Explore WEST Sumatra

City of branding Payakumbuh city changes from time to time. From the beginning of its formation, the city of Payakumbuh has been dubbed the City of Gelamai precisely on December 17, 1970. The inauguration ceremony of the city of Payakumbuh was attended by the Minister of Home Affairs: Amir Machmud at the Payakumbuh City Hall office. The committee served a plate of gelamai to him. Since the inauguration ceremony, the traditional stakeholders and the local government agreed to dub the city of Payakumbuh the city of galamai. The gelamai is a typical Payakumbuh food in the form of a flat, chewy texture and brown like the dodol (traditional snack from West Java).
In the early 1990s, the city of Payakumbuh got the nickname the city of Batiah. This nickname emerged during the era of the leadership of the mayor, Muchtiar Muchtar (1988 – 1993). He is known as a mayor who is very concerned with orderliness, cleanliness, and beauty. In realizing them in Payakumbuh, He initiated the nickname Payakumbuh as “Batiah City”. Which is an acronym for Bersih (Clean), Aman (Safe), Tertib (Orderly), Indah (Beautiful), and Harmoni (Harmonious). The nickname “Batiah City” is of the spirit of orderliness, cleanliness, and beauty, also by the name of one of Payakumbuh’s specialty snacks made of rendang rice similar to the rengginang (traditional snack from Jakarta) called batiah. When he was mayor, Payakumbuh won the Adipura Cup for the first time, which is the highest supremacy in the field of cleanliness.
Payakumbuh city is also dubbed the Blue City. It is because the symbol of the Payakumbuh area is blue. Quoted from the Payakumbuh City Regional Regulation number 3/2012 concerning the regional symbol of Payakumbuh City, the blue color means “hospitality, clear water, tame fish, which contain hope for a better future”.
At the end of 2018, the Payakumbuh City Government promoted its area as Rendang Village. The use of this slogan is to raise the culinary industry, especially the rendang industry, as well as to attract tourists to come to visit West Sumatra. Although each region has its characteristics of processed rendang, in Payakumbuh, most of the rendang is managed to improve the culinary industry. There are various types of rendang in Payakumbuh Rendang Village, including beef rendang, egg rendang, lung rendang, chicken rendang, tuna rendang, and mushroom rendang.

Initially, the Payakumbuh Government was considered by some parties to be inconsistent in campaigning for Payakumbuh as a “City of Rendang”. In this Payakumbuh city branding polemic, Mayor Riza Falepi asserted, the “City of Rendang” branding echoed by the Payakumbuh government in the last two years, is not a form of inconsistency by the Payakumbuh Government. This is an effort to make rendang a specialty of Payakumbuh. He also emphasized that although the “City of Rendang” icon was echoed, the branding that had been attached to Payakumbuh, such as Payakumbuh “City of Galamai” and Payakumbuh “City of Batiah” was still used (quoted from the Padangkita.com web site on November 28, 2020 ).

Before 2008, Payakumbuh was part of the Lima Puluh Kota Regency and also the capital of the district. With the development of the city in 2008, the expansion was carried out. The administrative center of the Limapuluh Kota district was moved to Sarilamak city. Payakumbuh is an independent city that has 5 sub-districts. Districts in Payakumbuh are: West Payakumbuh, East Payakumbuh, North Payakumbuh, South Payakumbuh and Lamposi Tigo Nagori.
Payakumbuh City is about 30 km from Bukittinggi City or 120 kilometers from Padang City and 188 kilometers from Pekanbaru City. This city is a transit area between the city of Padang and the city of Pekanbaru, from this city it can also be connected to the middle route of Sumatra without having to pass through the city of Bukittinggi. Koto Nan Ampek Terminal is a land transportation terminal in this city. Currently, the northern (10.45 kilometers) and southern (15.34 kilometers) outer ring road, known as the Payakumbuh Bypass, has been built to facilitate access to transportation without having to go through the city center and to encourage economic growth.
As a transit city, making the service and trade sectors are the mainstay sector. Payakumbuh City already has a modern market located in the heart of the city. However, other sectors such as agriculture, livestock, and fisheries are still promising for the people of this city because it is supported by the condition of the land which is also fairly fertile. While the existing industries in this city are only small in scale but have been able to produce to meet the demands of foreign markets, including embroidery and skullcap.
Meanwhile, there are many home-based culinary industries in Payakumbuh, so it is not surprising that the promotion of Payakumbuh as a culinary city has been massively promoted by the city government in the last three years to attract tourist visits. One of them is the promotion of Payakumbuh as a rendang city.
Payakumbuh city is located in a highland area that is part of the Bukit Barisan. Its located at the foot of Mount Sago, and the city’s landscapes vary in height. The topography of the city area consists of hills with an average height of 514 meters above sea level. Its territory is traversed by three rivers, namely Batang Agam, Batang Lampasi, and Batang Sinama. The average air temperature ranges from 26 °C with humidity between 45-50. With varied landscapes plus pleasant temperatures, Payakumbuh is highly recommended for tourists to visit. Here are some tourist attractions in the city of Payakumbuh:

1. Panorama of Ampangan
Panorama Ampangan is at the top of Ampangan Hill, Aua Kuniang village, South Payakumbuh sub-district. It has an altitude of 650 meters above sea level and is at the foot of Mount Sago. This position makes this location able to provide very beautiful natural scenery, especially the view of the location below it. Visitors can see the city of Payakumbuh from a height and here is a selfie spot that is highly recommended for millennials. Located 7 kilometers from the center of Payakumbuh, West Sumatra, the Panorama Ampangan tourist destination can be reached in 12-13 minutes by motorbike or car.

