Mendadak ibu mengajak saya untuk menemaninya pulang kampung
ke kota kelahirannya, Palembang, Sumatera Selatan. Kebetulan minggu depannya akan
ada long weekend karena perayaan Hari
Kemerdekaan Indonesia pada tanggal 17 Agustus. Saya jarang mendapatkan
kesempatan untuk berlibur bersama ibunda seperti ini. Terakhir saya mengunjungi
Palembang adalah semasa SD dahulu! Maka pergilah kami berdua ke sana.
My mother suddenly
asked me to accompany her to visit her hometown in Palembang, South Sumatera.
By coincidence, the following week, we would have a long weekend due to
celebration of Indonesia's Independence Day on 17 August. I don't get that many
chances to go on vacation with my mother like this. Last time I visited Palembang
was when I was still in the elementary school! Off we went.
Kami berangkat hari Kamis sore dengan menggunakan bus AC.
Saat matahari terbenam, kami sedang di atas kapal ferry untuk menyeberang ke Pulau Sumatera. Perjalanan ferry memakan waktu 3 jam. Setelah itu,
kami menyusuri jalan lintas timur Sumatera. Saya tidak pernah ke Palembang naik
bus sebelumnya (dan melewati tengah malam!), sehingga saya sedikit khawatir
dengan keselamatan kami di jalan. Saya tidak bisa tidur dan terus memperhatikan
jalan. Ternyata tidak seburuk yang saya pikir, asalkan supir bus selalu waspada
akan kondisi jalanan.
We left on Thursday
afternoon by an air-conditioned bus. By sunset time, we were on board on a
ferry towards the Sumatera island. The ferry ride took 3 hours. Afterwards, we
went through east Sumatera inter-cities access roads. I've never been to
Palembang by bus before (and through midnight!), so I was a bit scared about
the road safety. I couldn't sleep and kept paying attention to the road. Turned
out it wasn't that bad, as long as the driver kept on alert.
Kami tiba di Palembang sekitar pukul 8.00 pagi. Om saya menjemput
dan membawa kami ke hotel. Hotelnya tidak mewah, tetapi aman dan yang paling
penting kamar mandinya berfungsi dengan baik.
We arrived in
Palembang about 8 o'clock in the morning. My uncle picked us up and took us to
the hotel. It’s not a luxurious hotel, but it's quite safe and the most
important thing: the bathroom works.
Setelah istirahat sejenak, om mengantarkan kami ke penjual
makanan khas Palembang yang cukup terkenal. Kami makan Mie Celor, yaitu mie
dengan telur dan… saya tidak tahu terbuat dari apa kuahnya, tetapi yang pasti
sangat lezat! Setelah makan, kami mengendarai angkutan umum ke rumah kakek
saya.
After resting a while,
my uncle walked us to a well-known Palembang food stall. We had "Mie
Celor", noodles with egg and... I have no idea what's the special sauce
made of, but it’s super delicious! Post lunch, we took the city public
transport to go to my grandfather's house.
Setelah mengobrol panjang lebar dan melepas rindu, kami
melanjutkan perjalanan untuk berziarah ke makam ayahnya om saya. Ternyata almarhum
dikuburkan di salah satu kompleks makam kerajaan Palembang. Sayangnya kompleks
makam ini kurang terawat. Om saya bilang, pemerintah (atau siapalah yang
bertanggung jawab atas perawatan makam) hanya akan memotong rumput dan merawat
makam setahun sekali, sekitar seminggu sebelum bulan suci Ramadhan.
After a long talk and
catching up, we continued our journey to visit the grave of my uncle's father.
Guess what, he's buried in one of Palembang royal cemetery complex. Unfortunately,
the graveyard wasn’t properly maintained. My uncle said, the government (or
whoever responsible to take care of the complex) will only cut the grass and does
the maintenance once a year, about a week before Ramadhan holy month.
Keesokan harinya, saya ingin melihat ikon kota Palembang
yang terkenal. Apalagi kalau bukan Jembatan Ampera yang melintangi Sungai Musi.
Dalam perjalanan ke sana, kami juga mengunjungi Masjid Raya Sultan Mahmud
Badaruddin. Masjid megah yang sangat indah. Kami berfoto di sana dan juga di sisi
jembatan.
The next day, I wanted
to go to the famous landmark of Palembang city. That is of course the Ampera
Bridge crossing the Musi River. My mother and I also visited the Grand Mosque
of Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin on the way. A beautiful grand mosque. We took some
pictures there and also on the bridge.
Cuaca di Palembang tidak berbeda jauh dengan cuaca di
Jakarta. Tidak terdapat banyak bangunan bertingkat tinggi di Palembang tetapi terdapat
banyak sekali rumah toko (ruko), yaitu bangunan bertingkat 3 di mana lantai
bawah dijadikan toko dan 2 lantai lain dapat dijadikan tempat tinggal.
The weather in Palembang
was no different than Jakarta. Palembang doesn't have that many high-rise
buildings but they have lots and lots of rumah toko (ruko) or literally
translated as "store-house", an average 3-level building where you
have the store on the ground floor and the other 2 floors could be used as your
residence.
Kami kembali mengunjungi kakek saya setelah jalan-jalan ke
tengah kota. Sore harinya, ibu ingin mengunjungi sepupu jauhnya karena sudah
lama sekali tidak bertemu. Salah satu sepupunya sedang dirawat di rumah sakit
tempat ibu saya belajar Ilmu Kebidanan dahulu. Ibu sangat senang dapat bercengkerama
kembali dengan kerabatnya.
We visited my
grandfather again after the sightseeing. In the afternoon, my mother wanted to
meet her long-time-no-see distant cousins. One of them was hospitalized in the
public hospital, where my mother spent her early years in midwifery study.
She's really happy to be able to meet her relatives again.
Hari ketiga adalah 17 Agustus. Saya bilang ke ibu bahwa kita
harus menonton upacara Hari Kemerdekaan. Maka kami jalan ke Jembatan Ampera
lagi, di mana walikota memimpin upacara yang dilaksanakan di pinggir Sungai
Musi di depan benteng bersejarah. Saya juga ingin ke kantor gubernur, di mana
upacara yang lebih besar akan diadakan. Di Jakarta, saya tidak pernah ada
kesempatan untuk menyaksikan upacara di Istana Negara secara langsung. Jadilah
kami menonton upacara dari balik pagar kantor gubernur.
The third day, it was 17
August. I told my mother that we must watch the Independence Day ceremony. So
we walked to Ampera Bridge area again, where the city mayor led the ceremony by
the river side in front of an ancient fort. I also wanted to go to the
governor's office, where a bigger ceremony will be held. In Jakarta, I never
had a chance to watch the ceremony at the State Palace directly. So there we
were, watching the tight-secured ceremony from outside the fence of the
governor's office.
Kami kembali ke hotel setelah ‘menghadiri’ upacara Hari
Kemerdekaan dan bersiap untuk meninggalkan hotel. Keluarga adik tiri ibu dan om
saya mengantar kami ke tempat pemberangkatan bus. Saatnya untuk berpisah…
We returned to hotel after "attending" the
independence ceremony and then prepared to check out. My mother's half-sister
and my uncle's family were there to accompany us to the bus centre. Time to say
goodbye...
Labels: Travels