Packed with historic sites and renowned for the quality of its cuisine, Palembang’s charms are attractive indeed
Palembang, the capital of South Sumatera Province, is also known as Bumi Sriwijaya (Sriwijaya Land). In 712 AD this area was the centre of the largest and strongest maritime kingdom in Indonesia, whose influence reached as far as China in the North and Madagascar off the coast of Africa to the west.
“Nak kemano kita kak? (Where are we going now, sister?)” asked Pak Wicaksono with distinctive accent Palembang, the driver who was going to escort me on my journey around Bumi Sriwijaya.
The heavy rain that started in the early hours of the morning actually made me pretty reluctant to get moving. Because Palembang is on average only 12 metres above sea level, and with tides reaching 3 to 5 metres, several lower lying parts of the city, especially on the outskirts, are often flooded. However, I eventually decided to drive around while waiting for the rain to stop and started savouring the city which is officially the 17th Tourist Gateway in Indonesia.
Fifteen minutes out on the road and the rain eased, although the sun was still hiding behind the clouds as I arrived at Jembatan Ampera (Ampera Bridge), one of the city’s icons. It was built by Japan and was opened by President Soekarno in 1964; at that time it was the longest bridge in south east Asia.
The bridge across the River Musi is 1,177 metres long, 22 metres wide and 11.50 metres above the surface of the water. Early on it was called Musi Bridge but then in the 1970s it was renamed Ampera Bridge (the People’s Hardship Mandate).
It used to be that the middle part of the bridge could be raised so that ships could pass underneath. However, since the 1970s, because people are more and more mobile and there are more vehicles, as well as for some technical reasons, the bascule bridge function is no longer in use.
From the bridge, I went to the area around Kuto Besak Fort which is close to the Museum of Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin and Mesjid Agung (the Great Mosque).
The Fort of Kuto Besak, whose walls are three metres high, was constructed by the Sultan of Palembang and it took 17 years to complete. It was built as a defence against the Dutch military who tried several times to capture Palembang. It is now used as the headquarters of Kodam II Sriwijaya (the regional military command) and Dr. A.K. Gani Hospital. This means that tourists are only able to see its exterior.
The Museum of Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II, which faces the Musi River, is located at the northern end of Ampera Bridge. It was built by the Dutch authorities in 1823 on the site of the Sultan of Palembang’s palace which was destroyed when the Dutch attacked. The museum building, which is a combination of traditional Malay and Dutch colonial architecture, was used as a residence by Dutch officials. This museum has a collection of historical and cultural artefacts from Palembang.
Not far from the museum and the fort, the Great Mosque stands imposingly on the corner of Jl. Jenderal Sudirman and Jl. Merdeka. This mosque is one of the legacies of the Palembang Sultanate and was built by Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin I in 1740. The area in the vicinity of the mosque used to be the capital of the Islamic Kingdom of Palembang.
The tourists flock to the area around Kuto Besak Fort morn, noon and night. Many of them come here to appreciate the picturesque views with Ampera Bridge and the Musi River in the background. What is more, we can also rent a boat and cruise down what is often referred to as the river tourist town.
At night the area promises different charms: the sparkling lights that decorate Ampera Bridge; floating coffee shops offering the sensations of coffee and Palembang specialty snacks, such as pempek, amidst the rhythms and cadence of street musicians and the rocking motion of the Musi River’s ripples.
If the weather is inclement, the most interesting and tantalising tourist activity in Palembang is related to its delicious cuisine.
In almost every corner of Palembang we can find mobile food sellers on their bicycles or motorbikes, and foodstalls and restaurants along the streets, all offering Pelembang’s famous snack.
Pempek is well known and closely identified with Palembang. It is a kind of dumpling made from fish and tapioca flour, served with a thin sauce called cuko made from white sugar, garlic, table vinegar and chillies. It is said to be a dish with some foreign influence and has been in existence since the 16th Century when Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II reigned in the Kingdom of Sriwijaya. An old Chinese man, so the story goes, thought it such a pity that the abundance of fish caught in the Musi River was not being put to good use. They only fried and salted them. After a bit of experimentation, the old man was finally successful and came up with a new snack and hawked it around town on his bicycle. People wanting to buy some called out to him: “Apek! Apek!” (meaning “old” in Chinese). Over the course of time, the food became known as empek-empek before finally changing to pempek.
Apart from pempek, Palembang boasts other specialties with fish as their main ingredient such as model, tekwan and Palembang crackers, also known as kemplang, consisting of fried, grilled kemplang and kerupuk. Several other localities in South Sumatra, like Ogan Ilir and Ogan Komering Ilir, are well know for their salted fish and smoked fish. And another area is known for its Pindang.
Another kind of food that is no less delicious is celor noodle in Rumah Makan 26 Jl. Ilir HM Syafei. During holidays this smallish restaurant may sell as many as 1,000 portions of celor noodles in a day. The secret of its tastiness is way that the flavour of shrimp is allowed to dominate the other ingredients. The noodles are the yellow egg kind but, while egg noodles are usually curly, these are much bigger and straight rather like spaghetti. Those who have not tried celor noodle before may well think it is a variant of the famous Italian pasta.
It was still pouring when I arrived at No. 30 Jl. Kiranggo Wirosentiko, Ilir, Palembang. Along this street there are a lot of craftspeople producing woven cloth called songket and several songket boutiques. Palembang’s songket, both in the form of broadcloth and scarves, is nowadays well known all over Indonesia, especially after it being heavily promoted at various events, festivals and exhibitions.
Songket is a traditional craft native to Palembang, using silk combined with golden threads woven with a high degree of artistry. It is a cottage industry and normally carried out by women.
Songket, which is usually quite expensive, utilizes various motifs such as lepus, jando beraes, bunga inten, tretes midar, pulir biru, kembang suku hijau, bungo cino, bunga pacik and others. Women usually wear them for weddings, formal parties and traditional ceremonies.
One of the boutiques that travellers often visit is Fikri Collection, which sells different kinds of songket with both traditional and the most up-to-date designs. There are about 20 craftspeople employed there and we can see them at work. There are about 50 others who carry out their craft and work from home. The price varies from Rp. 600,000 to several million rupiah, depending on the type of material and the motif.
Besides visiting the weaving district on Jl. Kiranggo Wirosentiko, I also went to Kampoeng BNI Tenun Songket in Muara Penimbung Village, Indralaya, in the Regency of Ogan Ilir, South Sumatera. The weaving kampong that lies about 35 kilometres from Palembang was inaugurated by the Coordinating Minister of Economics, Hatta Rajasa, last February.
The Songket Weaving Village was developed by BNI to produce songket cloth. This cottage industry so far has not been able to reach optimal production nor have the villagers prospered. In BNI’s programme, called PKBL (Program Kerja Bina Lingkungan or Environment Building Work Programme), the craftspeople receive training, consultation, capital and help with marketing.
Like other big cities in Indonesia, the traffic in Palembang is heavy. In order to provide its people with decent, safe and inexpensive public transport, the local authorities are planning to launch a bus service called “Trans-Musi” to replace the current bus routes. However, those old buses are certainly interesting with pictures covering almost the entire windscreen!
The last ten years in Palembang have seen a lot of changes. The common impression that a trip there will not be comfortable one has changed. Now it is safe and pleasant, and the clean up continues as it prepares itself to become the host and venue for the SEA GAMES XXVI next year.
Getting to Palembang:
Garuda Indonesia has 49 flights on the Jakarta-Palembang vv route every week.
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