For all I know, Padang Panjang was the shooting location for the movie Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijk. I flew to Jakarta to watch the movie. As I learned we had to go through Padang Panjang on our way to Solok Selatan in search of the land of thousands rumah gadang from Lake Maninjau, I knew I had to make full use of this opportunity to atleast pay a visit to the shooting location for the movie. The problem was that very little was said as to the exact location of the shooting location.
Before we began our impromptu search for Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijk, we had our lunch at the best satay padang eatery in Sumatera, Satay Mak Syukur. Maknyos! Mantap!
Surau Nagari Lubuak Bauak, Batipuh
As we continued our journey, I spotted a mosque by the road side by chance which was the same mosque where Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijk was shot. It was the mosque where Zainuddin went to read the Quran in Padang Panjang. The mosque was locked, but the caretaker came and asked if we were there to visit the mosque which is known as Surau Nagari Lubuak Bauak.
Although the mosque was made of wood, it still stands tall because the high quality wood from which the mosque was built, were imported from Mount Marapi and around Batipuah. The mosque was where Buya Hamka spent his time teaching Islam to the community. Despite being poorly maintained, the mosque is historically related to Buya Hamka, the respected litterateur. There were a few paraphernalias in the mosque such as pen and sandals, once used by the great Buya Hamka.
The classroom for al-Quran recital.
Shooting of Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijk
Further down the road, we turned right into a village where the shooting of Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijk took place. Thanks to Mas Imam who frequently made use of “GPS rakyat” (go and ask the local), we reached the village with outstanding rumah gadang architecture. We were told some of the rumah gadang were caught on fire and that they were renovating new ones.
We ended up at the house where another famous movie, Siti Nurbaya was shot. Siti Nurbaya is a story about two lovers, Siti Nurbaya and Samsulbahri who are separated. Samsulbahri went to Batavia meanwhile Siti Nurbaya offered herself to marry the abusive and rich Datuk Meringgih as a way to escape the debt of her father. She was killed by Datuk Meringgih. At the end of the story, Samsulbahri, as a member of the Dutch colonial army, killed Datuk Meringgih during an uprising and Samsulbahri himself died of his wounds.
The owner of the house was very welcoming that we were invited to enter the house to have a look at the interior of the house. He asked us to identify the age of the house by looking at the eaves. I could not comprehend still.
Intricate carving of the eaves of Rumah Gadang
The Minangkabau wedding
On our way to Solok Selatan, we bumped into a wedding parade. Wedding is always fun to observe especially when the tradition is different from ours. In Minang tradition, the bride does not go to the groom’s house. The groom would stay at her mother and it is the bride that must shift to his wife’s house with all of his possession to prove that he is a man of substance.
Minang women carrying wedding gifts (“hantaran”) on their heads among the crowd.
The men played talempong (“caklempong” in Malaysia), a small kettle gong which is usually played in an ensemble of four or five talempong. Talempong is a traditional music of the Minangkabau people. It produces a static texture consisting of interlocking rhythms.
Solok Selatan
Why Solok Selatan? Solok Selatan was not part of the plan. Although we had a rough plan on our route, we kept our options open because some places remained undiscovered until you get wind of it either from word of mouth or super last minute research. We got wind of Nagari Saribu Gadang just a day before.
Solok Selatan has been known of its cold temperature; the coldest in West Sumatera. The journey took us climbing the high mountains with views of Bukit Barisan, paddy fields and tea plantation.
Nagari Saribu Rumah Gadang
Nagari Saribu Rumah Gadang is lands of thousand huge traditional houses. What attracted us to include this destination in our trip was the fact that Nagari Saribu Rumah Gadang was considered to be submitted as a candidate for UNESCO inscription before its submission was called off due to the fact that most of the rumah gadang had been modernized in one way or another. It was located very far from Bukittinggi; it took us approximately 7 hours to reach Nagari Saribu Rumah Gadang.
It was said that in Nagari Saribu Rumah Gadang, there are more than 60 rumah gadangs of various models. They can be found in one village that is Nagari Saribu Rumah Gadang.
We arrived at 5pm. The dark clouds appeared on the sky. I wish we had blue sky background because the houses were impressive. Some still retained its traditional value but the others had been renovated in line with modernization. To be honest, without the help of the locals, we were doing a bit of here and there without having any proper direction. Actually, I was expecting more rumah gadang in Nagari Saribu Rumah Gadang.
The area of thousand of traditional houses
We spent the night at Wisma Umi Kalsum. Decent stay in a huge bungalow turned hotel. Gave me some kind of eerie feeling. But all was well for the one night spent there.