Sawahlunto is the oldest mining town in Indonesia, and the only mining town in West Sumatera Province. The town was evolved together with the discovery of coal mining at River Ombilin in 19th century. As the mining activity decline in 1980s, Sawahlunto became more quiet and quiet. But today, Sawahlunto has “rebirth” and we can see some of the mine site becoming tourist attraction.
Lubang Mbah Soero
Lubang Mbah Soero (The Hole of Mbah Soero) is the main tourist attraction of Sawahlunto. Originally called Lubang Tambang Soegar, it is the first mine pit opened at Sawahlunto in 1896. In its heyday in 1920s, there are a lot of miner working in the mine pit. “Mbah Soero” was the name of the miner supervisor at that time, brought by the Dutch from Java.
Eventhough the mine pit has good quality coal, in 1932 the mine pit was left for safety reason. In 2007, Sawahlunto government converted the mine pit as tourist attraction. They preserved the condition of Lubang Mbah Soero to be like their original state when it was left in 1932. Visitor can go inside the mine pit and touch the coal rocks left behind at the wall of mine pit.
To go inside the mine pit, visitor can buy tickets at Info Box Building. Administrator of the mine pit will provide personal protective equipment like safety shoes and safety helmet. They also provide a big hose to the mine pit for ensuring oxygen flow inside the pit. Guide is provided to accompany visitor and explain more detail about Lubang Mbah Soero.
Goedang Ransoem Museum
Goedang Ransoem Museum located not far from Lubang Mbah Soero. Building use for the museum was a central kitchen to provide ration for miners in 1920s. At that time, the central kitchen cooked 4 tons of rice for miners, hospital patients, and miners’ families. After the mine pit was abandoned, the building still use for central kitchen for soldiers, before it was converted to be museum and opened for public in 2005.
The museum’s main collections are huge-size kitchenware, such as giant wok dan giant pot. The giant pot has 132 cm diameter and made from thick steel plate. The fuel for cooking did not use firewood, LPG, or kerosene, but using steam generated from German-made steam generator. Some of the coal taken from the mine pit was used to boil the water in the generator to generate steam. The museum also displayed photos of old Sawahlunto.
Rhien's Travel Journal 