Palembang

Palembang, also called Pelembang by the locals, is Indonesia's provincial capital of South Sumatra with 1.7 million people (2020).

History
Palembang is one of the oldest continuously inhabitied cities in Indonesia and even Southeast Asia (perhaps second only to Hanoi). The foundation of Palembang can be dated as late as the 7th century when it emerged as the imperial thalassocratic city-state of Srivijaya, one of the largest and most important Buddhist polities in ancient Indonesia. The city played a vital role in the regional cultural and economic landscape. Srivijaya controlled important chokepoints such as the straits of Malacca and Sunda, with Palembang acting as an entrepôt for commodities from all over the Archipelago and beyond. At the same time, it was also a thriving centre of religious education, with pilgrims from as far as China stopping there along the way to India to study Buddhist scriptures with local monks and scholars.

Following the sack of Palembang by Chola in the early 11th century, the city's importance began to wane. Palembang underwent a series of transformations, primarily under the influence of various Java-based polities, starting from Majapahit in the 14th century. In the early 15th century, the city had briefly fallen into the hands of Chinese pirates, but they were swiftly crushed by the fleet of Admiral Zheng He, who installed a Chinese administrator to govern the city. The 16th century saw the influx of Javanese royals establishing a new Palembang dynasty after a succession war, though nominally still under the suzerainty of Java-based kings and sultans. By the middle of the 17th-century, however, the rulers of Palembang had started using the title "Sultan" for themselves, proclaiming their independence from Java.

The Sultanate of Palembang controlled trade along the Musi River and nearby islands such as Bangka and Belitung, making wealth out of pepper and tin exports. This wealth are then used to build lavish buildings, such as palace compounds (keraton) and a grand mosque. The city itself begun to expand along the riverbanks, with older inhabitans mainly remaining on the northern side (Seberang Ilir), while newcomers, including Chinese and Arab migrants, were given permission to settle on the southern side (Seberang Ulu). The Sultanate continued to thrive up until the early 19th century, when a multilateral conflict involving internal factions as well as the British and Dutch colonial forces brought it to an end.

Following the Sultanate's abolition in 1825, the city became the capital of the Residency of Palembang, which had roughly the same boundaries as today's South Sumatra province. Palembang witnessed economic rejuvenation in the late 19th century with the rapid development of the petroleum and rubber industries, leading to unprecedented economic growth, increased urbanization, and the influx of migrants. It was formally incorporated as a municipality (gementee) in 1906, and by the 1930s, it had became the most populous urban centre in Dutch East Indies outside Java, with Medan and Makassar trailing behind. The pressure from the rapid urbanization led the city to to expand its infrastructure, from building a new potable water distribution system to reclaiming waterways for road transport. However, global economic downturn in the 1930s led to stagnation, with many projects having to be shelved.

Palembang was part of the Pacific Theatre during World War II. The Japanese occupation forces swiftly took the city for its oil refineries, and the Allies conducted multiple bombing raids against them. During the Indonesian National Revolution, the city also became the site of a major battle between the republicans and the returning Dutch force. In the aftermath of the Indonesian independence, the city continued to evolve into the modern city as we know it today. The construction of the iconic Ampera Bridge crossing the Musi in the 1960s marked a significant milestone in Palembang's development, facilitating urban development further away from the Musi River along a north-south axis. More recently, Palembang has gained recognition for its holding of international events, including the Southeast Asian Games in 2011 and the 18th Asian Games in 2018, both jointly hosted with Jakarta.

Orientation and navigation
Originally, the development of Palembang spreads along the Musi riverbank, which splits the city into two sides, namely Seberang Ilir ("Upper Side") to the north and Seberang Ulu ("Lower Side") to the south. The Ampera Bridge is positioned very prominently in the heart of the city, and is almost always visible from anywhere along the Musi banks (within the city limits).

Unlike many Indonesian cities of its size, Palembang does have a fair share of large roads and streets, sometimes as wide as 4 lanes on each side. However, most of the older neighbourhoods in Palembang were built along hundreds of former small waterways which have long been reclaimed. This leads to very chaotic, unorganized grids of small alleys and lanes criss-crossed by large roads and streets. For this reason, addresses are often given with double road/street/alley names, with the larger one coming first, followed by the smaller one to clarify where the actual location is, then unit number, administrative divisions, and postal code.

Talk
The main spoken language variety in the city is Palembang or Palembang Malay, known locally as baso Pelembang. It is related to, but still quite distinct from, various Malayic varieties spoken throughout Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei, including Standard Malay and Standard Indonesian, Betawi, Musi, and Minangkabau, among others. The Palembang dialect differ from the standards mostly in terms of vocabulary, with it having heavy Javanese influence, but also slightly in terms of phonology and grammar.

As with many other places in Indonesia, this vernacular Palembang variety is often used together with Indonesian in a spectrum of diglossia, where the more formal the situation, the closer to the Standard (or to Jakartan Indonesian) the language will be. In the most informal situations, Standard forms may not be used at all, and the language will be harder to comprehend. Still, regardless of its limited usage in speech, Indonesian is practically understood by almost everyone, and is almost the sole language used in writing.

