The long and winding road to spectacular Lake Maninjau<\/p>\n
By Simon Marcus Gower<\/p>\n
MANINJAU, West Sumatra (JP): Local people will tell you it's
\nbetter to visit on a sunny day. Guidebooks warn against traveling
\nthere when skies are gray and clouds are low.<\/p>\n
But local people and guidebooks do not always consider the
\npossibility that inclement weather might be appealing. True, on a
\nclear day spectacular views may be enjoyed of Lake Maninjau
\nsitting in a deep and wide crater, but if peace and quiet is
\nsought then breathtakingly spectacular views are not necessarily
\na priority.<\/p>\n
Lake Maninjau lies 50 kilometers north of Padang in West
\nSumatra. Less famed than Sumatra's largest lake, Lake Toba, and
\nmore remote than Singkarak, Sumatra's second largest lake that
\nlies only 20 kilometers away, Maninjau boasts a quite different
\nappeal. Both of those vast inland expanses of water have a scale
\nand mountainous landscape that inevitably impress. Maninjau,
\nSumatra's third largest lake, has a more enclosed and secluded
\nappearance, the effect of which is added to by a misty and cloud-
\ncovered day.<\/p>\n
Traveling to Maninjau, rice fields intermingle with thickly
\nforested hillsides. Volcanic outcrops of rock silhouette the
\nskyline and farmers work the fertile land with their buffaloes
\nheavily plodding through the muddy, shimmering soil as they pull
\naged ploughs. The hilly and volcanic terrain has forced road
\nbuilders to cut their roads into hillsides and weave them around
\nbeautiful but uncompromisingly difficult terrain.<\/p>\n
One soon becomes used to the pitching and rolling from side to
\nside as these often-precarious roads are negotiated. Short crash
\nbarriers line many of the sharper twists and turns but often
\nthere is no barrier between the asphalt road edge and a sharp and
\nlong fall to the rice-fields below. Occasionally small villages
\nare encountered sitting in sheltered valleys. One such village
\nbeing particularly noteworthy for its large domed mosque.<\/p>\n
As one sweeps up and around it on the road cut into the
\nsurrounding hills one is glad of expert driving and a good road-
\nholding vehicle. A moment's lapse in concentration could easily
\nsee a vehicle plummet into the mosque's dome that shines so on a
\nmisty day. These winding roads are, then, quite a challenge but
\nthe road down to Lake Maninjau is quite a unique challenge.<\/p>\n
It is far down too to get to the lakeside. Houses and mosques
\nlie deep down below, and from the crater's edge they look like
\ntiny toys or models on a child's train set. Eyes cannot rest long
\non these villages because as soon as the descent to the lake
\nbegins the challenge of the road ahead is met. Hairpin bends
\nweave their way down the steep slope, but not just one or two but
\n44 complete U-turning bends.<\/p>\n
At first these turns are a novelty, but after the first 10 or
\nso queasiness may begin to set in. At times the road drops by as
\nmuch as a 45-degree angle. No great speed can be made up as you
\ntake these turns, but the swinging back and for as the road goes
\nin one direction and then makes a turn to be heading in the
\nopposite direction is quite disorientating.<\/p>\n
Some local inhabitants have worked out the honking of horns of
\nvehicles navigating the turns may have another meaning, namely
\nfood. Dozens of monkeys emerge from the surrounding undergrowth.
\nSome frantically run alongside the passing vehicles while others,
\nperhaps older and wiser, simply stroll along and patiently wait.<\/p>\n
The change in altitude and air pressure combined with the
\ndizzying, twisting road means that the straightening of the road
\nto finally reach the level of the lake is a real relief. The
\nstillness and calm of the lake and the feeling that one has
\narrived at a different, almost time-forgotten part of Indonesia
\nincrease this feeling.<\/p>\n
Nearer to the lakeshore there are small homestays but they are
\nmostly deserted.<\/p>\n
\"We still get backpackers here,\" claimed the owner of a small
\ncafe with a full menu of Indonesian, Chinese and Western dishes.<\/p>\n
However, he was interested to know that we had traveled from
\nJakarta and complained about all the upheaval in the capital.<\/p>\n
Village life<\/p>\n
It is a village and a small, community atmosphere resides over
\nand around the lake. On the shores of the lake are relatively few
\nconcessions to tourism. There are small hotels and homestays but
\nlocal amenities are as prominent. A local school stands near the
\nlake and thus red and white uniformed children are more in
\nevidence than foreign visitors. Also, about 100 meters from the
\nlake's waters is a small prison, which is not likely to attract
\nvisitors but does attract local people who are directly employed
\nthere or are able to sell their cooked food or grocery supplies
\non the jail's doorstep.<\/p>\n
Down by the lake there is evidence that Maninjau is a place of
\nnatural beauty, unspoiled by tourist developments. There are no
\nboats for hire or speedboats or jet-skis here. The waters are
\nquiet and calming as they lap up to the lakeshore. This huge mass
\nof gently rippling water is almost entirely devoid of vessels.<\/p>\n
Occasionally tiny one-man canoes paddle across the vast
\nstretch of water. The fishermen cast their nets and gather their
\ncatches but are so distant that they are seen but not heard. On
\nthe pebble-strewn lakeside a gaggle of geese or two may be seen
\nwaddling by but little breaks the calm.<\/p>\n
Even with the onset of gentle drizzle shelter under a nearby
\ntree allows the contemplative peace to continue. A mist lightly
\ndusts the thick greenery of the trees that cover the surrounding
\nhills. The slowly rolling cloud cover seems to act as a lid on
\ntop of the crater. Watching the one or two fishermen paddle,
\nalmost in slow motion, across the lake, the soft splashing of the
\nwater on the pebbled shore creates a meditation-like
\npeacefulness. The rest of the world seems remote and even a
\ndistant memory.<\/p>\n
Soon, however, this must come to an end and one must face the
\nchallenge of those 44 hairpin turns to get up and out of
\nManinjau's crater. Maninjau will remain in its restful, nearly
\ntimeless way, and anytime peace and time out from our busy and
\noften manic world is needed Maninjau will offer a meditational
\nkind of relief. The road may be long and winding but it is worth
\nthe ride.<\/p>",
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