2. Sampik Cave
Sampik Cave is located in the peak area of Marajo. This small cave can be easily traced because the access road to it has been made of stairs that are fenced in beside the hill. The view of it is a variety of colorful rocks and a variety of flora such as forest orchids and small banyan trees. Hiking the peak can be done to the highest peak with a path. Its location of it is in a triangular tourist area with Marajo Peak and Sibaluik Park. It’s located on Soekarno Hatta st, Pakan Sinayan Village, South Payakumbuh close to the Indah Cave.

3. Indah Cave
Indah Cave is located about 4 kilometers from downtown Payakumbuh or 31 km from Bukittinggi. Precisely located in the village of Pakan Sinayan, West Payakumbuh sub-district. The tourist attraction is a natural cave with several cave mouths as entry and exit access. In this large cave, we can see the beauty of the stalactites and stalagmites that are still well preserved. This cave is inhabited by a flock of bats which makes it always filled with loud noises all the time. In addition to bats, there are swallows nesting between the gaps in the ceiling that soars about 10 meters high.

Inside the cave with an altitude of 640 meters above sea level, several parts of cave have a unique and very distinctive shape. One of them is stone gong. It is a hollow stone with a shape like a hollow cone or bell-like. It is located right on the left side of the cave entrance. Its unique shape makes this stone produce a fairly loud reflection of sound. There are also two stones located side by side vertically with shapes resembling elephants and mushrooms. In addition, some have the form of a mosquito net, an umbrella, and a human.

Track down the path from the entrance of the cave to the exit of the cave is about 80 meters. The path is not horizontal but in the form of a descending and uphill path with many steps. There is another exit to the track towards Marajo Peak with a distance of approximately 1 kilometer. In addition to exploring the cave, visitors can also enjoy a full panorama of Payakumbuh City in the middle of a park with shady trees and breezy winds. Access to the entrance to this area is via Soekarno-Hatta st. From the entrance gate to the parking area we will go through an uphill path which is approximately 800 meters. This path is surrounded by a tourist forest area of ​​​​approximately 10 hectares which makes it cool and shady. From the Indah cave, visitors can walk to the Hill at Marajo Peak because the hills are connected.

Source: Parts of Indah Cave.Indonesiakaya.com.photo

4. Marajo Peak

Marajo Peak is a natural destination with a green natural panorama and fresh air. To be able to reach the top of Marajo, visitors have to climb the uphill and winding stairs and then enter the crevices of the rocky hill. It is very recommended for heart exercise and weight loss programs. Those of you who climb it will be covered in sweat because the terrain is steeply uphill and the descent is quite steep. But at the peak then the beauty of the scenery will make you lulled.

The location of the entrance to Marajo Peak is on Raya Bukittinggi – Payakumbuh st. No.233, Pakan Sinayan Village, West Payakumbuh sub – district. If you stand facing the Payakumbuh City Youth and Sports Tourism Office, on your left, there is a hill as the entrance gate to climb to Marajo Peak. On the gate has written Puncak Marajo. The following gates are connected by permanent tiers made of cast cement. Continue up the hill along the ladder.

From the exit of the Indah cave only about 200 meters, you can also go to the pedestrian path to Marajo Peak. From the end of this cave, visitors can jog in a relaxed manner. No less enchanting, this pedestrian street in the Marajo Hills at 08.00 Western Indonesia Time is still shrouded in a thin mist of dew. Taking pictures of this pedestrian gives you the impression that you are visiting a beautiful land above the clouds. The beautiful atmosphere is still so pronounced.

This area is surrounded by highlands and mountains towering in various directions. Least, there are three large mountains whose peaks we can see from this city, namely, Mount Sago, Mount Marapi, and Mount Singgalang. In addition to these mountains, there is more than one hilltop in Payakumbuh City which decorates the landscape.

Currently, the rendang center in Payakumbuh already has several licensing and standardization certificates including a distribution permit for processed food from the Indonesian National Agency of Drug and Food Control for nine product variants, a halal certificate from the Indonesian Muslim Priest Council, a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points certificate, a Veterinary Control Number certificate, and an Indonesian National Standard Product certificate. However, for export purposes, Rendang Payakumbuh still has to struggle to get an ISO 22000 certificate because of difficult requirements.