On the other hand, English is not widely spoken, especially considering that Palembang is not a major tourist destination for people from outside Indonesia. Some younger people may understand English better than most, though they may not as comfortable speaking in it. In addition, people working in hospitality and tourism-related businesses have higher chances to speak decent English.

By train
Palembang's rail network is serviced from, 2 km south of the city centre along Jl. Kemang Kertapati road. However service is limited to trains from Bandar Lampung in Lampung, to Lubuklinggau in western South Sumatra, and a railbus to Sriwijaya University at Indralaya. From Lampung, there are two trains daily, one daytime express economy class train, Rajabasa and one overnight executive class, Sriwijaya.

By bus
Palembang is connected by bus from other cities in Sumatra (Jambi, Padang, Pekanbaru, Medan and Lampung) as well to Jakarta in Java. The main intercity bus terminal is (locally known as AAL) north of Palembang.

Get around
It is quite easy to get around in Palembang since there are a lot of public buses, 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 Rp5,000. Taxis are scarce, far between, and often refuse to use meters and insists on fixed price for certain distance. Just like other Indonesian cities, the most reliable and safe taxi in Palembang is Blue Bird. On land, motorcycle taxis, ojeks, are cheap, quick, and everywhere. Boats can be hired on the river.

By light rail
To support the 2018 Asian Games, a light rail system was built. The single line has 13 stations connecting the airport, the city centre, and the Jakabaring stadium complex from north to south. Trains run at least every 17 minutes daily from 05:05 in the morning, and takes up to 49 minutes from end to end. The latest train from DJKA Station is 19:01 and from the airport is 19:55. Tickets cost at a flat rate of Rp5,000, except for trips from and to the airport, which costs Rp10,000 (regardless of distance).

By bus
TransMusi is the best public transportation so far. For a flat rate of Rp5,500 (April 2016) you can hop on along its 11 lines in operation:
 * Corridor 1 : Bus stop below the Ilir part of Ampera Bridge - Alang Alang Lebar Bus Station (KM 12)
 * Corridor 2 : Perumnas Bus Station - PIM (Palembang Indah Mall)
 * Corridor 3 : Plaju - PS Mall (Palembang Square Mall)
 * Corridor 4 : Jakabaring - Karya Jaya Bus Station (Kertapati)
 * Corridor 5 : Alang Alang Lebar Bus Station (KM 12) - Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport
 * Corridor 6 : Pusri - Palembang Square (PS)
 * Corridor 7 : Kenten - Letkol Iskandar
 * Corridor 8 : Alang Alang Lebar Bus Station (KM 12) - Terminal Karya Jaya (Kertapati)
 * Pangkalan Balai Corridor : Alang Alang Lebar Bus Station (KM 12) - Pangkalan Balai
 * Indralaya Corridor : Terminal Karya Jaya - Indralaya
 * Unsri Corridor : Unsri Bukit - Unsri Indralaya

Buy

 * Songket. Among Indonesians, Palembang is famous for its songket handycraft. It is a traditional handwoven cloth with metallic golden or silver threads. Songkets are available in most Palembang marketplaces and even available in Palembang airport, however for richer variety and choices, several songket handycraft centres, production houses, boutique or showroom are available in the city.
 * Pempek. Although pempek can be found in most of Indonesian cities, the original Palembang pempek is said to have distinct taste and beyond compare. Unfried, packed, precooked boxed pempek is popular as food souvenir among Indonesians visiting the city. Fish based Palembang krupuk is also popular choice.

Eat
Palembang cuisine is the second most well known from Sumatra after Padang. They primarily use freshwater fish and prawn as ingredients due to the paramount role of the Musi River for the area. Spices are also generally included although not as liberal as its same-island counterpart. Malay, Indian, and Chinese culture has also influenced Palembang's culinary scene. Do try these while you are here:
 * Pempek is the dish virtually everyone in Indonesia thinks of when mentioning Palembang cuisine. It is a dough of fish cake which can be either boiled, fried, or grilled and is eaten with a sweet and spicy sauce called Cuko, topped with cucumber and prawn powder. Because it is actually a dough, locals have intelligently crafted them into shapes and sizes, as well as being creative with fillings. Examples include lenjer (long cylinder shaped), keriting (curly), kapal selam (literally: submarine. filled with egg), adakan (round and fried) and pites (filled with cooked young papaya).
 * Model are a variety of pempek with tofu fillings.
 * Tekwan are small pempek balls served with fresh shrimp soup.
 * Mie celor is a soup of thick yellow noodle served with coconut milk broth, topped with egg and prawn.
 * Pindang Ikan is a spicy smoked fish soup, similar to Thai's tom yum soup. It is normally eaten with rice, with side dishes like seluang goreng and sambal buah.
 * Pepes Tempoyak is made of patin fish seasoned with durian and spices.
 * Nasi Minyak is Palembang's version of Briyani Rice. The rice is seasoned with ghee and other spices to create the fragrant and distinct taste. Best served with Ayam Kecap (soysauce chicken) or Malbi (spiced stewed beef).

Drink
Try local Palembang drink, es kacang merah, an iced drink made from azuki bean.

Go next

 * Travel by road to Jambi
 * Go to Lampung by train
 * Travel by ferry along the Musi River estuary to Bangka Island