The Journey South (Part 1)

This past week I have been travelling to parts south of my temporary home in Kerinci, Sumatra as part of my research about the "political ecology" of Kerinci Seblat National Park.  My goal is to visit a number of villages bordering directly on the park, meet with district planning officials and headmen, talk with folks from local non-governmental organizations and the press, and just generally see what's going on around the park.  So far my trip has taken me through parts of three provinces (Jambi, West Sumatra, and Bengkulu) and four districts (Kerinci, Pesisir Selatan, Mukomuko, and Bengkulu Utara).  Though it's possible to get around Sumatra on mini-buses, it's laborious inconvenient (especially when you try to get to remote villages), and uncomfortable, so I decided to make the long trip on my motorcycle.  Over the next 3-4 posts I'll describe some of the things I've seen and provide information about how to make your own motorcycle excursion around this part of the massive island. 

Longsor Alley

A landslide.  Guy in lower right for scale.

I set out on the first leg of my journey last Friday morning, aiming to reach the home of my friend Barlian in Sungai Ipuh, Mukomuko.  The first stretch of road takes you out of Kerinci Valley and over one arm of the Bukit Barisan mountains into Pesisir Selatan district in West Sumatra province.  This road through the hills is one of three access routes (the "Bukit Tapan" road) to Kerinci Valley, but it's the least used because of the condition of the road.  Though I've mentioned this in previous posts, when roads are cut through the mountains here the public works department generally doesn't approach the task in a way that will minimize ecological impacts and ensure that the road continues to function into the future.  In other words, mountain roads are crummy.  They have very steep cuts into the hills, and since it's very rainy here landslides (longsor) are a frequent occurrence.  When you cruise over the Bukit Tapan road, you can see the scars of at least a dozen landslides, which occur about once a year.  Smaller rock falls are quite common along this route.  This is a pretty tricky stretch of road because of the condition, but it passes through the park and you can see some nice vistas and good primary forest.  Along the way you'll pass trucks inching their way up the road; honk briefly to say hello.  Normally you can have a short conversation as you pass:

Driver: "Aiyoooooooooooooooooo...."

Me:  "He-eeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyy..."

When you come out of the park you'll be in West Sumatra district; you don't have to see the sign to know because the road goes from gravel to beautiful blacktop.  Soon you'll enter Sako valley, a 15km finger of land bordered by the park following a beautiful river.  Sako valley is one of my favorite places on Sumatra.  It's quiet, cool, and the scenery reminds me of mountain streams in Colorado and Arkansas.  I always stop here at my friend Jon's restaurant to eat some dendeng batok (grilled strip steak) and get the latest news on the park.  A few miles down the road I generally stop in a coffee stall to play chess and drink tea with some local farmers, most of whom know me by now.  After a short drive through this idyllic setting you come to Tapan.

See if you can guess how many kids there are in the back of this truck.  Answer is in the notes below.

Road condition:

This leg of the journey is about 40 kilometers, but it takes two hours, including the 18 kilometer stretch from Jon's place to Tapan, where you can average 50-60 kph.  That ought to give you an idea of the condition of the road through the hills.  It's definitely worth the trip, but don't get in a big hurry through the mountains and avoid the road in heavy rain. 

The Guest of Honor....

Mobil internet truck in Mukomuko

The next stretch of my trip was from Tapan to Penarik, a small town about 35km south of Mukomuko city in Mukomuko district, Bengkulu Province.  Once you head south of Tapan the road is very nice, and you can cruise along the coast at a pretty good clip.  There's even a section along Keith's Beach (see below) where you can top out your bike if you're so inclined.  With a stop at another friend's coffee shop, this stretch takes around 3 hours.  At Penarik I turned off the main road to head for Sungai Ipuh, where my friend lives.  In Bengkulu there is one good road....the one that runs from Tapan to the south.  If you have to leave this road and head towards the interior, you should prepare your rear end ahead of time because it's a bumpy road.  The road from Penarik to Sungai Ipuh is about 15 kilometers, but it takes 30-45 minutes in good weather.

