Back at the last weekend of September, that was my first time visiting Palembang for my friend’s wedding, I stay for a night here. My expectation was so high before. I thought that this city is as big as Surabaya or hip just like Makassar, but I don’t see it. For a capital city, the city was so quiet outside on the night, I wonder where the people go for hanging out that night because one of the hippest place in here located besides Musi river and Ampera bridge named Kampung Kapitan was having only small group of customers, and unfortunately their beer is run out of stock. It might be because of the thick fog covering the city with maximum eyesight of 200 meters. It’s not comfortable for me to go outside, it makes my eyes red, headache, and even cough, but this is my first time and I have to explore. Okay, there is an issue of problems nowadays about the thick fog caused by the forest fires across Sumatra and Kalimantan. It is very sad that the government looks slowly handling this problem, there are many people having asthma or lung disease, and the disrupted animal ecosystem.
Morning is the same, even worst. The fog looks thicker in the morning. There still a lot of people hanging around the riverside and Benteng Kuto Besak, an old landmark beside the river. The museum near there is open for just Rp 5.000,- per person. The museum is still maintained well but feel so creepy with a lot of old stuff and human statues inside. Palembang is well-known for the fish cake called Pempek. I tried for some pempek here and it tastes good. There are many variations of pempek with different shape and dough. I also tried mie celor, local noodle that looks like mie atep from Belitong or mie ongklok from Wonosobo but contained more eggs. There is another well-known local food called martbak Har, but I was confused because there are many martabak restaurant with different look but they all named martabak Har, I guess Har is a name of the owner or brand not the food itself.
There are many malls here, might be one of the best in Sumatra. Might be the residents of Palembang choose the malls than going outside because of the unhealthy thick fog. Landing and taking off at the airport feels so stressful with extreme turbulence. No wonder some of the flight going in and out from Palembang was delayed because of the thick fog.
But now the rainy season is coming, no more fog. Thank God.
Museum Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II
Kampung Kapitan & Glowing Ampera Bridge at night
Mie Celor, you can see the yellowish sauce dominated with eggs
Benteng Kuto Besak at the riverside
Gloomy Ampera Bridge in the morning covered with fog
