Bukittinggi
The Highland Heart Of The Minangkabau, The Largest Matrilineal Society On Earth, Where Property And Lineage Pass Through Women And The Roofs Are Shaped Like Buffalo Horns · Bukittinggi, West Sumatra
Bukittinggi sits at nine hundred metres in the West Sumatran highlands, cool and green between three volcanoes, and it is the cultural centre of THE MINANGKABAU - THE LARGEST MATRILINEAL SOCIETY ON EARTH, in which property, land and clan name descend through women while men traditionally leave home to make their way, a custom called merantau. The RUMAH GADANG, the great houses, have roofs that sweep up into points like BUFFALO HORNS. The town is built around the JAM GADANG clock tower and the SIANOK CANYON that cuts straight through it. BENEATH THE TOWN RUN THE LUBANG JEPANG - tunnels dug by forced labour under the Japanese occupation. AND THIS IS THE HOME OF PADANG FOOD, named for the coastal city but cooked from these highlands: rendang, the beef simmered for hours in coconut and spice until the sauce dries to a dark paste, comes from these highlands rather than from the coast, and it is better here than anywhere else you will eat it.
Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Indonesia
BUKITTINGGI IS A TOWN AND IS ALWAYS OPEN. It is REACHED FROM PADANG, about two to three hours by road, and PADANG HAS FLIGHTS from Jakarta, Medan and Kuala Lumpur. THE INDIVIDUAL SITES KEEP THEIR OWN HOURS: the JAM GADANG stands in an open square, the LUBANG JEPANG tunnels and the FORT DE KOCK area charge small fees and open in daylight, and the PASAR ATAS market runs from morning through the afternoon and is busiest on market days. PADANG RESTAURANTS SERVE ALL DAY - dishes are set out on the counter and you are charged for what you eat. IT IS COOL AND OFTEN WET at nine hundred metres, and afternoon rain is routine. Harau Valley and Lake Maninjau are both within about two hours and are the reason to keep a car.