Saribu Rumah Gadang Village

About this place

A village in a green valley in the south of West Sumatra known as Saribu Rumah Gadang, the thousand great houses, for its wealth of large traditional Minangkabau houses with roofs curving like buffalo horns: more than a hundred line the road and stand among rice fields, a rare sight found nowhere else on this scale. The rumah gadang is the extended-family home of the matrilineal Minangkabau, passed down through the women and home to a mother's sons and daughters. Some houses here are over a century old, with carved, painted timber walls; many are still lived in, and some take overnight guests. Walking the village is free; please respect residents' privacy and ask before photographing inside the houses. The village has an old mosque with a minaret, and a viewing platform over the houses. The village is remote, about three and a half hours from Padang, so it is best to stay the night in a traditional house, or combine it with the twin lakes at Alahan Panjang and the Kayu Jao mosque on the way.