Sumatra's western highlands are the home of the Minangkabau, a matrilineal people whose houses have roofs curved like buffalo horns, and the road up from the coast at Padang to the cool plateau around Bukittinggi is one of the great short climbs in Indonesia. It passes through the Anai valley, past a waterfall that falls close to the roadside, and through the little railway halt of Kayu Tanam, where the old line from Padang once began its steep ascent on its way to the Ombilin coal fields. That railway, built by the Dutch in the late nineteenth century with a rack section to climb the grade, is now part of the UNESCO-listed Ombilin Coal Mining Heritage of Sawahlunto.
The bridge sits in this corridor, within sight of the tracks and the river, and shows how the engineers of the time threaded a hard-won line between rock face and gorge. The valley is deeply green, with banana plants, cinnamon trees, rice terraces and mist hanging on the slopes in the morning. Two volcanoes, Marapi and Singgalang, stand over the plateau, and on a clear day they are magnificent.
On a motorcycle, the climb from the coast is a pleasure and a test. The road is a main route, with a mix of good asphalt and patched sections, plenty of bends, and heavy truck and bus traffic that overtakes on corners with great confidence. Small motorcycles are everywhere, and drivers expect you to be flexible. Rain arrives most afternoons, and the surface can be greasy under leaf litter. The best hours are early, before the buses fill the road, and the drier months from May to September.
The nearest big town is Bukittinggi, about nineteen kilometres from here, a lively hill town with fuel, markets, a clock tower, and good local food. Try rendang, the slow-cooked beef curry that the Minangkabau made famous, at a Padang restaurant where plates arrive without ordering and you pay for what you eat. Coffee is grown on the slopes and served strong and sweet. Fuel stations dot the main road, but the little villages in the valley may have only roadside sellers with bottles, so top up in Bukittinggi or Padang Panjang.