With the increasing number of domestic aircraft connections in Indonesia, now the holiday weekend is not just to neighboring cities within 1-2 hours, but can also to other provinces or other islands. Some time ago we were invited by Government of South Sumatera Province to visit Pagaralam for several days.
From our experience, in our opinion Pagaralam can be a great weekend destination or even better if there is a long weekend. Although the location is quite time consuming to reach, but the connection is pretty good and there are many interesting tourist attractions there. The available accommodations are quite good. Here is information that we can share, hopefully it will inspire you to choose Pagaralam as your next vacation destination!
What's in Pagaralam?
In Pagaralam there are various tours that can be explored ranging from nature, culture, history to travel. For nature tourism, there are many waterfalls in Pagaralam and its surroundings. There are some waterfalls that were released but all of them were exposed because of the difficult access. In addition to the waterfall there are also plantation areas as well as mountains and Dempo craters that can be enjoyed by nature lovers. Not to mention the natural hot springs in the newly established Tanjung Sakti area.
For those who like history and culture, there are a lot of megalith sites that can be visited and traditional houses that store millions of stories. Some old church buildings in the Tanjung Sakti area also give color to the cultural history of South Sumatra in the past. In the center of the city there is a center for making necks, traditional weapons of the earth Besemah (South Sumatra). As for adventure enthusiasts, various adrenaline-challenger activities such as rafting, paragliding, motorbike offroad and 4x4 cars are ready to welcome in Pagaralam.
The following are 11 recommended tourist attractions in Pagaralam that we have visited on our own. From this article, it can be an illustration of the excitement of a vacation to Pagaralam and of course there are many more places that we haven't had the chance to go to yet.
The following are 11 recommended tourist attractions in Pagaralam that we have visited on our own. From this article, it can be an illustration of the excitement of a vacation to Pagaralam and of course there are many more places that we haven't had the chance to go to yet.Accomodation in Pagaralam
For 3 nights in Pagaralam we stayed at Besh Hotel, a villa-shaped inn located at the foot of Mount Dempo and surrounded by green tea plantations. We think this is the best choice because the location is beautiful, the villa is fun and has a restaurant that can be relied on for food. This Besh Hotel can be booked through Traveloka and sometimes it is fully-booked in the holiday season.
If you want alternative lodging, of course there are several other lodging in Pagaralam. Most of these accommodations cannot be booked online, but can be booked by phone.
If you want alternative lodging, of course there are several other lodging in Pagaralam. Most of these accommodations cannot be booked online, but can be booked by phone.- Garuda ZZ Hotel – (073) 062 2177
- Mirasa Hotel – (073) 062 1266
- Dharma Karya Hotel – (073) 062 1297
How to go to Pagaralam
If you are already in Sumatra, Pagaralam can be accessed from the 2 closest major cities, Palembang and Bengkulu. So you can also stop by Pagaralam if you are traveling across Sumatra.
- Bengkulu – Pagaralam: 169 km or about 5 hours by car
- Palembang – Pagaralam: 280 km or about 8 hours by car
If from outside Sumatra, there are several ways to get to Pagaralam:
- fly to Palembang then by road (many cars travel the Palembang-Pagaralam route)
- flew to Palembang, took the train to Lahat. From Lahat drive 2 hours to Pagaralam.
- flew to Lubuk Linggau from Jakarta using NAM Air. The schedule is every day Jakarta-Lubuk Linggau 12:20 then Lubuk Linggau-Jakarta 14:00 with a flight duration of 1 hour 10 minutes. Ticket prices start at Rp700,000 per person one way. From Silampari Airport (Lubuk Linggau) one can rent a driver to get to Pagaralam with a trip time of about 3-4 hours depending on the route taken - it can be through Lahat (longer) or via a new route which is still quiet but faster.
- flies direct from Halim Airport in Jakarta to Atung Bungsu Airport in Pagaralam. This is the fastest because the flight only takes 1 hour. But at present there are no daily flights, only served by Trans Nusa with flight schedules on Tuesday and Saturday, ticket prices around Rp900,000. But unfortunately to buy tickets online this information is still very minimal. Even Trans Nusa's official website still doesn't display this route for online bookings and still has to contact manually.
- terbang ke Palembang kemudian jalan darat (banyak mobil travel dengan rute Palembang-Pagaralam)
- terbang ke Palembang, naik kereta ke Lahat. Dari Lahat naik mobil 2 jam ke Pagaralam.
- terbang ke Lubuk Linggau dari Jakarta pakai NAM Air. Jadwalnya setiap hari Jakarta-Lubuk Linggau 12:20 kemudian Lubuk Linggau-Jakarta 14:00 dengan lama penerbangan 1 jam 10 menit. Harga tiket mulai Rp700.000 per orang sekali jalan. Dari Bandara Silampari (Lubuk Linggau) bisa sewa supir untuk ke Pagaralam dengan lama perjalanan sekitar 3-4 jam tergantung jalur yang diambil — bisa lewat Lahat (lebih lama) atau lewat jalur yang baru yang masih sepi tapi lebih cepat.
- terbang langsung dari Bandara Halim di Jakarta ke Bandara Atung Bungsu di Pagaralam. Ini yang paling cepat karena penerbangannya cuma memakan waktu 1 jam. Tapi saat ini penerbangannya belum ada setiap hari, baru dilayani oleh Trans Nusa dengan jadwal terbang Selasa dan Sabtu, harga tiket sekitar Rp900.000. Namun sayangnya untuk beli tiket online ini infonya masih sangat minim. Bahkan website resmi Trans Nusa pun masih belum menampilkan rute ini untuk online booking dan masih harus kontak secara manual.
Well ... now there is an illustration right if you want a vacation to Pagaralam? Hopefully we can go there soon and enjoy the beauty and excitement of tourism in Pagaralam.