Sun to Tue - Exploring Medan City
People slag it off, but Not such a bad city. It's a contrast from no ATMs to shopping mall and ATMs all over the place. At first a hot untidy confusing city, but in 2 days I got a grip.
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Simple walk around Medan From the big mosque tourist hotel area walk 200m north - off a side street you pass a Chinese market. Back on the main road 200m to the old water tower. Make a left going west , cross the train tracks. Then your'e on the main North South street. Go north 100m to the the useless tourist office. Next door to the old Chinese mansion.
Old Chinese Mansion in Medan Continue North past old colonial buildings like the London Tobacco etc. to Plaza Merdeka with more colonial buildings like National bank and Post Office. Walk East to the Train Station.
Over the railway bridge turn right south passing new Chinese office towers showing the city is recovering from anti-chinese feeling. See the Chinese temple turn left East to street markets. Straight to
the city's largest market building. Indigenous markets north. Next door south is
Medan Mall with a surprising roofgarden
Medan Mall roof garden
From the mall walk west then then you get to some streets of Chinese night restaurant market. Walk south through them then a block west to arrive at the watertower again
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Medan map
| Mon walk - got to know it
| -old buildings mall some being restored, Merdeka Plaza, Station (I intended to take the bus to Medan Mall as it seemed to be near the best markets on the map it seemed to be 3Km away, but first I thought I would take a 10 minute detour to find Chinatown . Saw new Chinese towers, Chinese temple, 2nd clothes Market suddenly found a big market building etc when I checked the map I found I was actually at Medan Mall, it turns out I had misread the map the place I had been seen on the map before is called Medan Plaza, so uncannily by walking in the wrong direction I had got to the right place. Best markets but I arrived 20 minutes before closing.
Great garden on the roof of the Medan Mall you wouldn't realize you are in dirty smelly Medan. Pizza Hut had an offer 2 meals for $2.60 strangely all the "I want to be your friend" Indonesians were scarce and no other foreigners around so I waited 15 minutes then had to eat 2 meals myself.
| Tues walk | - State Museum - dirt cheap run down, old royal palace - small unspectacular- useless tourist office, Sun Plaza, hypermarket, Medan Plaza, other mall, becak to run down plazas north of Merdeka Plaza, couldn't find more Chinatown By the way half the people in the hotel are older weird white men looking for young asian women .. Sad really.
| Wednesday visa finished so ferry to Penang |
usual farce ..in other countries it would all take half as long anywhere else
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