In Town Tourist Spots - 1
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| Jam Gadang, Bukittinggi City Icon |
Surrounded by three volcanoes; the highest of
them is Mount Marapi (2891 m). Bukittinggi is a pleasant hill town. This city
standing at an elevation of about 1000mt over the sea level. Long ago in the
colonialism times, the Dutchmen dubbed this city as the Parijs Van de Sumtraanse because of its beauty.
At present, Bukittinggi is a recent town,
a typical town like others cities of Indonesia . However, the origin people who
live in the surrounding of Bukittinggi still hold strong Minangkabau traditions
and practicing it in their daily life. Minangkabau people have traditionally
adopted matrilineal social system in which ownership and inheritance of the
family becomes a problem of women. This is an interesting tradition because
majority of them are Muslims, while Islamic law itself explicitly uses matrilineal.
Tradition and religion seem running in harmony, Minangkabau people already doing
it for centuries.
There are options of tours that we can choice in Bukittinggi, such as adventure tours,
cultural tours, culinary tours and
historical tours.
In town options
Bukittinggi is a small town that relatively
delight to be explored on foot, only takes about 15 to 25 to get to one
location to another within the city.
Ngarai Sianok (Sianok Canyon), when visiting West Sumatra is incomplete
before visiting Bukittinggi, when visiting Bukittinggi is incomplete if you
have not visited the Sianok Canyon (Ngarai Sianok).
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| Sianok Canyon (Ngarai Sianok), Bukittinggi |
Sianok Canyon is a ravine with about 100m
depth, with a long stretch of reaching approximately 15 km and a width of about
200m. Sianok is a winding ravine functioned also as the border of Bukittinggi
City with the other district.
Enjoying Sianok is enjoying exotic natural
landscapes result from the collision of two plates of the earth fault, which
divides the island of Sumatra. The results of this geological dynamics,
producing a captivating contour of the earth’s surface and have now become a
lush scenic valley.
The river of Batang Sianok flowing peacefully
in this scenic canyon, the beauty of the river is a part and oneness of the
amazing natural view of this canyon. Now there is a tour package to exploring
this river by canoe and kayak while enjoying the natural beauty of its banks.
Along the route from Lembah Village to Sitingkai Batang Palupuh (about 3.5 hours),
you are very likely to meet long-tailed monkeys, gibbons, deer, wild boar,
tapir or even the kinds of leopards that live freely in their habitat.
This canyon is part of Bukittinggi City so there
is no problem to reach.
Pasar Atas (Upper Market), located just south of the
clock tower (Jam Gadang Park), Pasar Atas is a kind of traditional market with
stalls and shops selling everyday goods and souvenirs.
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| A part of Merchandise sold in Pasar Atas |
Traders in Pasar Atas sell various local textile
(kain songket), hand woven, man and women clothes, Moslem clothes, gift, local
handicraft, food, and others. There is some wholesaler here, but the good news
is that we can also buy them at retail.
Jam Gadang (A clock tower
like the Big Ben), located in the centre of the city, near Pasar Atas,
Jam Gadang is a clock tower and landmark of the city of Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Indonesia. One of unique feature of the clock is that the clock
number 4 is represented by "IIII" instead of the traditional Roman number "IV". Based on a local
story, the figure four made of four vertical lines represents the four persons
who died while constructing the building. Of course the story behind the use of a unique symbol of
roman numerals cannot be completely reliable, because the local story is exist
only on the hereditary oral narrative. Unfortunately there is no written
evidence that explains the reason for sure why this is happening so that this
phenomenon remains a mystery until now.
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| The top of Jam Gadang |
As an icon of
the city appearance, Jam Gadang is a frequent usually objects as local
souvenirs.
Just a minute
walking from Pasar Atas, then you will find this city landmark.
to be continued
