Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine January 2020 | Page 80

Travel / Bukittinggi
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I  n the orange twilight, Mount Singgalang
and Mount Marapi stand proud, like giants
protecting the city.
pleasant and peaceful,” says Asraferi
Sabri, a middle-aged local,
who tells me about his city while
we enjoy a cup of coffee in a stall
at Sianok Canyon.
"Het zoogenaamde Karbouwengat,
Sianok Canyon is the cleanest place
I have ever seen," wrote L.C.
Westenenk, a controller at Fort
de Kock, in a 1909 travel guidebook
for Dutch tourists. He described
the Minangkabau Highlands,
or Padangsche Bovenlanden,
and their diverse panorama: Bukik
Ampang-ampang, and Bukik
Ambacang Racecourse, which
he referred to as mooi, or ‘beautiful’.
Nowadays, horse races attract crowds
to Bukit Ambacang each year.
Located 100km from Padang, the
provincial capital of West Sumatra,
Bukittinggi has been a prime tourist
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destination since colonial times. The
colonial government spent a large sum
of money constructing a railway line
connecting Padang to Bukittinggi at the
end of the 19 th century, and, at the same
time, a track opened leading to the
mining town of Sawahlunto. In 1902,
the first train officially began operating,
bringing tourists to Bukittinggi. Tickets
cost 11 US$ per person, almost
the monthly wage of labourers
working on Sumatra’s east coast.
“The railway lines haven’t been
working for a long time,” Asraferi
continues. As our conversation ends,
rain is falling from the evening sky and
the suburbs are locked in silence. One
by one, the houses switch on their
lights. I leave Asraferi behind and drive
through the rainy streets alone.
People sit inside the warmth of the
street-side stalls, steaming food giving
senses:
sight
Sianok Canyon
E/ Sianok Canyon is
a long stretch of green
valley with a depth
of 100m. It officially
belongs to the Agam
District but is only
a 15-minute walk from
the heart of Bukittinggi
City. The soothing effect
of the valley is portrayed
on canvas by the
Indonesian artist Wakidi,
who described it as a
timeless, silent valley.
I/ Ngarai Sianok adalah
lembah hijau sedalam
100 meter yang
membentang panjang.
Ia sebetulnya tercantum
dalam wilayah
Kabupaten Agam,
namun dapat dijangkau
dengan 15 menit
berjalan kaki dari
jantung Kota Bukittinggi.
Suasana lembah yang
menenteramkan ini
tergambar dalam
lukisan seniman Tanah
Air, Wakidi, yang
menyebutnya sebagai
lembah yang kekal dan
diam.
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