time to stop for extra photos. Thus my GoPro & Smarphone must do it.
The morning climb out of camp was fast and kind of easy going, until the sun was starting to heat up the air. Midday temperatures were at a boiling 37°C until the first equator shower cooled us down a bit. The roads were deserted in the morning, everyone seem to be sleeping or at church on a Sunday. Later the roads got busier.
The last 45 km and 800 m of climbs in the pouring rain I ‘supported’ Eric, who had a bad crash over his handlebar the day before and was cycling with pain from his bruised rips and chest.
The roads and clothes dried up quickly as we entered Bukit Tinggi
And we did it! Made it to the top and Bukit Tinggi, with an extra loop around the hotel, as we missed the last right turn.
It is fun to watch the kids going to school. The little ones with their huge school bags almost as big as themselves. Before school starts there is always a kind of exercise session or drill on the school compound. Needless to say that I had to stop and watch this ceremony when I passed by the school on Saturday morning.
The kids had a hard time to focus on their performance and stay synchronous while keeping an eye on my doings. Some were really into it with great enthusiasm, some seemed to be very bored with the exercises, one scholar was lazing in the sparsely equipped classroom as pictured below …
Throughout the country villages are decorated with alleys of German banners.
Which ever is the case, I enjoy the ‘special’ treat.
Terima Kasih (thank you).
Shortly after the Equator passage I passed a 
little village with a big assembly on a public ground. Although the ride was already consuming a lot of energy, and the final climb to Bukit Tinggi was still to come, I couldn’t resist to drop my bicycle and step into the crowd to watch the spectacle. ‘Rachma’ with her little one ‘Colby’, explained to me that they are celebrating a Christian holiday and at the end of festival they do the pole climbing. Aim of the participating teams is to reach to the top first and pick the attached gifts for their team.
It was great fun to watch them building / failing to build the pyramids – it didn’t look very organized or efficient – but everyone 
seemed to enjoy it. After a while the focus deviated from the climbers onto me and I eventually became the main attraction again – as so many times in the past, when I stopped to take photos or interact with the locals. Obviously this area is rarely visited by tourists.
