Kelok Nona

The old main road that linked Riau to West Sumatra has a number of accident prone areas, including some deadly bends. The 185km road linking Payakumbuh, West Sumatra and Pekanbaru, Riau, takes about 4.5 hours at above average speeds without stopping or about five hours at normal speed. Among the bends which are particularly well known among drivers are the Kelok Sembilan and the Kelok Nona. While the Kelok Sembilan is famous for its view and difficulty level, the Kelok Nona is famous for the many different versions of the mysterious story associated with it.

Just at the Kelok Nona bend is a grave which appears to be a Chinese grave. According to the story, which has spread from one person to another, a young Chinese girl is buried there. It's hard to say exactly when the even took place. But one version of the story is that in the 1950's when the Payakumbuh-Pekanbaru road was still in very poor condition, a Chinese girl and her father were traveling in a private car together with their driver. The car broke down and the father decided to travel 125 kms to Pekanbaru to buy spare parts. This would have taken more than a day because he would have to wait in line with other ferry passengers to cross Rantau Berangin and Lake Bingkuang.

According to this version of the story, while waiting for her father to return, the girls was raped by the driver. Unable to bear the shame, she decided to take her life. Because of the difficulties in communication at that time, the girl was buried on the spot. The white grave stone has attracted the attention of anyone traveling among this road.

But now the Kelok Nona remains only as a memory, since the stretch of road from the Lubang Kalam tunnel to Rantau Berangin and Mangilang has been obliterated, due to the construction of the Kota Panjang hydroelectric dam. The entire Tanjung Balit area and all of its dzzying bends has now been submerged in water.