• Understand
• Get around
• See
• Do
• Buy
• Eat
• Drink
• Sleep
• Get out

Palembang is the capital of the province of South Sumatra. The city population is 1.445.000

[edit] Understand

[edit] Get in

[edit] By Plane

Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport (PLM). Recently rebuilt in another location into a modern airport. It just opened at the end of 2005. You can get international flights to Singapore with Garuda Airlines or Silk Air and to Johor Baru with Riau Airlines. Now AirAsia also flies in from Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru. Some domestic flights include Jakarta (frequent), Medan, Batam, etc. Domestic departure tax is Rp. 25.000, while international is Rp. 50.000 more expensive than the domestic.

[edit] By Bus

[edit] Get around

It's quite easy to get around in Palembang since there are a lot of public busses, modified vans (Angkots or Angkutan Kota) and for short distances there is always becak. Don't be surprised if they keep packing the buses and angkots with people even though they are full. Short trips should be no more than 5000 rp.

[edit] See

The Musi Bridge is the largest bridge in Indonesia

Masjid Agung Grand Mosque. This mosque has been renovated a few times already. Now it is a very large and beautiful mosque. In some sections of the mosque you can see old Sriwijayan style architecture. It is located in front of the main roundabout in Palembang which you will pass coming from the Musi Bridge.

[edit] Do

[edit] Buy

PALEMBANG SQUARE. The Palembang Square complex is mixed-used complex that operated on August 2004, with site-area about 54,000 square meters and features:

• 3rd storey strata title Shopping Mall (41,536.5m2 gross area), have re-sellable area about 28.481,78 m2, and have the biggest shopping mall atrium at South Sumatra (777m2.
• 120 unit Shop-Offices (Kantor Toko=Kanto).
• ASTON hotel (4-star, and going on 5-star hotel) with 18th story, together with Convention Hall for 3.000 people’s capacity.

The shopping mall is the modern and the complete mall which is built as the recreation center and the 'shopping heaven' for families in Palembang and operational with three big anchor tenants (Carrefour hypermarket, Grand JM department store, and Gramedia bookstore); some Family game stations (Amazon, Fun city); four billiard center (with total table about 55 billiard table); some Café, local and national fast food restaurants (KFC, CFC Texas, Popeye’s, Mc Donald, etc); Hairdresser (Jonny Andrean, Yoppie Salon, etc); Shops; Local TV station (PAL TV); National FM Radio station (Oz Radio); etc. Palembang Square nowadays becomes as one of the favorites place at South Sumatra (about 750.000 regular visitor/month). For futher information see Palembang Square website

• Pasar 16 Ilir. A very busy multi storied bazaar situated near Masjid Agung. When coming into Palembang on the Musi Bridge you will be able to see the bazaar on your right. Women's clothing is widely sold. A lot of clothing sold here are in beautiful colours and embroidery with Indian/Pakistani styles. Bargaining here is a must. Some people refer to this bazaar as the Tanah Abang of Palembang. Pasar 16 is also good to buy traditional palembang textile called Songket. You can get songket as a textile to make clothes, songket shoes, purses, cushion covers, calligraphy, art, hand fans, etc. Songket is a must buy if you come to Palembang. Don't buy it at the airport as it would be more expensive.

[edit] Eat

• When you're in Palembang you must eat the traditional food called Pempek. Pempek is fish cakes which is fried and is eaten with a sweet vinegar called Cuka. There are different varieties of Pempek.

• In Palembang most fast food outlets are available. There is a McDonalds in International Plaza. Other fast foods available are KFC, CFC (Californian), Texas Chicken, etc.

• In Palembang one famous eating joint is Martabak Har. Martabak Har sells Murtabak or Pratha filled with mince meat and egg and eaten with curry. The owners are of Indian decent. There are many Martabak Hars but the original one is near the big roundabout (Alun Alun) near Masjid Agung.

[edit] Drink

[edit] Sleep

• Hotel Aston Palembang Four star hotel in centre. +62 711 352695 [1]

• Hotel Horison Palembang a 4 star platinum hotel on a service level that equals any 5 star hotel. . +62 711 355000 [2]

• Penginapan Lebar Daun Where backpackers are most welcome. +62 711 352 124 [3]

[edit] Get out

By Plane You can go to Singapore with Garuda Airlines or Silk Air. AirAsia also flies to Kuala Lumpur. Some domestic flights also available include Jakarta (frequent), Medan, Batam, etc. Domestic departure tax is now Rp. 30.000. Or maybe you can try jetfoil to another beautiful part of South Sumatra, Bangka Island.