Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine January 2020 | Page 79

Travel / Bukittinggi 1. A traditional Minangkabau Gadang house set among paddy fields. 2. A monkey watches on at Ngarai Sianok Canyon. 3. Minangkabau craftwork typically seen on the walls of traditional houses and rice barns. 3  The streets come to life with the sound of car horns and the clatter of horses pulling two-wheeled carts, or bendi. hotels and shopping malls have sprung up, the canyon remains just as it appeared in Wakidi’s painting, a valley that will remain forever timeless. 2 Gradually, the mist begins to lift. Mount Singgalang and Mount Marapi show their form in the light of the morning sun. At the feet and on the lower slopes, small villages are still concealed by mist. In the past, these villages prospered as a result of world market demand for pepper, cloves, cinnamon, and acacia. After these spices lost their allure, the local communities began to farm vegetables such as chillies, celery, onions, carrots, and cauliflower. Once a week, the farmers’ hard-grown produce is taken by pickup trucks that travel in a convoy to cities in central Sumatra, Jambi, Pekanbaru, Batam, and even Singapore. Situated 930m above sea level, Bukittinggi covers an area of only 25km 2 , or four per cent of the total area of Jakarta. But despite its density and existence as an urban centre since colonial times, the city never really gets too busy. During the day, and even more so on holidays, the streets come to life with the sound of car horns and the clatter of horses pulling two-wheeled carts, or bendi, carrying tourists. The Gadang Clock Tower, a relic of the colonial era, stands erect in the city centre. Other points of interest include the Fort de Kock Dutch fortress, a network of underground bunkers built by the Japanese during the Second World War, racehorses grazing in the Bukik Ambacang, and the aroma of spices wafting out into the humid air from street stalls. In the late afternoon, the city seems melancholic. In the orange twilight, Mount Singgalang and Mount Marapi stand proud, like giants protecting the city from impending disaster, and the monument of one of Indonesia’s founding fathers Mohammed (Bung) Hatta stands tall in the city park. “In the past, this city produced many well-known scholars and intellectuals. Bukittinggi had a ‘Kings School’ (Sekolah Raja). And the climate makes it 77