- Joined
- Jul 19, 2016
- Messages
- 3,915
My city is Bandar Lampung, the capital of Lampung Provence on the Southern end of Sumatra. Not a major city in size as Indonesia’s bigger cities go but is growing. It is a great starting out point to explore Lampung Province which has abundant things to see and do. Vast farm land producing many different crops. Well known for it’s coffee, pepper, rice, copra, cocoa, and cloves. Water recreation like surfing, fishing, and diving flourish here. Swim with dolphins and view the splendor of Krakatoa, or Anak Krakatoa. It’s textiles which started during the Buddhist period here is best known for the songket. Something that if you find an old one you have a valuable collectors piece since it was threaded with silver or gold threads. Bandar Lampung is the home of Nestles and their coffee is grown and processed here. It is also home to Coca Cola.
Tourism is not a big money item yet but they want to build on it. Especially in the sleepy Tanjung Setia/Krui area where surf is big and it is absolutely beautiful and unspoiled. Beaches go on and on and are pretty much deserted except for weekends and holidays. Right now it is a haven for just so many Australians that know about it and pack the surf camps from March to November. Many like to keep it a secret but Indonesia wants to promote it now. They also stop at the elephant reserve, Way Kambus where elephants are nursed back to health after being mostly abused by farmers and villagers in Sumatra.
Transport
Bandar Lampung is easy to drive in compared to other larger cities. No traffic jams like you find in the bigger cities and traffic when heavy seems to keep moving. Drivers here are no different than other parts of Indonesia so you need to stay alert at all times. The biggest obstacle for driving is if you are on the Sukarno Hatta highway that starts at the Ferry Terminal on the Southern tip of Lampung and will eventually run the full length of Sumatra. It is loaded with truck traffic to and from Java making sure people are fed. There is passenger train service from Bandar Lampung to Palembang with stops in between. Economy tickets run about Rp40,000 one way to Rp200,000 for Executive. Bench compared to seat. Bandar Lampung has two taxi companies. The biggest is Seiger who uses a lot of Avanza sized vehicles. A trip to and from the Airport is Rp150,000 preset. All fares are preset and it really doesn’t matter which driver you get, they all quote the same price and don’t haggle. Fares are probably close to Jakarta’s for distance but you get there 10 times faster here. There is also a bus line. Trans bus with preset routes. They are not bad to ride on and are kept up. Like so may small buses, they do want to pick up everyone they can no matter where they are standing. Ojaks galore and can be found anywhere. Ankots which are on the most part junk run their routes and are probably the biggest threat on the city streets.
Climate/Geography
Before we moved here we were told that Lampung was very hot and we would hate it and not last for long. It’s cooler then Jakarta was and there is normally a breeze. In the Southern part of Bandar Lampung, Panjang, it is hot and no breeze. It sits right on the water but it is the most heavily populated area and is the industrial area here. Houses built on top of each other stopping the natural airflow. People keep coming to that area and now they have been building on stilts over the shallow bay. The rest of the city starts going up in altitude and is nicer. Nights are actually cool sometimes.
Food , Entertainment & Malls
Bandar Lampung has some older malls with the likes of Matahari as their main tenate as well as stand alone stores like Sogo and Informa. The latest mall is Kadaton Mall with modern facilities and a lot of stores including Ace, and a lot of different types of restaurants with-in it. It is still adding on. Groceries you will find the leader, Chandra Stores, Giant/Hero, SuperIndo, and a couple others. Most have large stores to more convenience sized facilities. Bandar Lampung has fastfood too. McDonalds, Pizza Hut, A&W, and KFC are the most well-known names. There are other fried chicken places that are pretty good too.
Not a big nightlife area but the nice hotels do have bars as well as some of the nicer stand alone restaurants. There is a number of Karaoke places through out the city if that is your cup of tea. The city does have a few festivals every year and the tourism powers want to build on them and add more.
Hotels
Bandar Lampung has a nice selection of hotels. From high end to place to just put your head at night, it can be found here. The Emersia, Novotel, and 7[SUP]th[/SUP] are a few of the nicer places and rates are normally pretty low. Anywhere from Rp300,000 to Rp 700,000 per night. Or, if you like, there are some places where Rp100,000 will get you a bed.
