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West Sumatra
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West Sumatra ('Sumatera Barat', abbreviated to 'Sumbar') is a province of Indonesia. It lies on the west coast of the island Sumatra, and borders the provinces of North Sumatra ('Sumatera Utara') to the north, Riau and Jambi to the east, and Bengkulu to the southeast. It includes the Mentawai Islands off the coast. The capital of the province is Padang.
A set of pictures taken between 1892 and 1905 .
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The famous weaving village Pandai Sikat (or 'Sikek', the name lit. means 'weavers') is twelve km south of Bukit Tinggi, between Gunung Singgalang and Gunung Marapi in the far south of the Agam Valley. Weaving has been very important since 1780. Cotton was grown in the western lowlands, but the demand for it was so high that they also imported it from Surat in India. Nowadays weaving is still important, together with wood-logging, iron- and copper working.
Take the main road from Bukittinggi and turn right near Kotabaru, and follow the small road. Along the road young men cut decorstive materials and furniture, while the girls are busy weaving with making traditional gold and silver songket. Those who think the songketin Bukittinggi are too expensive, can see how much work it is to make one: a full working day produces about ten cm of fabric.
An extra attraction of Pandai Sikat is the decorated and painted village house in which the Quran is read, marriages are blessed, and village affairs are talked about. The village mosque is almost entirely surrounded by a basin in which the villagers wash and bath.
West of Pandai Sikat the sleeping volcano of Gunung Singgalung (2877 meters). A good path leads from a tv-station to the top in four hours. On a plateau at the top is a small lake. Go out early, when it's most likely to be clear weather. For the way back you can take another route, but that will cost you twice as much time. This will bring you to Kototua, along the road to Maninjau. From here the Merapi can also be climbed, however this is a much more risky . If you really want to, you can better start from the other side, the southeastern side.
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Last revised on November 01, 2009
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| WEST SUMATRA PICTURES |
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| 17 pictures in this gallery |
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