West Sumatera: Lake Maninjau

A.  Brief  Information

Lake Maninjau is a volcanic  lake that is located at  461,50 meters above the sea level. Its width is  99, 5 km2 with 4, 95 meters of the maximum depth. The existence of Lake Maninjau has created a folktale called “Bujang Sembilan” (The nine bachelors).  People living around the lake believe that those nine bachelors are real.  Once upon a time, there was a family consists of nine bachelors and a  beautiful girl named Sani. There was a man named Sagiran who loved her,  they love each other until one day they were accused of doing contemptible thing by the bachelors. In order to prove the bachelors‘ assumption, both  Sani and Sagiran jumped into the cauldron of Mount Tinjau.   Before jumping into the cauldron, they swore that the mount would not  explode if they did that contemptible thing, otherwise, the mount would  explode if they did not do it. Finally, there was a huge explosion causing  a big hole that was fulfilled by water that is believed as the cause of  the existence of Lake   Maninjau.

B.  Distinctive Features

The  first  President of Indonesia, Mr. Ir. Soekarno, had ever visited Lake Maninjau,  as an  expression of his amazement, he wrote a pantun (Malayan Quatrain) sounded  “Jika makan aria pinang, makanlah dengan sirih yang  hijau, jangan datang ke  ranah Minang, jika belum mampir ke Maninjau”  which means that he suggested  everyone visiting West Sumatera must visit Lake  Maninjau because of its  wonderful scenery.

We may  compare it with other famous lakes from all over the world such as lake in  Luzern, Zurich, and Switzerland. Lake  Maninjau has shinny turquoise water  with the flapping leaves of coconut trees and hills around the lake that  make a wonderful view in Lake   Maninjau.

C.  Location

It is  located in Tanjung Raya, in the district of Agam, West  Sumatra province, Indonesia.

D.  Access

There  are two alternative ways to reach the destination, from the east and from  the west. If you choose to start it from the west, it will be started from  Padang to  Lubuk Basung (the capital of Agam district) passing by Pariaman city. It  spends about a half an hour hours by land using any accessible public  transportation or chartered car that can be easily found there. It will be  started from Padang to  Bukit Tinggi continued to the destination passing by Kelok 44  for approximately three hours if we choose the alternative way from east.

E.  Accommodation and Other Facilities

Many  types of hotels or home stays can be easily found there. There are many  restaurants offering delicious cuisines.

Source:www.wisatamelayu.com