A town in a valley
The whole scene from above.
https://www.flickr.com/people/fitri-agung — CC BY 2.0 · https://www.flickr.com/people/fitri-agung — CC BY 2.0 · Rikomardon — CC0 · Nadya Aisy Hamevta — CC BY-SA 4.0
A hill clothed in casuarina pines above the town of Sawahlunto, giving the finest view of it: the old town packed into a narrow valley between green hills, with its colonial buildings, red roofs, old mine chimneys and the railway that once carried the coal. The summit has wooden viewing platforms, seating and small cafés, and the air is milder than in the valley. Townspeople come at sunset, when the lights of the town come on below, and early in the morning when mist fills the valley. It is usually free, with occasional small parking charges, and a few minutes' drive up from the town centre. The viewpoint is the best finish to a tour of Sawahlunto after the mine tunnel and the old kitchen museum, showing the whole town in one scene and why it was built in this valley.
The whole scene from above.
Filling the valley.
And wooden platforms.
A hill above central Sawahlunto
By car from Padang in about two and a half hours, or from Bukittinggi in about two, passing Lake Singkarak.
