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Bengkulu
With more than 500 km long coast line, Bengkulu the smallest province of Sumatra and the least populated boasts of its historical and natural charms rivaling other provinces of Sumatra.
With a land area of 21.168 sq km and less than 1 million population, Bengkulu is rich of pristine jungle with its Rafflesia Arnoldi, the biggest flower in the world. Tigers, elephants and rhinos are still roaming around the jungle even until today.
Bengkulu was Britain’s sole colony for 140 years in Southeast Asia. Originally established as an alternative source of pepper after the Dutch seized control of Banten in 17th century, the tiny British outpost on this scarcely populated coast never amounted to much, as pepper’s importance in the world economy soon declined and Bengkulu lay too far off the major trading routes to offer much else.
From 1685 to 1825, reports of the East India Company record continual tales of dismal commerce, boredom and early death on this malarial coast, where months could pass without sighting a ship or news from home.
The first British base, Fort York, was built here in 1685, and Fort Marlborough was constructed 2 km away in 1715.
The British found the local Rejang people ‘indolent’ and began punishing their rulers. When William Dampier was at Bengkulu in 1690, he found two local rulers in the stocks for no other reason but because they had not brought down to the Fort much quantity of pepper as the governor had sent for. Despite the protests of home authorities, similar treatment continued to be meted out during the 18th century and early 19th century.
Bengkulu was briefly shaken out of its torpor during the governorship of Thomas Stamford Raffles (1818-1824), but in 1825 the colony was surrendered to the Dutch in exchange for undisputed British influence in the Malay Peninsula and Singapore.
During his stay in Engulf, Raffles undertook the naval explorations, which led to the founding of Singapore. The satisfaction he felt on seeing his new colony flourish was marred by the sad fact that three of his four children died in Bengkulu. The precise whereabouts of their graves is unknown until today.
British influence was restricted to the narrow coastal plain. The mountainous hinterland was annexed by the Dutch after a series of military campaigns in the 1830s. At the end of the 19th century the Dutch discovered that Bengkulu’s mountains contained rich deposits of gold, and Bengkulu rapidly became the largest gold producing area in the Dutch East Indies.
Bengkulu’s people consist of four main groups. The Rejang are mountain dwellers and form the majority. They are subdivided into two populations, the highland Rejang and the Rejang Pesisir who have moved down to the western lowlands. In the south dwell the Serawai, who are related to the Pasemah people who live in the highlands around Pagaralam and Mt. Dempo. Most population of the capital is basically Malays.
The discovery of stone tools in the northern area, and megalithic structures and ancient drums of Dongson type in the south proved that the region has been inhabited since prehistoric times.
Enggano, an isolated island off the south coast was the home of a separate group of people, distantly related to inhabitants of the Mentawai Islands further north.
Long protected by their remote location, the people of Enggano were decimated by smallpox and other diseases brought by Western visitors in the late 19th century, and soon afterwards their traditional culture was destroyed. Enggano is now practically deserted.
Being a colonial town, Bengkulu was founded by the British in 1685 and occupied by them until 1825, when the Dutch took over and staying there until the Japanese occupation in 1942.
The most appropriate way to see around Bengkulu is by foot. You can start at the western end of Jl. Jenderal A. Yani, next to the cupolaroofed memorial of Thomas Parr, the unpopular governor of Bengkulu who was assassinated and be headed, most probably by the Bugis in 1807 while resting at his garden house, 5 km from the fort.
Parr had trained in Bengal and was accustomed to unquestioning obedience from a submissive and subjugated people. Once in Bengkulu, he attempted to reduce the power of the ‘Bugis Corps’, which had been recruited to supplement the East India Company’s forces.
After Parr’s death, a few local rulers who were under suspicion were blown from the guns and several villagers went burnt in vengeance. Relations between the British and Indonesians were not always that bad, and the large Eurasian population led to Bengkulu being dubbed a regular Batavian colony by a British critic, meaning that there was too much mixing of races.
Going down Jl. A. Yani to Fort Marlborough, the fort was built by the British East India Company between 1713 and 1719, and was carefully restored between 1977 and 1984. Its plan is rectangular, measuring 240 by 170 meters, with projecting bastions on the four corners.
Fort Marlborough was built to replace Fort York. William Dampier who served as gunner at Fort York, nevertheless declared it to be the most irregular piece of defensive work he had ever seen. It would moulder away every wet season and these guns often fall down in the ditches. And impressive as the fort looked, it fell to the enemy on the only two occasions in which it was attacked. The first in 1719 by a local uprising, and the second in 1760 by a passing French fleet.
