VISITORS TO SUMATRA WHO BYPASS JAMBI’S VIRGIN FORESTS AND ANCIENT RUINS ARE MISSING A LOT, AS LESTER LEDESMA WRITES

DAY ONE

Start your eastern Sumatra jaunt around Jambi with the most prominent landmark in these parts. The Batanghari River bisects Jambi city and is a good starting point for an adventure-filled weekend. From the tiny pier at Tango Rajjo park, hire a ketek. This long-hulled roofed motorboat with a smiling driver carries you downstream to the ancient city of Muaro Jambi. The 25km trip takes a lazy 1.5 hours and offers an interesting look at the traditional huts and floating chicken farms that belong to the area’s riverside communities.

Muaro Jambi’s cluster of ruins was once a political center of the Hindu-Buddhist Srivijaya kingdom, which ruled Sumatra from the 7th to 14th century. Don’t expect the usual tourist amenities here, as much of the 12sqkm archaeological park is unrestored. But you can take in its lost city atmosphere with a local guide who’ll gladly buzz you around on a motorbike for about 50,000 rupiah. Wind through narrow forest pathways and sleepy local villages to partly buried structures like Candi Koto Mahligay, or the sprawling Candi Kedaton, once a royal residence. The two restored temples near the visitors’ center give you a sense of what this area once was, also housing artifacts unearthed at these sites.

You’ll now be starving – fortunately a massive meal waits for you in Jambi, at the home of Mrs Azmiah Edy Sunarto, who serves a full nasi padang lunch right in her living room. From her home, restaurant and studio in one, she creates batik tulis, hand-drawn batik artwork, using traditional Jambi designs. These colorful fabrics are lovely examples of wearable art made from durable, natural dyes. If you ask nicely, she might even give an impromptu demonstration of the batik-making process – a truly educational afternoon.

DAY TWO

Wearing long pants and trekking shoes, prepare a packed lunch – you’re off to see the jungle up close. Drive 2.5 hours south to the Harapan Rainforest Reserve, a 101,000ha swath of lush jungle. Bordered mostly by agricultural land, this locale is wild and protected; anyone entering must be accompanied by a forest ranger. Make your presence known at the conservation office before setting out on your trek. Despite a lack of formal tourism infrastructure, the authorities are very careful about the safety of their guests. For those less keen on a long trek, just saunter along the roads bordering the forest. The place is teeming with wildlife, so you’ve a good chance of spotting hornbills, wild boar and treetop gibbons. If you’re lucky, you’ll bump into members of the Kubu Tribe – the hunter-gatherers who call the area home.

Your nature excursion will take most of the day, but try to return to town early enough to take a shower before watching the sun set over the Batanghari River.

The perfect spot to do this is at Tango Rajo Park where the late afternoon atmosphere is carnival-like, with hawkers selling cheap rides or local snacks and drinks by the roadside. Limit your sugarcane juice and sweet buttered corn, though, because the thick and crunchy murtabak patties at Warung Manggis, near the Makalam Bridge, deserve plenty of space in your stomach.

DAY THREE

After your walk on the wild side on day two, take an easy stroll around town. While Jambi is a no-nonsense blue-collar city, it hosts some interesting attractions within a short distance of each other. From the heart of downtown, take a 10-minute stroll to the State Museum for a snapshot of Jambi Province’s cultural and natural heritage through historical artifacts and stuffed animals. Next, the Museum of the Struggle for Independence tells the story of Indonesia’s fight for nationhood through interesting dioramas and antique weapon displays. Next, take in the cavernous Agung Mosque with its remarkable central dome supported by a thousand pillars.

After your reflective morning, make your way to Aneka Rasa Restaurant for an equally rich lunch of pindang patin – succulent river fish on a sweet, spicy soup – paired with a hotplate of sizzling kangkong, chicken, shrimp and beef. Now, pack up and head toward the airport – but don’t check in just yet. A few hundred meters from the Sultan Thaha Airport is the Jambi Miniature Park, featuring superb life-sized reconstructions of native houses from across the province. The park is quiet and a great place to relax and people-watch, while a replica of one of the Muaro Jambi temples offers you a last reminder of your memorable break. The final stop, however, is at the adjacent Jambi Zoo, where two rare Sumatran Tigers – there’s only 400 of them left on this island – are in temporary captivity, waiting to be returned to their forest home. The sight of these majestic beasts will leave you awestruck, with a sense that there’s much more to explore in this unsung corner of Indonesia.

Contacts

Harapan Rainforest
32 Jln Dadali, Bogor tel: (0)251 719 5344, www.harapanrainforest.org
Kreasi Batik Asma
Edy Sunarto, 41 Jln H Somad, Olek Kemang, Danau Teluk, Jambi, tel: (0)741 5805 5416
Association of Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (Jambi)
Roy Mardianto, 9 Jln Soekarno-Hatta, Thehok, Jambi, tel: (0)741 755 3507
Aneka Rasa
75A Jln Mpu Gandring, Jambi, tel: (0)741 6 0598