Language/People
Lampung is a mix of cultures with 75% of the population arriving through the various Transmigration programs since the Dutch were here. Lampung does have it’s own language and alphabet and is taught in the schools yet. If you speak Bahasa Indonesia you can’t understand Lampunian. Yes, people originally from here do speak it to each other. Everyone also speaks Bahasa Indonesia or Malay which is widespread throughout Sumatra. You can even find a Kampung Bali near the Southwestern part of Lampung. In recent years there has been an influx of people from Palembang it seems. Mainly poorer families that in all likelihood could only make it this far to begin with and now their relatives.
I was personally surprised at the number of people here that try at least to speak English to me. Much greater then I found in Jakarta. Most larger business people and a lot of Government people speak some English. The University here has English programs and host two English competitions annually for high school and college students from Lampung, South Sumatra, and Riau.
Medical
There are three main Hospitals and a number of smaller ones including Muslim only facilities staffed by personnel trained in Muslim schools. The three main ones are RS Immanuel Way Halim, a Christian run Hospital serving everyone, Rumah Sakit Advent, another Christian run hospital serving everyone, and RSIA Belleza Bandar, a public hospital. All are full service with Labs, eye doctors, dentist, and full service clinics. Hospital rooms run from Rp150,000 for a ward room with up to six patients to a vvip room for about Rp1 juta a night includes kitchenette. For Rp650,000 a night you can get a private vip room. The city is not loaded with those 24Jam doctor’s offices like you see in Jakarta but do have quite a few homes converted to or shared as medical offices. Most hospital doctors have private home offices too for their off hours.
Before moving to Bandar Lampung we were told by a few people not to because it is so hard core Muslim and the people were not welcoming to outsiders. Nothing could be farther from reality. We were accepted with open arms. Sometimes even felt like celebrities. There are quite a few various Christian churches here and none have had any problems from others. Buddhist and in other parts of Lampung Province, Hindus live side by side with everyone else. Are there some nut cases? Where isn’t there.
While I have complained a little lately about Immigration here, for the most part they try their hardest to take care of the things you need. State and local governments can be more challenging but I blame that on having to deal with so few expats and not knowing what they require.
All in all, we like this area. Come visit and stay awhile. The only native English teachers here are one may still be at a private school and another has opened his own business. There is a need here for native speakers.
I’m sure I missed a lot but it’s a start.
Tourism is not a big money item yet but they want to build on it. Especially in the sleepy Tanjung Setia/Krui area where surf is big and it is absolutely beautiful and unspoiled. Beaches go on and on and are pretty much deserted except for weekends and holidays. Right now it is a haven for just so many Australians that know about it and pack the surf camps from March to November. Many like to keep it a secret but Indonesia wants to promote it now. They also stop at the elephant reserve, Way Kambus where elephants are nursed back to health after being mostly abused by farmers and villagers in Sumatra.
Transport
Bandar Lampung is easy to drive in compared to other larger cities. No traffic jams like you find in the bigger cities and traffic when heavy seems to keep moving. Drivers here are no different than other parts of Indonesia so you need to stay alert at all times. The biggest obstacle for driving is if you are on the Sukarno Hatta highway that starts at the Ferry Terminal on the Southern tip of Lampung and will eventually run the full length of Sumatra. It is loaded with truck traffic to and from Java making sure people are fed. There is passenger train service from Bandar Lampung to Palembang with stops in between. Economy tickets run about Rp40,000 one way to Rp200,000 for Executive. Bench compared to seat. Bandar Lampung has two taxi companies. The biggest is Seiger who uses a lot of Avanza sized vehicles. A trip to and from the Airport is Rp150,000 preset. All fares are preset and it really doesn’t matter which driver you get, they all quote the same price and don’t haggle. Fares are probably close to Jakarta’s for distance but you get there 10 times faster here. There is also a bus line. Trans bus with preset routes. They are not bad to ride on and are kept up. Like so may small buses, they do want to pick up everyone they can no matter where they are standing. Ojaks galore and can be found anywhere. Ankots which are on the most part junk run their routes and are probably the biggest threat on the city streets.