The outer wall is surrounded by a dry moat. As well as protecting the fort attack, this moat according to Indian Office records prevented the sentries from sneaking off to the nearby kampong to buy toddy, the powerful alcoholic drink made from the sweet sap of palms.
After 1825, Fort Marlborough was used by the Dutch until the Japanese invasion of 1942. After Japan’s surrender, it was briefly occupied by the police of the fledgling republic of Indonesia. The Dutch reoccupied the fort during their attempt to crush the Indonesian revolutionary forces, but in 1950 it was restored to the police, who continued to use it until the mid 1980s. The fort is now open to the public as a museum.
The fort’s main entrance faces south, and is protected by a double wall. As you enter the outer defenses, you are greeted by the elaborately inscribed tombstones of British officers who served here, including that of Thomas Parr now worn smooth by the elements. Both the northern and southern entrances were formerly accessed by crossing small wooden bridges. A door on the east side also led out to the Indian soldiers quarters. There is no rear wall. An earthen rampart defended the fort.
The fort’s massive wooden gates open onto a peaceful, manicured courtyard. On one side is the cell in which Soekarno was briefly held in the early days of his exile, on the other is a small museum. Climbing up to the ramparts affords a good view of the town and the sea. A tall tower originally stood over the north gate, but collapsed due to repeated earth quarters. There were no buildings inside the fort. Soldiers’ quarters, kitchens, offices, guardrooms and stores were all built into the walls. Some of these rooms are now used for displays illustrating the history of the fort, including artifacts discovered during the recent restoration. Poignant graffiti adorn the wall of one room that was used as a prison.
The area around the fort has a brooding and melancholic air, especially in the evenings. The former British Residency is just across from the fort, set back a little from the main road. Now derelict and crumbling, it is surrounded by warehouses and occupied by stray dogs.
About 200 m to the north is a point of land called Tapak Paderi, providing beautiful sunset views over the sea. The open square southeast of the fort dates from the time when the British laid out the settlement.
Leaving Fort Marlborough, walk to the old Chinese quarter, which is located around Jl. D.I. Panjaitan, just behind the British residence and close to Parr monument. Here rows of two storied old wooden shop houses with ornately carved balconies line both sides of the street. These buildings were all constructed in 1926 after the quarter was destroyed in one of the earthquakes, which periodically afflict the province.
From the fort, a pleasant, 1-5 minute walk brings you to an obelisk on Jl. Letkol Santoso in the southeastern part of the town, erected over the remains of Captain Robert Hamilton, who died on the 15th of December 1793 at the age of 38 years in command of the troops. Hamilton apparently had an affair with a local girl.
From here walk a few hundred meters north to the old European cemetery. Most of the British graves date from the late 18th and early 19th century, the later graves are Dutch. During the period of British rule, there were never more than a handful of European women in Bengkulu and some of the tombstones are affectionately telling: Captain Thomas Tapston’s was erected to his memory by his much afflicted friend, Nonah Jessminah. Unfortunately, many of the graves have been vandalized. Raffles three children who died in Bengkulu are possibly buried here, though their gravesites are unknown until today.
A short walk to the east will bring you to the house where Indonesia’s first President Soekarno, his first wife, Inggit, and his adopted daughter, Ratna Juami, were exiled by the Dutch from 1938 to 1941. The house is located on Jalan Soekarno-Hatta, in the district called Anggut Atas. On the verandahs is the trusty bicycle that Soekarno used while courting his second wife, Fatmawati, then a local Bengkulu belle. Soekarno was in his late thirties at that time. In wooden cabinets are his books, mostly in Dutch, and his clothes. Faded pictures of the family adorn the walls.
Fort York, built in 1685, stood about 2 km north of Marlborough, on the south bank of the Bengkulu River. The area is now called Pasar Bengkulu in memory of the time when the town’s main market lay near the fort. No traces of the old brick fort can be seen, but archeologists have discovered the foundations of the walls and artifacts used by the fort’s inhabitants on the hill, where a primary school and slaughterhouse now stand. From the hill you can look down on a landing, where local fishing boats sell their catch on the river bank early in the morning.
The provincial museum, which is in the southern suburbs of town in an area called Padang Harapan, has extensive collections ranging from prehistoric stones and ancient bronze drums to wooden models of traditional houses. Other displays include traditional Engganese textiles and looms. Of special interest is the batik cloth made in Bengkulu called kain besuruh, with designs incorporating Arabic calligraphy and the Majapahit sunburst.
