Translate to :
During the Padri Wars (1821-37), a civil war between the local chiefs and Islamic reformists, Bukittinggi was a Dutch stronghold (the Dutch sided with the chiefs in this conflict). After independence it was also here that Sumatran rebels declared an independent government in 1958 - one of a long list of separatist attempts in the archipelago.
Orientation
The town centre is conveniently compact and can easily be covered on foot. Jl Ahmad Yani was the tourist strip, now a depressing ghost town where far too many guides fish for too few customers. The town is much more interesting at the top of the hill around the clock tower, where the markets and the local sightseers promenade.
The bus terminal is south of the town centre, but accessible by public transport.
Information
INTERNET ACCESS & POST
Giganet (Jl Ahmad Yani;h10am-10pm) Conveniently located.
Kantin.net (Jl Sudirman) Catch it at the right time and the connection just sails.
Post office (Jl Sudirman) South of town near the bus terminal; internet facilities.
MONEY
There are lots of banks and moneychangers along Jl Ahmad Yani.
BII bank (Bank Internasional Indonesia; Jl Ahmad Yani) BNI bank (Bank Negara Indonesia; Jl Lenggogeni)
TELEPHONE
International calls can be made from dozens of wartel around town.
TOURIST INFORMATION
Tourist Office (Jl Sudirman; h8am-4pm) Across from the clock tower; city maps distributed by sweet if limited English-speaking staff.
TRAVEL AGENCIES
Bukittinggi has plenty of travel agencies, most of them along Jl Ahmad Yani. It’s a good idea to stroll along the street and compare what they offer.
Pasar Atas (btwn Jl Minangkabau & Yamin) is a large, colorful market crammed with stalls selling fruit and vegetables, second-hand clothing and crafts. It’s open daily, but the serious action is on Wednesday and Saturday, when the stalls overflow down the hill and villagers from the surrounding area come to haggle and ogle.
Benteng de Kock (Benteng Fort) was built by the Dutch during the Padri Wars. Apart from the defensive moat and a few rusting cannons, very little remains of the original fortifications. It does, however, provide fine views over the town from its hilltop position. Clouds migrate over rusted tin roofs brought to life by the evening call to prayer.
A footbridge leads from the fort over Jl Ahmad Yani to Taman Bundo Kandung, site of the museum and zoo.
The museum, constructed in 1934, is an example of Minangkabau architecture, with its small amphitheatre and colourful statues. It is the oldest museum in the province and has a dusty collection of Minangkabau historical and cultural exhibits. The zoo is just depressing.
Taman Panorama (Jl Panorama), on the southern edge of town, overlooks the deep Ngarai Sianok (Sianok Canyon). This is especially scenic at sunset, when fruit bats swoop through the canyon. Guides will approach visitors under the auspices of friendship; don’t get confused, this is how business works in Indonesia and payment is expected, even if an explicit price is never discussed. They’ll lead you through Gua Jepang (Japanese caves), which was one of many feats of engineering that the Japan ese accomplished with slave labour during WWII.
Jam Gadang (Big Clock Tower; btwn Jl Istana & Sudirman) is Bukittinggi’s Big Ben and is the centre of the city’s provincial activities: schoolchildren crowding under shade trees and day-trippers smiling for photo opportunities. The tower was built in the 1920s to house the Dutch queen’s clock gift. After independence, the European homage was refitted with a Minangkabau roof.
Tours
With the decrease in tourist numbers, a simple stroll through town leads directly into the guide gauntlet. Often the pitch for business precedes the usual Indonesian formalities of handshakes and introductions. If perchance you can’t find any guides, try Bedudal Café (Jl Ahmad Yani) and Canyon Café (Jl Teuku Umar 8). Take your time in finding a guide and be firm with a ‘no’ if you’re just browsing.
Tours fall into two categories: culture or nature. There are day-long Minangkabau tours of the surrounding countryside, multi-day hikes to Danau Maninjau, and overnight volcano treks. If you’re travel- ling solo, you’ll have to wait a day or so for enough people to fill out the minimum requirement.
Sleeping
Good luck finding a hotel room well insulated from the pre-dawn call to prayers. If you aren’t already conditioned to waking up with the muezzins, Bukittinggi will break you in.
Most hotel rates quoted here include a simple breakfast. Hotel tax is only applied to top-end options and inclusive rates can be negotiated. On holiday weekends rooms fill up with Indonesian visitors. Tempera- tures in Bukittinggi are relatively cool, making hot-water showers more of a necessary
BUDGET
Singgalang Hotel (Jl Ahmad Yani 130) For a basic cheapie, Singgalang has a surprisingly breezy atmosphere.
Orchid Hotel (Jl Teuku Umar 11) A basic multistorey number where backpackers hope to meet other backpackers to swap trail notes and work through no-tourist shell shock.
