#Travetips | Jembatan Akar (Root Bridge), Padang #Indonesia

Sepatah kata Farah "Kalau tak sampai Jembatan Akar, ngak bisa pulang, malu mereka!". Hahahhahahahaa...

This is the super highlight of our trip.

Finally we'll get to see it live, in Padang, after our more than 1000km journey, taking us from Pekan Baru to Padang. Excited? Extremely. (Else tak boleh balik kan!)

Located in kecamatan Bayang Utara in Painan, we gauge the journey from the heart of Padang to Jembatan Akar takes around 2 hours. What else is new right, by now we accepted the fact everywhere we want to go will take us minimum of 2 hours, anywhere lesser than 2 hours will have drastic impact on us. Pancat boboi kata budak-budak sekarang.

Fortunately the scenery heading there was peaceful and soothing of which both Farah and Ed failed to enjoy since they were asleep most of the time (agak-agak depa baca tak blog ni? Keh keh keh). Here's this thing about me, when I am enjoying a scenery; whereever or whenever, I tend to be so deeply involve (changgih dah expresssion) that I forgot all about taking photos, and my argument will be, why photos? what photos? Just feel the moment. Omh.... gitew.

Anyway, this famous objek wisata is located really inside a small rural village and there is an entrance fee of RP5,000 if I am not mistaken.

#TravelTips 1 : The river where Jembatan Akar is located is sumpah awesome, my honest recommendation is to bring a swimwear and a set to change. Main air puas-puas.

#TravelTips 2 : The scenery is so breathtaking along the way, camera and mobile camera should be fully charged with sufficient memory card. Kang nyesal lak kang.

#TravelTips 3 : There are a few spots where you can stop and swim at the river. I sampai tak tau nak express kecantikan river dia. SIla bayangkan jer lah.

There are few stalls selling light snacks and drinks along the way, you can also bring your own picnic stuff. Not to worry, WC or Wash Closet and changing room provided.

#TravelTips 4 : According to Ed, errr.... janganlah masuk. So, masuk we did not. Sekian.

The first sight was ........ you got it, we were speechless and gawking, or at least I'm sure I did, for a brief 1-2 mins. Followed by long murmurs of how amazing and crazy this is (I bet they think I'm weird. Ahaks). The 2 hours journey we were sighing earlier, worth every single minute of it *smile*.

Excerpt from Wikipedia

Jembatan akar (English: the root bridge) is the bridge that forms the fabric of the two roots of the trees that grow across and extends over a stream in the subdistrict Bayang Utara, Pesisir Selatan Regency, West Sumatra, Indonesia. It is located about 88 km south of the city of Padang. In the language of Minang, the bridge is the community outreach called titian aka.

This bridge has a length of 25 metres (82 ft) and a width of 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) with a height from the surface of the river of about 3 metres (9.8 ft). It began to be formed in 1890 and could be used in 1916. In other words, the process of knitting a root bridge takes approximately 26 years. Currently, conditions are becoming increasingly stronger with the size of the roots of the banyan tree that formed it. On any day of the week and national holidays, the tourist attraction root bridge is much visited by local tourists and foreign tourists.

This is the product of perseverance and determination - knitting or weaving the root took 26 years and it is now approximately 100 years old. If you're gayat, walking on it is not such a good idea (say a gayat to another). But dah sampai tak kan tak jalan kot kan? 

What annoys me the most is the local kids crossing the bridge in a flash, practically running and some even carrying load; all this as if they are walking on flat land. While me, crawling. Seriously. I crawled (nasib baik Farah and Ed did not take any oics of me crawling. Maluuuuuu).

Remember me telling you about bringing your own picnic basket and swimwear, because of this! Almost whole stretch of the river is similar to this, find a nice spot further up or down, and just chill.

#TravelTips 5 : My suggestion (if possible) find a spot before Jembatan Akar itself (do it on the way back, it's easier I think), the one next to the paddy field. Picturesque! Normally there is a bridge every few meters or 1km. Pepandai lah yek.

Feel like Indiana Jones dak?

We see. We go. We conquer.

Direction :

Jembatan Akar is located in kecamatan Bayang Utara not far from Painan town. Depending where your start point is, you will reach a T junction near the new market, take the turn that indicates Jembatan Akar. Drive for another half an hour or so passing paddy fields, rivers and small villages. You’ll know you are nearing the famous objek wisata - Jembatan Akar when the road gradually slope upward.