There are also displays of imported ceramics and of tabut – towers made of wood and paper used in a local ritual of the same name. each year on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Muslim year, the towers, some are 10 m high, are borne in procession through the town in honor of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson. Husein, who fell at the battle of Karbala in Iran in AD 680.
This ceremony is a remnant of earlier Shiite influence, though Bengkulu, like the rest of Indonesia, now the follows Sunni school of Islam. There are two small shrines in the town where those who are to take part in the tabut go to burn candles and make requests. If their petitions are granted they will sponsor the construction of a tabut tower.
There are three places of natural interest on the fringe of Bengkulu town. One is the beautiful 7 km long beach, where its name changes to Pantai Panjang Gading Cempaka. Gading Cempaka was a legendary princess whose skin was as fair as ivory (gading) and as fragrant as frangipani (cempaka). Swimming here is generally safe, but large waves and a strong undertow make it necessary to be cautious. The safe swimming spots are indicated by boards, which tell you that those spots are indicated by boards, which tell you that those spots are safe to swim.
Another spot, which attracts nature lovers, is a lake called Danau Denda, Tak Sudah (Lake of Never Ending Grudge), which lies about 8 km southeast of the town. This lake is surrounded by low hills, above which you can see the peaks of the Barisan Mountains in the distance.
At the northern edge of the peaty water is a nature reserve where a particular variety of wild water orchid, the Vanda hookeriana, flourishes.
The small island of Tikus (Rat Island) lies about 5 km off the coast of Bengkulu. The island measures only 60 by 100 m, and is part of a much bigger coral reef, which lies beneath it. In the colonial period, ships anchored to the lee of this reef to be safe from storms raging in the Indian Ocean beyond. Large iron anchors are still set in the reef. Snorkelers and scuba divers report that it is exceptionally rich in marine life.
Bengkulu has many attractions for travelers who wish to see Sumatran nature in its pristine state. Most of these lie in the Barisan Mountains, and can be reached along a winding road, which leads, via Kepayang, to the large town of Curup.
In November the huge Rafflesia Arnoldi blooms along the banks of streams in the primary forest. The most accessible sites for viewing the world’s largest flower are the areas near Taba Penanjung, Bengkulu’s official rafflesia reserve on the main Bengkulu Kepayang road. Visitors should call at the forestry office in Bengkulu to find out whether any giant flowers are in bloom.
Curup, 85 km northeast of Bengkulu, is an attractive, cool hill town in the Barisan Mountains where local agricultural products are sold in the town’s market. The town is connected to Bengkulu by a good paved road climbing up through the forests in Barisan Mountains and offering spectacular view of Bengkulu city and the Indian Ocean. Major crops are rice, coffee and vegetables such as carrots and cabbage. Rice mills driven by waterpower can still be seen in many areas of the Tebong Valley around Curup.
A few kilometers outside Curup is a hot spring, Suban Air Panas, a popular weekend spot. In ancient times the spring appears to have been a religious site, for on a low rise near it is a base for a statue and a crude Siva lingga. A few meters further up the slope is another stone carved into a rectangular shape connected with a legend about a princess named Puteri Swangka. Another ancient, remnant is a large, flat stone called Batu Panco that was possibly used as a meditation spot by religious ascetics. From Curup a road leads north to Muara Aman, center of the gold mining industry during the colonial period. Along the way it passes a lovely mountain lake, Danau Tes, famous locally for its scenic beauty and for being the largest lake in Bengkulu.
There are several active volcanoes in the province of Bengkulu. Behind Curup towers Bukit Kaba, 1.937 m high, with two main and 12 subsidiary craters emitting sulphurous gases. The most serious eruption occurred in 1845, when 150 people were killed.
Bengkulu also has two major parks. In the north, near Seblat, Mt Bukit Gedang forms part of the huge Krinci Seblat National park. This park, which is Indonesia’s largest, is home to rare wildlife such as the Sumatran elephant, rhinoceros and tiger, as well as more common animals like deer, birds, and monkeys. In the south, the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park includes the region of Kaur Timur. Besides elephants, tigers and crocodiles, this park contains the Sumatran mountain goat and the slow Loris.
In the sub-district of North Bengkulu, 134 km off the coast liers Enggano Island with its numerous Coral sea gardens, sparkling seas and lovely beaches. However, the coastline is swampy and the only way to get there is to take a boat, which operates, irregularly from Bengkulu. Once you are there, there is no other way of getting around on the 29 by 18 km island except on foot.
