WEST SUMATRA: FIRST LEG

Dearest Friends,

In order to reach W. Sumatra, we had to first take the company plane to Medan, and from there we took a commercial flight to Padang. My friend Jane, who is British, brought "sticky buns" for the journey, Carol brought rugelach, and of course, we all brought our Shanghai bags -- little purses holding the coins we used to play our favorite card game.

Being the capital city of the province, Padang was fairly cosmopolitan, and our hotel surprisingly luxurious. Have I ever mentioned how much I adore hotels with open-air lobbies in tropical surroundings?

They should have called us The Belly Bag Gang!

I'm guessing the hotel gave us those pretty drinks upon our arrival, for the odds are slim that everyone would have ordered the exact same thing.

Here we are, ready for a rousing game of Shanghai, all wearing the matching nightshirts that our wonderful tour organizer had made for us. Did the hotel provide those beverages as well, or did someone bring along wine? Can't remember. I do remember two girls lugging a big ol' desk down the hallway in their nighties though -- one of the highlights of the trip! Hey, when it comes to playing Shanghai, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

We spent a couple of days there, and then it was time to load up into a motorcoach and head for the W. Sumatran Highlands, where we'd heard that each village has it's own specialty or craft, and that time-honored techniques and secrets of the trade have been passed down from one generation to the next.