Sumatra Route Diaries #16: The Tense East Coast Ride from Bakauheni to Palembang

On 26 November 2021, Nyak Ver’s tyres touched the asphalt of Sumatra once again. This homeward route still required several more days. Because we set off fairly early from Cilegon, we caught the ferry crossing at 8 a.m. local time. After a two-hour crossing, as soon as we reached Bakauheni we headed straight for the city of Bandar Lampung to look for lodging. This stretch was not very far, covering only about 90 km.

The East Coast route is known for being fairly busy, even though there are now toll roads in some of the provinces it passes through. On top of that, we were constantly warned about areas prone to highway robbery. There have been biker
riders who were robbed while travelling along the East Coast route.[1]
For this reason, it is strongly advised not to riding
at night or to stop in isolated places if you experience trouble with your vehicle. Because of this, we avoided riding at night throughout Touring Indonesia Harmoni. Stories of highway robbery on the island of Sumatra always haunted us, since the routes we travelled were often empty of any houses.

When we arrived in Bandar Lampung, we immediately booked a place to rest. The next day we had to set off earlier, because the distance from Lampung to Palembang was quite considerable. The following morning we hurried to begin riding. The Lampung–Palembang route is indeed known to be dangerous, and even when the road is busy, it is mostly filled with cargo trucks carrying goods into Sumatra. Our journey required a great deal of patience, because the truck fumes and the long lines of vehicles were at times very dangerous to overtake without careful judgement.

By late afternoon we arrived in the city of Palembang. As we were about to enter South Sumatra province, I pushed Nyak Ver a little harder so that we could pass through the dangerous areas around there without any trouble. My wife asked why I was speeding along this stretch, since I rarely rode Nyak Ver that fast before. I simply told her that this was a dangerous route for rider, especially since Nyak Ver’s appearance would stand out to anyone with bad intentions. So when Nyak Ver finally climbed onto the Ampera Bridge over the Musi River in Palembang, I felt so happy, because we had made it through the dangerous stretch.

However, Palembang is one of the busiest cities in Sumatra. Traffic jams are an ordinary sight from morning until night. For that reason, I had no desire to linger on the roads of this city. Even reaching our lodging required going around in circles to pinpoint the location that afternoon. In short, Palembang is no longer the provincial capital it was 20 years ago. The city now has a railway line running through its centre. The congested streets, combined with the behaviour of some road users, make it a challenging place to ride.

[1] Rahmat
Atjeh, “KENAK BEGAL!!! DI LINTASAN SUMATERA😱😭
disuruh pilih nyawa atau harta, semua diambil Anj**Ng!,” 23 November 2020,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBrJFA-T9GM.

About The Author

Kamaruzzaman Bustamam Ahmad

Prof. Kamaruzzaman Bustamam Ahmad (KBA) has followed his curiosity throughout life, which has carried him into the fields of Sociology of Anthropology of Religion in Southeast Asia, Islamic Studies, Sufism, Cosmology, and Security, Geostrategy, Terrorism, and Geopolitics. Prof. KBA is the author of over 30 books and 50 academic and professional journal articles and book chapters. His academic training is in social anthropology at La Trobe University, Islamic Political Science at the University of Malaya, and Islamic Legal Studies at UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta. He received many fellowships: Asian Public Intellectual (The Nippon Foundation), IVLP (American Government), Young Muslim Intellectual (Japan Foundation), and Islamic Studies from Within (Rockefeller Foundation). Currently, he is Dean of Faculty and Shariah, Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Ar-Raniry, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

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