Hotel Khartini (Jl Teuku Umar 6) Meticulously maintained hotel with a tidy grandmotherly lobby of potted plants and doilies. There’s a comfy upstairs sitting area and clean rooms.
Hotel Gallery (Jl H Agus Salim 25) Doesn’t look like much from the outside, but after scrambling up and down mountain-like stairs, you’ll find a pair of economy rooms worth every rupiah. The basic rooms have their own patio garnering a fully loaded view of Gunung Merapi.
MIDRANGE & TOP END
Hotel Asia (Jl Kesehatan 38) When a little more comfort is needed, Hotel Asia delivers ‘deluxe’ without a self-absorbed price tag. Staff are friendly and the rooms pristine.
Hotel Denai (Jl Dr Rivai 26) Quintessentially Sumatran: laid-back and comfortable, but sloppy and run-down.
Novotel Bukittinggi (Jl Yos Sudarso) Bukittinggi’s only top-end hotel bears an international name but not quality. The curious Arab-/Moghul-style building has sumptuous public areas, a great view bar, but rather standard rooms. It’s better to grab an evening drink with a view than stay the night.
Eating
In the evening, Jl Ahmad Yani fills up with dinner stalls.
Naturally enough, Padang food is plentiful. Locals disagree about which outpost does the best nasi Padang - you’ll just have to try them all for yourself: Roda Group (Jl M Yamin), south of the clock tower; Simpang Raya (Jl Ahmad Yani), with another branch on Jl Minangkabau; and Selamat (Jl Ahmad Yani).
For bread, beer and English menus, try Bedudal Café (Jl Ahmad Yani) or Canyon Café (Jl Teuku Umar 8). They also prepare the local speciality, dadiah campur, which is a tasty mixture of oats, coconut, fruit, molasses and buffalo-milk yogurt.
Entertainment
Medan Nan Balinduang (Jl Lenggogeni) If enough tourists show up, this culture centre presents Minangkabau dance performances.
West Sumatrans love a good bullfight, known locally as adu kerbau. The centres for bullfighting are the villages of Kota Baru and Batagak, between Padang and Bukittinggi. Bullfights are held irregularly, and most tours originate out of Bukittinggi; ask the local guides about upcoming events.
It bears no resemblance to Spanish bullfighting - there is no bloodshed (except by accident) and the water buffalo bulls are unharmed, save for their reputations.
The showdown matches up two animals of roughly the same size and weight who are made to lock horns in a trial of strength. The winner is whichever one forces the other into a retreat. It often ends up with both beasts charging around a muddy paddock, scattering onlookers in all directions.
The original intention was to help develop buffalo breeding in the region, but as a spectator sport the main focus is betting. The host village will often kick off proceedings with a meeting of village elders, fol- lowed by a demonstration of pencak silat.
Shopping
Bukittinggi is a good place to go shopping for everyday necessities and otherworldly oddities: shiny headscarves, sarongs, false teeth, plastic sandals, interesting antiques, and curios. Box collectors can look out for a couple of Minangkabau versions. Salapah panjang (long boxes) are brass boxes used for storing lime and tobacco; salapah padusi are silver boxes for storing betel nut and lime.
Souvenir shops line Jl Ahmad Yani. Poke your head into Tanjung Raya Art Shop (Jl Ahmad Yani 85) and Aladdin (Jl Ahmad Yani 14).
The market shops are crammed with beautiful embroidered Minangkabau garments in rich reds and golds. Pillow cases and slippers are easy-to-carry souvenirs, as are ceremonial wedding sashes and gold hair adornments.
Getting There & Away
The Aur Kuning bus terminal is about 2km south of the town centre, but easily reached by opelet. Tell the driver you’re going to Kampung China, where most of the hotels are located.
There are heaps of buses to Padang(two hours), Danau Maninjau (1½ hours) and Solok (2 hours).
Bukittinggi is a stop for the north-/south-bound buses on the Trans-Sumatran Hwy.
Bussing to Jakarta (29 hours) is more expensive than catching a flight from Padang. Medan-bound buses (20 hours) also stop off at Parapat (14 hours). En route, you’ll cross the equator, just outside of Bonjol.
East-west buses shake, rattle and roll to Pekanbaru (5 hours) and Dumai (10 hours), where you
can catch a boat to Melaka. There are a few buses to Bengkulu, Jambi and Palembang, but most services leave from Padang.
Getting Around
So many Opelet and taxy around Bukittinggi and you can found Bendi.
AROUND BUKITTINGGI
While Bukittinggi is an interesting market town, visitors come to explore the Minangkabau countryside, hike up an active volcano or sniff the world’s biggest, smelliest flower.
