JAMBI
Located on the east coast of the island of
Sumatra, the city of Jambi is the capital city of the province that
bears the same name, namely: the province of Jambi. The city of
Jambi straddles the long and wide Batanghari river that has its source
in the Bukit Barisan range, at Danau di Atas and Danau di Bawah (the
Upper and Lower Lakes) in the Minangkabau highlands of West Sumatra near
Lake Singkarak.
The river pours out at the Strait of
Berhala on the east coast of Sumatra. Flowing the total length of 1,700
km, the Batanghari is the longest river on Sumatra. The city of Jambi
lies on both sides of the river with the Aur Dari Bridge spanning the
two sections of the city that lies at the estuary of the Batanghari.
Archaeological remains at the vast Muaro Jambi site, also attest that in
the 7th to the 8th century, Jambi was the center of Buddhist learning.
After the fall of the palace of the kingdom of Srivijaya at Palembang –
today in the province of South Sumatra - in the 11th century, the
Srivijaya seat was moved to Jambi, where it thrived until the 13th
century.
Get There
By air, Jambi is served from Jakarta by Garuda Indonesia, Lion Air, Sriwijaya Air and Citilink through the airport called the Sultan Thaha Syaifuddin Airport.
Overland, Jambi is well connected by intercity buses to its neighbouring provinces of West Sumatra, Riau and Bengkulu. The Bus terminal is at Alam Barajo and Rawasari.
RIAU
Pekanbaru is the capital of Riau Province and is the third largest city on the island of Sumatera, after Medan in the North and Palembang in South Sumatra. Lately the Riau province has come into international limelight when UK’s Steve King broke his own world record by surfing up the Kampar river on the Bono bore, covering the length of 20.65 km (12.8 miles) in 1 hour and 4 minutes, setting a new World Record for the Longest, Continuous Bore Ride. Also by the Kampar Kanan river In a jungle clearing are the ruins of the enigmatic 9th century Muara Takus Buddhist temple complex. Muara Takus lies 122 km from Pekanbaru.
Get There
As a
business city, Pekanbaru is easily accessible by air and
overland. Pekanbaru is served by a number of domestic and international
airlines. Garuda Indonesia flies 6 times daily from Jakarta, and has also flights from Medan. Sriwijaya Air flies to Pekanbaru from Jakarta, Medan and Batam. While Air Asia flies from Bandung and Medan, and internationally from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as does Firefly.
Wings Air offers twice weekly flights from Malacca in Malaysia, while Singapore Airlines flies Singapore-Pekanbaru 5 times weekly. Pekanbaru’s
airport is called the Sultan Syarif Kasim II International
Airport. Overland, Pekanbaru is connected to Medan and Padang by
highways. The bus terminal is at Bandar Raya Payung Sekaki.