With a land area of 21.168 sq km and less than 1 million population, Bengkulu is rich of pristine jungle with its Rafflesia Arnoldi, the biggest flower in the world. Tigers, elephants and rhinos are still roaming around the jungle even until today.
Bengkulu was Britain’s sole colony for 140 years in Southeast Asia. Originally established as an alternative source of pepper after the Dutch seized control of Banten in 17th century, the tiny British outpost on this scarcely populated coast never amounted to much, as pepper’s importance in the world economy soon declined and Bengkulu lay too far off the major trading routes to offer much else.
From 1685 to 1825, reports of the East India Company record continual tales of dismal commerce, boredom and early death on this malarial coast, where months could pass without sighting a ship or news from home.
The first British base, Fort York, was built here in 1685, and Fort Marlborough was constructed 2 km away in 1715.
The British found the local Rejang people ‘indolent’ and began punishing their rulers. When William Dampier was at Bengkulu in 1690, he found two local rulers in the stocks for no other reason but because they had not brought down to the Fort much quantity of pepper as the governor had sent for. Despite the protests of home authorities, similar treatment continued to be meted out during the 18th century and early 19th century.
Bengkulu was briefly shaken out of its torpor during the governorship of Thomas Stamford Raffles (1818-1824), but in 1825 the colony was surrendered to the Dutch in exchange for undisputed British influence in the Malay Peninsula and Singapore.
During his stay in Engulf, Raffles undertook the naval explorations, which led to the founding of Singapore. The satisfaction he felt on seeing his new colony flourish was marred by the sad fact that three of his four children died in Bengkulu. The precise whereabouts of their graves is unknown until today.
British influence was restricted to the narrow coastal plain. The mountainous hinterland was annexed by the Dutch after a series of military campaigns in the 1830s. At the end of the 19th century the Dutch discovered that Bengkulu’s mountains contained rich deposits of gold, and Bengkulu rapidly became the largest gold producing area in the Dutch East Indies.
Bengkulu’s people consist of four main groups. The Rejang are mountain dwellers and form the majority. They are subdivided into two populations, the highland Rejang and the Rejang Pesisir who have moved down to the western lowlands. In the south dwell the Serawai, who are related to the Pasemah people who live in the highlands around Pagaralam and Mt. Dempo. Most population of the capital is basically Malays.
The discovery of stone tools in the northern area, and megalithic structures and ancient drums of Dongson type in the south proved that the region has been inhabited since prehistoric times.
Enggano, an isolated island off the south coast was the home of a separate group of people, distantly related to inhabitants of the Mentawai Islands further north.
Long protected by their remote location, the people of Enggano were decimated by smallpox and other diseases brought by Western visitors in the late 19th century, and soon afterwards their traditional culture was destroyed. Enggano is now practically deserted.
Being a colonial town, Bengkulu was founded by the British in 1685 and occupied by them until 1825, when the Dutch took over and staying there until the Japanese occupation in 1942.
The most appropriate way to see around Bengkulu is by foot. You can start at the western end of Jl. Jenderal A. Yani, next to the cupolaroofed memorial of Thomas Parr, the unpopular governor of Bengkulu who was assassinated and be headed, most probably by the Bugis in 1807 while resting at his garden house, 5 km from the fort.
Parr had trained in Bengal and was accustomed to unquestioning obedience from a submissive and subjugated people. Once in Bengkulu, he attempted to reduce the power of the ‘Bugis Corps’, which had been recruited to supplement the East India Company’s forces.
After Parr’s death, a few local rulers who were under suspicion were blown from the guns and several villagers went burnt in vengeance. Relations between the British and Indonesians were not always that bad, and the large Eurasian population led to Bengkulu being dubbed a regular Batavian colony by a British critic, meaning that there was too much mixing of races.
Going down Jl. A. Yani to Fort Marlborough, the fort was built by the British East India Company between 1713 and 1719, and was carefully restored between 1977 and 1984. Its plan is rectangular, measuring 240 by 170 meters, with projecting bastions on the four corners.
Fort Marlborough was built to replace Fort York. William Dampier who served as gunner at Fort York, nevertheless declared it to be the most irregular piece of defensive work he had ever seen. It would moulder away every wet season and these guns often fall down in the ditches. And impressive as the fort looked, it fell to the enemy on the only two occasions in which it was attacked. The first in 1719 by a local uprising, and the second in 1760 by a passing French fleet.
