SIANOK CANYON
Just a few blocks from our hotel in Bukittinggi, the beautiful Sianok Canyon is a favorite spot for tourists. From a scenic overlook, one can see down the canyon for several miles in both directions. Deciding to strike out on my own for the afternoon, I hired a guide (a friend of Arman's named Ujang) to lead me on a hike through the canyon. To get down to the river from the scenic overlook, we passed through a series of tunnels (the Japanese Tunnel is a massive excavation used by the Japanese to hide troops and munitions during WW II), roads, and paths.
After the first mile or so, there was no longer any semblance of a trail, so we waded back and forth across the river to whichever side had the best river bank. Eventually there was no river bank (just a narrow gorge) and we travelled down the center of the river, which was generally about one to three feet deep, feeling for rocks and dropoffs with our feet and bracing ourselves against the current.
When we reached the point where there's normally a path out of the gorge to the plateau and rice paddies above, we discovered that the route was impassable because of the water depth and strength of the current. So, we backtracked to a point about a mile down the river, and scrambled up the steep canyon wall (thick bamboo, slippery mud, wet leaves). Ujang removed his sandals and had better traction barefoot than I did with my hiking boots.
