It had become a routine for us to wake up very early in the morning to start our journey to our next destination which was hundred miles away. Ambitious itinerary, that’s why. We had a quick visit to one of the most beautiful rumah gadang in town. If this house has a name, I didn’t take note of it.
When we reached the high mountain area, it was still hazy and the effect on the landscape was awesome.
It was worthy to mention that the three of us were sick; either food poisoning or car sickness related. Ed and I had diarrhoea from the dinner we had the night before. We were not in our best travelling behaviour. I remembered having arrived at Alahan Panjang emotionless. Given the choice, I would not even want to step out from the car. It was upon insistence of Mas Imam and the rest that I finally joined Mas Imam at the stall. The weather was chilling.
Alahan Panjang
Alahan Panjang is a village in Lembah Gumanti, Solok. It is located on the eastern slopes of Kerinci Seblat National Park at an altitude of 1,400-1,600 metres. The only interesting place in Alahan Panjang is the spectacular sight of the tea plantations. I had to drag myself to walk around the tea plantation for the stomach-ache was killing me inside. Screw food poisoning big time! It was drizzling. If one passes by Alahan Panjang later in the afternoon, there would be stalls selling grilled corns.
Jembatan Akar, Painan
Jembatan Akar, Painan is our threshold for off-beaten path for this trip. It was said that if we did not manage to go to Jembatan Akar, it would be ashamed of us because of our excessive brags to friends and “fans”. Jembatan Akar is located at Kecamatan Bayang,Kabupaten Pesisir Selatan and is also known as Titian Aka by the locals.
How to go | Located 70km from Padang and 15km from Painan town. The journey takes approximately 1.5 hours from Padang via Teluk Bayur and mountain terrains. Bayang is situated on the trunk road, 17km from Pasar Baru towards Muara Air. From Bayang junction, drive straight for about 1km to reach Jembatan Akar Painan. Another alternative, is to take the long route from Alahan Panjang.
The road led us to a village with a road end. That was when we had to begin looking for parking space. After paying for the entrance fee, we descended down the uneven steps for about 500metres.
Jembatan Akar is the root bridge that forms of intertwirled root of two berangan treees that grow acroos and extends over a stream. The bridge has a length of 25 metres and a width of 1.5 metres with a height from the surface of the river about 3 metres. The process of intertwining the root bridge takes approximately 26 years before it could be used by the locals.
The history behind Jembatan Akar started when a famous ulama Pakih Sokan which was also known as Angku Ketek started to intertwine the roots to form the bridge to connect two villages which were separated by the stream with strong currents. An urban legend has it that there is a sacrifce ritual conducted at Jembatan Akar too.
The fishes in the stream cannot be caught as they had been cursed by the locals and can only be taken a certain time of the year. Another legend told about Jembatan Akar is that whoever who swim under the Jembatan Akar, they would soon find their love partner and get married.
3 Comments
Farah, lengkap sekali menulis perjalanan di Sumatra Baratnya. Terima kasih 🙂 aku harus ke sana juga.
Hi dear, I was mesmerized places you visited at Bukittinggi. I though of going with my husband around March, Insyaa ALLAH…. Can you recommend me your driver aka tour guide. Thank you so much….
The driver that we used for the trip was private driver for my friend’s cousin. Most of the places I went were random places we came across throughout the journey. You can follow my route, but Solok Selatan and Negeri Seribu Rumah Gadang are really far from the rest. It would take up atleast whole day on the road.