Harau Valley
A Flat Floored Valley Walled By Sheer Granite Cliffs Up To 150 Metres High, With Waterfalls Coming Off Them Straight Into Rice Fields And Bolted Climbing Routes On The Rock · Payakumbuh, West Sumatra
Harau is a geometry rather than a view. A FLAT VALLEY FLOOR OF RICE FIELDS, perhaps a kilometre wide, RUNS BETWEEN SHEER GRANITE WALLS UP TO A HUNDRED AND FIFTY METRES HIGH that rise straight out of the paddies with almost no slope between - and WATERFALLS COME OFF THE TOP OF THEM AND LAND IN THE FIELDS. There is no transition, no foothills, nothing to soften it, and that abruptness is what makes the place. The rock has drawn CLIMBERS, and there are bolted sport routes on several of the walls, which makes Harau a small but real climbing destination in a country with very few. AT GROUND LEVEL IT IS MINANGKABAU FARMING COUNTRY, with homestays scattered among the rice and buffalo working the fields, and it costs almost nothing to stay - which is why budget travellers who meant to pass through end up staying a week. It is an hour and a half from Bukittinggi, and better than anything in Bukittinggi itself.
Harau, Lima Puluh Kota Regency, West Sumatra, Payakumbuh, West Sumatra, Indonesia
THE VALLEY IS OPEN COUNTRY with a small entry fee collected on the road in and separate small charges at some of the individual waterfalls. IT IS ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF FROM BUKITTINGGI via Payakumbuh, and roughly four hours from PADANG, which has the flights. HOMESTAYS ARE SCATTERED ACROSS THE VALLEY FLOOR among the rice fields and are booked directly or on arrival; there is no resort infrastructure. THE WATERFALLS ARE STRONGEST AFTER RAIN and several reduce to a trickle late in the dry season. CLIMBING ROUTES ARE BOLTED BUT UNMANAGED - there is no guiding operation, no gear hire and no rescue service, so climbers bring everything and take responsibility. THE VALLEY FLOOR IS WORKING FARMLAND: paths run along irrigation bunds between other people's fields.