When I finally pulled in to Sungai Ipuh my friend Barlian and his family greeted me warmly,  After coffee Barlian said "You're in luck! There's a wedding ceremony tonight!  We can go if you like!"  Although I was looking forward to compiling my notes, this is the type of invitation you can't turn down.  The problem is, I hate Indonesian weddings because when a foreigner goes to a wedding he/she immediately becomes the center of attention, and that's uncomfortable for me.  Generally a wedding involves sitting around for 3-4 hours while everyone stares at you, and you have to answer the same basic questions several dozen times.  Village weddings are worse in this way because most villages rarely if ever have foreign visitors.  Village weddings are more interesting than town weddings, though, because entertainment at the latter generally consists of singing the same canon of karaoke songs at a volume that would rival the Krakatoa explosion.  Village weddings are also usually more traditional, whereas town weddings are all the same. 

Villagers don't understand why you wouldn't want to go to a wedding, because they are pretty much by definition community-oriented folks.  But to do fieldwork by yourself for long periods of time it helps to be something of a loner who doesn't mind, or even enjoys spending lots of time in isolation.  I am like this, and I guess one of the "weaknesses" of my personality is that I like to have absolute control over my timetable, because it enables me to get done what I need to get done and then relax in the way I like to relax.  Being at a wedding to me is a kind of work because of the type of interaction it entails.  I used to think about all the other stuff I could be doing rather than sitting around for hours on end, but I've learned to tell myself "relax bro.  You're going to get your work done.  Just relax".  So even if you don't want to be there, the important thing is to look like you are having a good time and appreciate the fact that you are the guest of honor.  There were dancers and a traditional band at this wedding (which went on and on), and some of the music was actually pretty good, like the song in the movie clip below, which I really liked.  The audio doesn't come out too well but this tune was pretty hypnotic.

Road Condition:

As I mentioned this road is really nice blacktop and there aren't any real hazards other than the traffic, which isn't too bad.  But the road in places is quite winding, and on one curve I slowed down to about 20 kph only to find waiting for me athwart the road a cobra snake, who came a snap-snap-snappin' at me like I was the eternal enemy of all serpentdom.  The son-of-a-bitch almost got me too. However other than that, the drive is enjoyable, passing through miles and miles of oil palm plantations with occasional views of the Indian Ocean.  There are some hills, but it is pretty smooth, and I was told by several people that the route is enjoyed by bicycle tourists from abroad.  There's a little warung along the way on the mauka side next to some oil palms that serves great mie rebus if you can find it, and you can also stop at one of the huts by an ocean inlet near the Mukomuko-Bengkulu Utara border to enjoy a coffee and the sea breeze.

Surf Mukomuko...

I mentioned this in a previous post as well, but due to coastal erosion thought by many to be caused by large-scale oil palm cultivation, Mukomuko has some great beaches.  There's one that you pass that stretches for several kilometers where the waves break smoothly and cleanly.  Every time I drive past this stretch I almost cry because the waves are perfect for surfing.  There are dozens of spots along this stretch, and so you could surf all day without anyone getting in your way.  It's all sand too, so there are spots that would be suitable for beginners.  The wind, at least when I've been there doesn't blow too hard and so it's pretty glassy, and it seems to come up best in the morning.  I've seen beautiful and consistent 7-foot faces at one spot, and the wave breaks to the right and left and just keeps going.  I've never seen anyone surfing there, but I think that's because it's out of the way.  I didn't bring a board with me since I live in the interior and I haven't had time to get one in Padang, so I haven't had the opportunity to paddle out and name the breaks, but I have taking the liberty to christen the whole stretch "Keith's Beach".  It's about a 20-minute ride south of Mukomuko city, which has a small airfield with 2-3 flights per week, so you could get there fairly easily.  If you want to drive down from Padang, it's probably around 6 hours.  So I hereby invite all the surfers of the world to come surf my beach.  You won't be disappointed.

On Monday morning my friend and I went up to Mukomuko city to see the district headman, but he was out of the office, and no one knew where he was or when he would get back (2).  We also visited the regional planning office, but there was no one there to answer our questions or provide us with the district spatial plan, so I left empty handed and disappointed.  But that's how it goes.  After spending a couple of days with my friend in Sungai Ipuh I got back on my bike and headed south to see another friend, who runs an elephant camp in Bengkulu Utara district.  I'll describe my time there in the next post. 

Notes

(1)  48

(2)  I suspect he was off doing a "studi banding" someplace.