Climate/Geography
Before we moved here we were told that Lampung was very hot and we would hate it and not last for long. It’s cooler then Jakarta was and there is normally a breeze. In the Southern part of Bandar Lampung, Panjang, it is hot and no breeze. It sits right on the water but it is the most heavily populated area and is the industrial area here. Houses built on top of each other stopping the natural airflow. People keep coming to that area and now they have been building on stilts over the shallow bay. The rest of the city starts going up in altitude and is nicer. Nights are actually cool sometimes.
Food , Entertainment & Malls
Bandar Lampung has some older malls with the likes of Matahari as their main tenate as well as stand alone stores like Sogo and Informa. The latest mall is Kadaton Mall with modern facilities and a lot of stores including Ace, and a lot of different types of restaurants with-in it. It is still adding on. Groceries you will find the leader, Chandra Stores, Giant/Hero, SuperIndo, and a couple others. Most have large stores to more convenience sized facilities. Bandar Lampung has fastfood too. McDonalds, Pizza Hut, A&W, and KFC are the most well-known names. There are other fried chicken places that are pretty good too.
Not a big nightlife area but the nice hotels do have bars as well as some of the nicer stand alone restaurants. There is a number of Karaoke places through out the city if that is your cup of tea. The city does have a few festivals every year and the tourism powers want to build on them and add more.
Hotels
Bandar Lampung has a nice selection of hotels. From high end to place to just put your head at night, it can be found here. The Emersia, Novotel, and 7[SUP]th[/SUP] are a few of the nicer places and rates are normally pretty low. Anywhere from Rp300,000 to Rp 700,000 per night. Or, if you like, there are some places where Rp100,000 will get you a bed.
Language/People
Lampung is a mix of cultures with 75% of the population arriving through the various Transmigration programs since the Dutch were here. Lampung does have it’s own language and alphabet and is taught in the schools yet. If you speak Bahasa Indonesia you can’t understand Lampunian. Yes, people originally from here do speak it to each other. Everyone also speaks Bahasa Indonesia or Malay which is widespread throughout Sumatra. You can even find a Kampung Bali near the Southwestern part of Lampung. In recent years there has been an influx of people from Palembang it seems. Mainly poorer families that in all likelihood could only make it this far to begin with and now their relatives.
I was personally surprised at the number of people here that try at least to speak English to me. Much greater then I found in Jakarta. Most larger business people and a lot of Government people speak some English. The University here has English programs and host two English competitions annually for high school and college students from Lampung, South Sumatra, and Riau.
Medical
There are three main Hospitals and a number of smaller ones including Muslim only facilities staffed by personnel trained in Muslim schools. The three main ones are RS Immanuel Way Halim, a Christian run Hospital serving everyone, Rumah Sakit Advent, another Christian run hospital serving everyone, and RSIA Belleza Bandar, a public hospital. All are full service with Labs, eye doctors, dentist, and full service clinics. Hospital rooms run from Rp150,000 for a ward room with up to six patients to a vvip room for about Rp1 juta a night includes kitchenette. For Rp650,000 a night you can get a private vip room. The city is not loaded with those 24Jam doctor’s offices like you see in Jakarta but do have quite a few homes converted to or shared as medical offices. Most hospital doctors have private home offices too for their off hours.
Before moving to Bandar Lampung we were told by a few people not to because it is so hard core Muslim and the people were not welcoming to outsiders. Nothing could be farther from reality. We were accepted with open arms. Sometimes even felt like celebrities. There are quite a few various Christian churches here and none have had any problems from others. Buddhist and in other parts of Lampung Province, Hindus live side by side with everyone else. Are there some nut cases? Where isn’t there.
While I have complained a little lately about Immigration here, for the most part they try their hardest to take care of the things you need. State and local governments can be more challenging but I blame that on having to deal with so few expats and not knowing what they require.
All in all, we like this area. Come visit and stay awhile. The only native English teachers here are one may still be at a private school and another has opened his own business. There is a need here for native speakers.
I’m sure I missed a lot but it’s a start.
