The quiet canyon
Rock walls and rice fields below.
Adhmi — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Crisco 1492 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Adhmi — CC BY 4.0 · The original uploader was Rahmatdenas at Indonesian Wikipedia. — CC BY 3.0
A deep, steep-sided canyon winding along the edge of Bukittinggi, its red and green rock walls dropping some hundred metres to a river and rice fields on the floor, with Mount Singgalang and the Barisan range behind. It takes its name from a village at the bottom, meaning the quiet one in the local tongue, for the calm and beauty of the place. The best place to see it is Panorama Park inside the city, with a sweeping view over the canyon, especially early in the morning when mist fills its floor. The same park holds the entrance to the Japanese Tunnels, a network dug by prisoners and forced labourers during the Japanese occupation in the Second World War, more than a kilometre long, which you can go down into with a guide. The ticket for Panorama Park and the tunnels is about twenty thousand rupiah per adult, and local sources say foreigners pay about twenty-five thousand for the tunnels. You can also go down to the canyon floor and walk it, or cross a suspension bridge and a walkway nicknamed the Great Wall that links the canyon with the village of Koto Gadang. Watch out for monkeys in the park and keep food out of sight. The tunnels are damp with long stairs, so wear comfortable shoes, and allow an hour or two.
Rock walls and rice fields below.
Over a kilometre from the Second World War.
A walkway to Koto Gadang.
Panorama Park, on the edge of Bukittinggi
Japanese Tunnels, BukittinggiA network of defensive tunnels the Japanese army dug under Bukittinggi during it1 minute walk
Jam Gadang Clock TowerThe emblem and heart of Bukittinggi, a clock tower on the central square near th7 minutes walk
Fort de Kock and Limpapeh BridgeA fort the Dutch built in 1825 on a high hill in the heart of Bukittinggi during10 minutes walk
Bung Hatta Birth HouseThe house where Mohammad Hatta was born in 1902 and spent his childhood until th15 minutes walkYes with supervision, but they are damp with long stairs, and their story of prisoners may weigh on little ones. The canyon view alone is worth the visit.