The outer wall is surrounded by a dry moat. As well as protecting the fort attack, this moat according to Indian Office records prevented the sentries from sneaking off to the nearby kampong to buy toddy, the powerful alcoholic drink made from the sweet sap of palms.
After 1825, Fort Marlborough was used by the Dutch until the Japanese invasion of 1942. After Japan’s surrender, it was briefly occupied by the police of the fledgling republic of Indonesia. The Dutch reoccupied the fort during their attempt to crush the Indonesian revolutionary forces, but in 1950 it was restored to the police, who continued to use it until the mid 1980s. The fort is now open to the public as a museum.
The fort’s main entrance faces south, and is protected by a double wall. As you enter the outer defenses, you are greeted by the elaborately inscribed tombstones of British officers who served here, including that of Thomas Parr now worn smooth by the elements. Both the northern and southern entrances were formerly accessed by crossing small wooden bridges. A door on the east side also led out to the Indian soldiers quarters. There is no rear wall. An earthen rampart defended the fort.
The fort’s massive wooden gates open onto a peaceful, manicured courtyard. On one side is the cell in which Soekarno was briefly held in the early days of his exile, on the other is a small museum. Climbing up to the ramparts affords a good view of the town and the sea. A tall tower originally stood over the north gate, but collapsed due to repeated earth quarters. There were no buildings inside the fort. Soldiers’ quarters, kitchens, offices, guardrooms and stores were all built into the walls. Some of these rooms are now used for displays illustrating the history of the fort, including artifacts discovered during the recent restoration. Poignant graffiti adorn the wall of one room that was used as a prison.
The area around the fort has a brooding and melancholic air, especially in the evenings. The former British Residency is just across from the fort, set back a little from the main road. Now derelict and crumbling, it is surrounded by warehouses and occupied by stray dogs.
About 200 m to the north is a point of land called Tapak Paderi, providing beautiful sunset views over the sea. The open square southeast of the fort dates from the time when the British laid out the settlement.
Leaving Fort Marlborough, walk to the old Chinese quarter, which is located around Jl. D.I. Panjaitan, just behind the British residence and close to Parr monument. Here rows of two storied old wooden shop houses with ornately carved balconies line both sides of the street. These buildings were all constructed in 1926 after the quarter was destroyed in one of the earthquakes, which periodically afflict the province.
From the fort, a pleasant, 1-5 minute walk brings you to an obelisk on Jl. Letkol Santoso in the southeastern part of the town, erected over the remains of Captain Robert Hamilton, who died on the 15th of December 1793 at the age of 38 years in command of the troops. Hamilton apparently had an affair with a local girl.
From here walk a few hundred meters north to the old European cemetery. Most of the British graves date from the late 18th and early 19th century, the later graves are Dutch. During the period of British rule, there were never more than a handful of European women in Bengkulu and some of the tombstones are affectionately telling: Captain Thomas Tapston’s was erected to his memory by his much afflicted friend, Nonah Jessminah. Unfortunately, many of the graves have been vandalized. Raffles three children who died in Bengkulu are possibly buried here, though their gravesites are unknown until today.
A short walk to the east will bring you to the house where Indonesia’s first President Soekarno, his first wife, Inggit, and his adopted daughter, Ratna Juami, were exiled by the Dutch from 1938 to 1941. The house is located on Jalan Soekarno-Hatta, in the district called Anggut Atas. On the verandahs is the trusty bicycle that Soekarno used while courting his second wife, Fatmawati, then a local Bengkulu belle. Soekarno was in his late thirties at that time. In wooden cabinets are his books, mostly in Dutch, and his clothes. Faded pictures of the family adorn the walls.
Fort York, built in 1685, stood about 2 km north of Marlborough, on the south bank of the Bengkulu River. The area is now called Pasar Bengkulu in memory of the time when the town’s main market lay near the fort. No traces of the old brick fort can be seen, but archeologists have discovered the foundations of the walls and artifacts used by the fort’s inhabitants on the hill, where a primary school and slaughterhouse now stand. From the hill you can look down on a landing, where local fishing boats sell their catch on the river bank early in the morning.
The provincial museum, which is in the southern suburbs of town in an area called Padang Harapan, has extensive collections ranging from prehistoric stones and ancient bronze drums to wooden models of traditional houses. Other displays include traditional Engganese textiles and looms. Of special interest is the batik cloth made in Bengkulu called kain besuruh, with designs incorporating Arabic calligraphy and the Majapahit sunburst.
