Padang is the main city of West Sumatra and the home of the Minangkabau, a people with one of the world's largest matrilineal societies, in which property and family names pass through the mother's line. The city sits on a narrow coastal plain with the Indian Ocean on one side and the volcanic ridge of the Bukit Barisan on the other, and it is best known for the food that bears its name. Padang restaurants, found across Indonesia, serve rendang, beef slow-cooked in coconut milk and spices until dark and dry, and the real thing, eaten in its home city, is a revelation. Waiters bring a stack of plates to your table, and you pay only for what you eat.
The city is also a place that has to live with danger. It lies close to the great subduction zone off Sumatra, and was hit by a powerful earthquake in 2009, and signs along the coast point the way to tsunami evacuation routes. The old port quarter retains some Dutch buildings, and the beach road is lined with food stalls at sunset.
For a rider, Padang is the doorstep of a spectacular highland. The road east, called Sitinjau Lauik, climbs steeply through a gorge with hairpins and lorries, up to the highland city of Solok and the lake at Singkarak. Another route runs north to Lake Maninjau, a flooded volcanic crater, and descends to its shore by the famous Kelok 44, forty-four numbered hairpin bends, one after another, with views of the lake below. Beyond that lies Bukittinggi, a cool town with a clock tower and views of the volcanoes Marapi and Singgalang. The roads are narrow, often patched, with plenty of trucks and buses, and in the wet months landslides can occur.
Fuel is easy in Padang, which has many stations, and Solok, thirty-seven kilometres away, is the next sizeable town. The best period is June to September, though the highlands are cool and misty in any season. Start early, as afternoon cloud often brings rain and poor visibility.