The coast road (Jl Manusurai Pantai), running north from Bengkulu to Padang, offers a number of possibilities for travellers.
The road is sealed all the way and the journey takes about a mere 16 hours, a real quickie when measured by the Sumatran distance stick. However, in the wet season the coast road is prone to wash-outs and land- slides, so the going can be much slower.
The journey can be done in a number of short hops, stopping off at a town along the way for the hell of it; each town has at least one losmen. The first town north of Bengkulu is Lais. There are reputed to be ele- phants further north near I puh, around the mouth of Sungai Ipuh. Mukomuko, 200km north of Bengkulu, is the largest community on this stretch of road and was the northern outpost of the British colony of Bencoolen.
Curup is a small market town in the foothills of the Bukit Barisan, halfway between Bengkulu and Lubuklinggau. There are several surviving traditional homes and the town itself is in a valley watered by the upper reaches of Sungai Musi, which eventually flows through Palembang. Curup is a good base for visits to the surrounding mountains, including volcanic Gunung Kaba, 19km east of town, which has two large smouldering craters surrounded by dense rainforest.
There’s nowhere to change money in Curup, so come prepared. Curup has a mediocre losmen and hotel to choose from.
Getting There & Away
Padang-Bengkulu buses can stop off at the northern coastal towns. Curup can be reached by frequent connections to Bengkulu and Lubuklinggau
This remote island, 100km off the coast of southern Bengkulu, is so isolated that until the early 20th century some Sumatrans believed that it was inhabited entirely by women, who miraculously gave birth to children sired by the wind.
The island is featured on a map of Asia drawn in 1593. Enggano is Portuguese for ‘deceit’ or ‘disappointment’, which suggests that the Portuguese were the first Europeans to discover it. It wasn’t until three years later that Dutch navigators first recorded it.
Enggano’s original inhabitants are believed to have fled the Sumatran mainland when the Malays migrated there. Today the islanders live by cultivating rice, coffee, pepper, cloves and copra. Wild pigs, cattle and buffalo are abundant.
The island has an area of 680 sq km and there are no tourist facilities. Malakoni is the main harbour. The island is relatively flat (the highest point is Bua Bua, at 250m) and has a swampy coastline interspersed with some good beaches and snorkelling. Few tourists make it this far and you need to speak some Bahasa Indonesia in order to have any worthwhile contact with the local people.
It is best to report to the kepala desa (village chief ) and seek advice for lodging.
Getting There & Around
In theory there are three boats a week from Bengkulu to Malakoni, but no-one in Bengkulu was able to vouch for this service. Alternatively, go to the small port of Bintuhan, about 225km south of Bengkulu, and ask at the harbour.
The villages on the island are connected by tracks originally made by the Japanese and not very well maintained since. The only way to get around is to walk.
