SEAToday.com, West Sumatra-There is a natural and cultural wonder in West Sumatra that adrenalin hunters must try at least once in a lifetime, Puncak Lawang Tourism Village. It is a tourism mobilizing unit in Nagari Lawang which is located in Matur District, Agam Regency, West Sumatra Province. Located approximately 100km from Padang City, Lawang Village has a very beautiful and diverse landscape located at an altitude of 1,250mdpl and includes villages with cold temperatures and high rainfall per year. 

Lawang Village is also famous for its Paragliding, because the paragliding place at the top of Lawang is one of the highest in Southeast Asia and has given birth to great athletes and won the National level championship, and Puncak Lawang has also been the site of the Paragliding World Championship.

Another Lawang’s natural wonder lies in Maninjau Lake in Agam Regency. Maninjau Lake, which means scenery in Minangkabau language, is a caldera lake in Agam Regency, West Sumatra.

Based on information from the Wonderful Indonesia website, this volcanic lake is located at an altitude of 461.50m above sea level. Maninjau Lake is a caldera from a large volcanic eruption that scattered approximately 220-250 cubic kilometers of material.

To enjoy the view of Maninjau Lake, tourists can visit Lawang Adventure Park or Lawang Park. From this location, tourists can see the beauty of Lake Maninjau from a height and the surrounding hills.

The area of Lawang Tourism Village is an area of sugarcane plantations, rice fields, shallot gardens, and forests. Most of the Lawang village area is sugarcane plantations which is the main commodity of the Lawang community. Lawang sugar cane is one of the superior commodities processed by the surrounding community into MSME products such as saka sugar, crystallized palm sugar, and sugar cane water drink. Visiting the sugar refineries might be exciting, especially the traditional sugar cane processing that utilizes buffalo power to grind the sugar cane. Here, the buffalo's eyes are covered with coconut shells and cloth so that the buffalo wants to walk. This traditional method is one of the tourist attractions in Lawang Village. Visitors who want to witness the traditional sugarcane processing need to buy a tour package worth 300,000 rupiahs per package. (ALIF/DKD)