Handicraft Villages
Silver shops occupy the old Dutch houses of Koto Gadang, which is known for its handicraft tradition. The village is about 5km from Bukittinggi and can be reached by opelet from Aur Kuning bus terminal. Alternatively, it is an hour’s walk from Taman Panorama. The route is heavily worked by guides and only the bullheaded manage to go at it alone.
Famous for songket weaving and woodcarving, Pandai Sikat stays true to its name, which means ‘clever craftsmen’. The village is only 13km from Bukittinggi and easily
accessible by opelet from Aur Kuning bus terminal.
Minangkabau Sights
The countryside around Bukittinggi is oh so charming. Terraced r ice fields sprout makeshift scarecrows cradled in the palm of a jagged mountain range. In the villages, the Minangkabau traditional wooden houses are adorned with soaring buffalo-horned roofs beside the metallic domes of the local mosque. Keropok and laundry dry on every sunny surface and the hip-roofed Dutch chalets survive the elements thanks to elbow grease and spare parts.
If you’re lucky, you’ll see a wedding parade. The bride and groom dress in full traditional regalia and are accompanied by musicians, family members and half the village. The Minangkabau tribal flags (vertical bands of red, black and yellow) typically mark the site of the festivities.
Rumah Gadang Pagaruyung (h8am-6pm), curiously known as the King’s Palace in a matrilineal society, is a scaled-down replica of the former home of the rulers of the ancient Minangkabau kingdom of Payaruyung. The interior is dominated by a central meeting hall, where locals come to be photographed in traditional costumes. The palace is located in the village of Silinduang Bulan, 5km north of Batu Sangkar, and fea- tures on all the Bukittinggi tour itineraries.
If you’re an anti-tour tourist, you can get here by taking a public bus first to Batu Sangkar, which is a quiet, lunch-worthy town, and then take an ojek to the palace.
Another popular tour stop is Belimbing, one of the largest surviving collections of traditional architecture in the highlands. Many of the homes are 300 years old and are in various geriatric states. In many cases the owners have built modern homes nearby and use the relics for ceremonial purposes. The mixing of the old and new makes it a more worthwhile stop than a preserved theme park.
For ethno-musicologists, the town of Padangpanjang, 19km south of Bukittinggi, is a major pilgrimage site because of the Conservatorium of Traditional Music (STSI; Jl Bundo Kanduang 35; h8am-3pm Mon-Thu, 8am-noon Fri). Minangkabau culture, dance and music are preserved, performed and taught here. There are regular buses between Bukittinggi, Padang and Padangpanjang.
Nature Reserves
West Sumatra is famous for its many orchid species and for the Rafflesia arnoldii, the largest flower on the planet. The blossom of the parasitic plant measures nearly a meter in diameter and can weigh up to 11kg. The flower is known for its putrid perfume and typically blooms between August and November. The best place to find the ripe blossoms are in Batang Palupuh Nature Reserve, 16km north of Bukittinggi. Local buses to Palupuh.
On the highway between Padang and Bukitttinggi is the Lembah Anai Nature Reserve, which is renowned for its waterfalls, wild orchids and giant rafflesia flowers. Any Bukittinggi-Padang bus can drop you off nearby.
Gunung Merapi
Looming large over Bukittinggi to the east is the smoldering summit of Gunung Merapi (2891m). Merapi is one of Sumatra’s most restless volcanoes and is occasionally deemed too dangerous to climb. The last major eruption was in 1979, but ask locally for an up-to-date status report.
If Merapi isn’t huffing and puffing, then visitors typically do an overnight hike in order to view sunrise on the summit. The climb begins at the village of Kota Baru (of bullfighting fame). It’s a one-hour climb to the forestry station shelter then another four to the top. You’ll need good walking boots, warm clothing, a torch, food and drink.
It’s unwise to attempt the climb alone, and people are advised to take a guide or join a group.
Harau Valley
Following the emerald road of rice fields leads to the speck-sized village of Harau, a little one-lane road where automobiles have to yield to groups of schoolchildren and sauntering old men. Another 3km from the village rises spectacular 100m cliffs that enclose the verdant Harau Valley, 15km northeast of Payakumbuh.
Harau Valley is under-used by backpackers, most of whom zip in and out on tours to Lemba Harau, a series of pooling waterfalls. A handful of self-sufficient rock-climbers base themselves here, within an echo’s reach of the scalable heights. But Harau’s rice fields, jungles filled with howling gibbons and easy pace is surely why people stumble through Sumatra instead of baking on the beaches in Bali. Smack in the middle of the valley is Echo Homestay (Taratang Lb Limpato), one of Sumatra’s most scenic places to stay. Slum it in the ewok-hut bungalows with shared bathroom or step up to the artsy wooden tree-houses designed in traditional Minangkabau style.
There is no direct transport to the Harau Valley, but you can take a local bus from Bukittinggi to Payakumbuh and then hire an ojek to take you the rest of the way.
