Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Weekend in Jambi

Last Saturday and Sunday I visited Jambi, a province in the southern part of the Sumatera Island.

This was my first visit to mainland Sumatera. Many years ago I visited Batam, an island on on the province of Riau on the eastern part of Sumatera, as a transit point for several visits to Singapore.

I left Jakarta at 9.40 am with two of my old law school friends i.e Arief and Phillip, flying on Lion Air, and arrived at Jambi City airport at 10.50 am. We were picked at the airport by a driver of Chairul, another old friend at law school.

Chairul held a wedding ceremony for his eldest daughter i.e. Mirna on Saturday at 4 pm, and he arranged that we stay at the Ratu Hotel next to the Ratu Convention Center where the wedding party was held on Sunday 11 am - 3 pm.

As soon as we have put our luggage at the hotel, we took a taxi to Jamtos (Jambi Town Square)  shopping mall for lunch. Later in afternoon we took a taxi to a place on the side of the Batanghari River which seems to be a place where people of the city of Jambi entertained themselves. We ate roasted Corn cob and Padang Satay.

In the evening we walked to nearby Ramayana Shopping mall which looked like malls in Jakarta with Hypermart, Kentucky Fried Chicken, A&W, etc.

We returned to the hotel using three Ojek i.e. motor-cycle taxi, one for each of us. It was still early so we spent 3 hours at hotel's Karaoke until 2 am.
                                                          
On Sunday morning we have breakfast at the hotel after that we went to the wedding party at 11.30 am. Chairul was happy when we shook hands with him, his wife, the bride and groom and parents.
The party itself was a big fat wedding party with a whole lots of guests, organizing committee, delicious food, etc.

At 1.30 pm, we returned to the hotel, packed our bags, took a car taxi to look for souvenirs on our way to the airport. Our plane departed at around 6 pm and arrived in Jakarta at 7 pm.

The trip was enjoyable, but it would be much better if better public transportation are available i.e, argo-metered taxi and minibuses with better routes. Besides, more arts and souvenir shops should also be available in the city. This are important if Jambi wants to attract more tourists from other provinces and other countries.

17 comments:

smp3lembang said...

Wah bapak sudah keliling ya sampai keluar negeri saya meninggalkan Sulawesi Pun belum pak kapan ya bisa ke Jakarta

Unknown said...

wah rupanya mingguan di jambi ya. sata tertarik dengan himbauan pada akhir posting. memang seharusnya disetiap daerah itu memiliki semacam pusat oleh oleh, apa sekelas kota jambi. yang memiliki banyak obyek wisata alam da budaya yang sangat menarik.. nice share n happy blogging

Aulawi Ahmad said...

hmmm I live and born in Palembang but I never going to Jambi hehehehe

Unknown said...

such a wonderful weekend Harry.. I hope can visit Jambi someday. share photos of ur travel next time..

colson said...

A wedding is a happy occasion. Especially if it means you can get together with friends - and have a good time till the wee small hours :).

As for your advice to Jambi, I second your observations. To attract visitors something has to change. Roads included.

Rumah Dijual said...

Wah, postingan nya bikin ngiler nih. Jadi pengen coba traveling ke Jambi.

Unknown said...

You obviously had a great time,looking up old law school mates as well.

R10 said...

betul pak, masalah infrastruktur pariwisata masih sangat minim di indonesia

Vainit said...

Wah pasti seru ya liburannya :) memang indonesia kaya akan Pariwisata, dan lagi2 infrastruktur yg menjadi masalah.. Semoga di awal tahun 2012 ini banyak perubahan dibidang infratruktur yang akan berdampak positive bagi pelancong dalam negeri maupun luar negeri.. Nice Post :)

Unknown said...

@SMP3Lembang,
Mudah2an anda bisa ke Jakarta supaya kita bisa bertemu.

@Wisata Murah,
Kalau banyak turis akan menambah penghasilan daerah, sehingga ada dana tambahan untuk berkembang.

@Aulawi,
I have never been to Palembang, but I heard it is a good city now.

@Deeah,
I hope you can go there too.

@Colson,
You have visited Jambi so you know about the province. Yes, Jambi has lots of things to do if it want to attract more visitors.

@Rumah,
Saya senang tulisan ini dapat membuat anda ingi berkunjung ke Jambi.

@Peter/Kiwi,
Yes it was great.

@Ario,
Itu yang menjadi penghalang kemajuan dibidang perdagangan dan pariwisata.

@Vainit,
Mudah2an dimasa depan pembangunan infrastruktur lebih diperhatikan.

triesti said...

I tried commenting before but I dont see it now. I went there ages ago.. it was still a very small town BUT they had an Ayam Kalasan restaurant which was my savior after a week of almost only Padang food. Since then Jambi is close to my heart :)

Roads and Toilets those two things are essential

Unknown said...

@Triesti,
I only spent two days and one night so I am not bothered by the fact that I only ate Padang dishes there.

I also also like Jambi.

Free dota said...

Wah keren ni berliburnya pingin ke jambi, dulu cuma lewat doang, via poesawat, heu

Obat Herbal Infeksi Saluran Kemih said...

pariwisata di indonesia sangat kurang layak....

kuikai said...

holiday fun is not it

Nationwide Auto Loan said...

I tried leaving comments before but I do not see it now. I went there age groups ago.. it was still a very little city BUT they had an Ayam Kalasan eating place which was my deliverer after per weeks time of almost only Padang meals. Since then Jambi is near to my center

EURO 2012 said...

numpang lewat ya gan...