Kelok 9 Bridge

Kelok Sembilan means nine bends, and that was the problem: the colonial-era road between West Sumatra and Riau climbed the Bukit Barisan escarpment on a sequence of nine tight hairpins too narrow for the trucks that came to use it, producing jams that ran for hours and a long accident record. The replacement, opened fully in 2013, is a set of six curved viaducts on tall piers stacked above and across the gorge, carrying the road in long sweeping curves through the forest instead of switchbacks - about two and a half kilometres of structure in a valley of the Harau escarpment country. The old hairpin road still runs below and is used as a viewpoint. It has become a destination in itself, with parking areas and stalls at the overlooks.

Highlights

• Six curved viaducts - stacked across and above the gorge on tall piers.
• The old hairpin road below - the nine bends the structure replaced.
• A forested escarpment - the Bukit Barisan valley the road climbs.
• Viewpoints and stalls - the parking areas that grew up around the crossing.

When to go

All year; mornings before the cloud. An hour or two.

Practical notes

It is a road structure - the visit is looking at it from a viewpoint. Weekends bring heavy traffic and stall crowds. There is nothing else at the site beyond food stalls.

Nearby

The Harau valley is close; Payakumbuh and Bukittinggi are west.