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
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