There are also displays of imported ceramics and of tabut – towers made of wood and paper used in a local ritual of the same name. each year on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Muslim year, the towers, some are 10 m high, are borne in procession through the town in honor of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson. Husein, who fell at the battle of Karbala in Iran in AD 680.
This ceremony is a remnant of earlier Shiite influence, though Bengkulu, like the rest of Indonesia, now the follows Sunni school of Islam. There are two small shrines in the town where those who are to take part in the tabut go to burn candles and make requests. If their petitions are granted they will sponsor the construction of a tabut tower.
There are three places of natural interest on the fringe of Bengkulu town. One is the beautiful 7 km long beach, where its name changes to Pantai Panjang Gading Cempaka. Gading Cempaka was a legendary princess whose skin was as fair as ivory (gading) and as fragrant as frangipani (cempaka). Swimming here is generally safe, but large waves and a strong undertow make it necessary to be cautious. The safe swimming spots are indicated by boards, which tell you that those spots are indicated by boards, which tell you that those spots are safe to swim.
Another spot, which attracts nature lovers, is a lake called Danau Denda, Tak Sudah (Lake of Never Ending Grudge), which lies about 8 km southeast of the town. This lake is surrounded by low hills, above which you can see the peaks of the Barisan Mountains in the distance.
At the northern edge of the peaty water is a nature reserve where a particular variety of wild water orchid, the Vanda hookeriana, flourishes.
The small island of Tikus (Rat Island) lies about 5 km off the coast of Bengkulu. The island measures only 60 by 100 m, and is part of a much bigger coral reef, which lies beneath it. In the colonial period, ships anchored to the lee of this reef to be safe from storms raging in the Indian Ocean beyond. Large iron anchors are still set in the reef. Snorkelers and scuba divers report that it is exceptionally rich in marine life.
Bengkulu has many attractions for travelers who wish to see Sumatran nature in its pristine state. Most of these lie in the Barisan Mountains, and can be reached along a winding road, which leads, via Kepayang, to the large town of Curup.
In November the huge Rafflesia Arnoldi blooms along the banks of streams in the primary forest. The most accessible sites for viewing the world’s largest flower are the areas near Taba Penanjung, Bengkulu’s official rafflesia reserve on the main Bengkulu Kepayang road. Visitors should call at the forestry office in Bengkulu to find out whether any giant flowers are in bloom.
Curup, 85 km northeast of Bengkulu, is an attractive, cool hill town in the Barisan Mountains where local agricultural products are sold in the town’s market. The town is connected to Bengkulu by a good paved road climbing up through the forests in Barisan Mountains and offering spectacular view of Bengkulu city and the Indian Ocean. Major crops are rice, coffee and vegetables such as carrots and cabbage. Rice mills driven by waterpower can still be seen in many areas of the Tebong Valley around Curup.
A few kilometers outside Curup is a hot spring, Suban Air Panas, a popular weekend spot. In ancient times the spring appears to have been a religious site, for on a low rise near it is a base for a statue and a crude Siva lingga. A few meters further up the slope is another stone carved into a rectangular shape connected with a legend about a princess named Puteri Swangka. Another ancient, remnant is a large, flat stone called Batu Panco that was possibly used as a meditation spot by religious ascetics. From Curup a road leads north to Muara Aman, center of the gold mining industry during the colonial period. Along the way it passes a lovely mountain lake, Danau Tes, famous locally for its scenic beauty and for being the largest lake in Bengkulu.
There are several active volcanoes in the province of Bengkulu. Behind Curup towers Bukit Kaba, 1.937 m high, with two main and 12 subsidiary craters emitting sulphurous gases. The most serious eruption occurred in 1845, when 150 people were killed.
Bengkulu also has two major parks. In the north, near Seblat, Mt Bukit Gedang forms part of the huge Krinci Seblat National park. This park, which is Indonesia’s largest, is home to rare wildlife such as the Sumatran elephant, rhinoceros and tiger, as well as more common animals like deer, birds, and monkeys. In the south, the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park includes the region of Kaur Timur. Besides elephants, tigers and crocodiles, this park contains the Sumatran mountain goat and the slow Loris.
In the sub-district of North Bengkulu, 134 km off the coast liers Enggano Island with its numerous Coral sea gardens, sparkling seas and lovely beaches. However, the coastline is swampy and the only way to get there is to take a boat, which operates, irregularly from Bengkulu. Once you are there, there is no other way of getting around on the 29 by 18 km island except on foot.