Bukittinggi City

 

Located at 930 meters above sea level, Bukittinggi has been famous to tourists for its beautiful scenery and cold climate. This city has also been known for being the headquarter  for the Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia (PDRI / Pemerintahan Darurat Republik Indonesia) from December 19, 1948 to July 13, 1949.

To reach Bukittinggi from Padang, we only have to pay Rp16.000/person for the adventurous 90 km journey. As Bukittinggi is known for a tourist destination, try to avoid travelling on weekends as the traffic can be quite bad. Normal-day trip takes about 2-3 hours. The trip is worth taking compared to what we will see as we get to Bukittinggi.

First thing you must do when arrive to this town is looking for accomodation. It is not difficult to find hotel here. The hotels are spread around the town, ranging from the most expensive hotel such Novotel to affordable yet comfortable hotels for backpackers. Cheap hotels are usually fully booked on weekends. If you are going to Bukittinggi on weekends, make sure you have booked the hotel one day before. Fortunately, when I went visiting Bukittinggi last week, I got last room remaining in Asean Hotel. 

With only Rp230.000/ night, you can enjoy staying in suite room in Hotel Asean. Don't expect too much for this hotel to be like Novotel, but this hotel is located in the center of Bukittinggi which is extremely close to tourism objects.

Get hungry after a long trip? Take a walk to the town center. Over there, you can find the most delicious traditional food I've ever found in Rumah Makan Simpang Raya.

Simpang Raya will offer you the new experience of tasting original Minangkabau's traditional food. If you are sensitive to spicy food, bring along your anti-diarrhea medicine in case you get diarrhea during your food adventure :-P

Right next to Rumah Makan Simpang Raya, you can find the largest market in Bukittinggi named Pasa Ateh (Upper Market). Various items can be easily found here: clothes, souvenir, casettes, traditional foods and snacks, etc. According to Ferdi, my friend who is a native Padang resident, Pasa Ateh is the best place to go after clothes with cheap prices, especially when it comes to Lebaran :-D

Got your bag fulfilled with snacks and beverages, you can walk down to the other side of the town. Some people say: you are not going to Bukittinggi until you see Ngarai Sianok. Since Bukittinggi is such a small town, you don't need to take any transportation to reach Ngarai Sianok. Tourist objects here are within walking distance with each others.

During your trip, you can also enjoy Lubang Jepang (Japanese Caves), a network of underground bunkers and tunnels built by the Japanese during World War II,  which is  lying alongside the road to Ngarai Sianok. Unfortunately, when I went there, I couldn't find the main entrance, so I couldn't get into it. This is some pictures of Lubang Jepang's entrance:

If you think your trip isn't enough, you can continue walking to Istana Bunda Kanduang and Fort de Kock. But since the day was getting darker, we chose to get back to the hotel, of course after we took dinner at Rumah Makan Simpang Raya (again). This is how Bukittinggi looks at night:

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Lapangan Wirabraja-various ceremonies here are celebrate

Mosque in the middle of the city

 

Limpapeh's Bridge

            I find it's not surprising if Ministry of Cultural and Tourism of Indonesia predicated Bukittinggi as the most relaxing city in all Sumatra. Bukittinggi has everything which makes people fascinated and don't bother to spend much time travelling here. With only less than Rp 1 million, you can enjoy enthralling experience here!