Places of interest:
Palembang is a busy city and the second largest city in Sumatra. It is known about the oil production and the harbor along the 600 meters wide Musi river. Palembang can be a starting point for a trip to the surrounding areas. You can fly to Palembang from several points in Indonesia to start your journey across south Sumatra, like the western highlands with its volcanoes and lake Ranau as described in South Sumatra.
Museum Budaya Sultan Machmud Badaruddin II
This museum located near the Ampera bridge across the Musi river is build by the Dutch in 1923 on the spot where the original palace of the sultan was located. It shows a mixture of architecture and was used for many years a a Dutch residence. Now it is transformed into a museum where you cans see three rooms decorated with the original south Sumatran style of the Sultan. At the back of the museum is a little art market where local craftsman produce the silver and golden arts.
Rumah Bari Museum (Rumah Limas)
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At Jalan Rumah Bari you can find an another museum locally called Rumah Limas. It is an original wooden building which was moved by the Dutch from the countryside. It is an impressive museum with a large collection of sculptures and arts from South Sumatra. The museum is opened daily from 8.00 to 13.00 except for Friday.
River trips
It is possible to do a river trip on the Musi river by speed boat. The starting point is near the Ampera bridge from where the eight meter long boats take you up to the river. You can see the traditional stilt houses and the villages along the river banks. A trip by 'spetbot' will coast 100,000 till 140,000 rp per hour.
Pulau Bangka
About 25 km from the east coast of Sumatra lies Pulau Bangka. It is an unpopulated island with beautiful beaches which can be reached by boat or by air. There are three daily boats (two jet foils and one slow boat) from Palembang to Mentok on the western tip of the island. The jet foils costs about 100,000 rp and will do the crossing in 3½ hours while the slow boat will take six hours for 52,000 rp. Planes fly daily from Palembang to Pangkalpinang at the eastern coast of Bangka for 240,000 rp. On the island there are minibusses running between all major places and there is also a line bus connecting Mentok and Pangkalpinang (4 hours, 15,000 rp).
The best beaches can be found near Sungailiat at the east coast about 35 km north of Pangkalpinang called Pantai Parai Tenggiri and Pantai Matras. About 7 km from Sungailiat you can find the hot springs of Pemali. Here are two hot swimming pools and the entrance is 2,500 rp.
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