If you were to believe Lonely Planet, you wouldn't bother with Palembang at all. Dismissing the city as "largely off the traveller trail", the latest version lists one interesting site (down from three in the previous edition).

Yet there is plenty to do. We were here for five days, and we absolutely didn't exhaust the possibilities. Admittedly, my main purpose was research (which included visiting some historic sites), and on these research trips I also have to keep abreast of writing, supervision, and administrative commitments. So, if you hacked around a bit, I guess you could fit our five days' activities into two or three (but then you wouldn't have so much food-sampling time...). Bottom line: There's still plenty left to do, and I would most certainly return.

True, the logistics are complex. It's hard to obtain consistent, accurate information. It's not totally easy to get around. And as Europeans, and therefore really few and far between, we found we inspired FAR more curiosity than we usually do, even in outposts like Ternate. If you think you can stay inconspicuous, forget it...

Nevertheless, it's totally worth persisting, because Palembang is very rewarding. It's bustling but not manic; it's full of history; and in honour of the Asia Games next year, they're busy building an impressive new cross-city railway, which should help to alleviate the undeniable jams.



And... there's masses of really great food to try. What Palembang's really famous for is inventing those delicious little fish-and-sago things called pempek. I adore pempek. There's something about that chewy texture that just sucks me right in, and I love the spicy dipping sauce they come with. I have to say the ones you get in Palembang really are the best, both in terms of taste and in terms of variety. Whether "curly", or stuffed with all manner of fillings (from egg to tofu to young papaya), or served in soup (tekwan or model), these are the real deal.

Less known but also good is pindang, a spicy broth in which floats a chunk of fish (patin or belida), served with a few bits of cucumber and white rice. And then there's mie celor, a laksa-reminiscent soup containing yellow noodles, a dollop of green sambal, and a boiled egg. We bought our really delicious version from a cart at the side of the road, and ate it surrounded by half a dozen excited little girls and an even more excited tiny old lady. A complete pantomime.

Unfortunately, the characteristic tempoyak (fermented durian paste, which LP kind of implies is so common it's positively coming in at the windows) was massively absent from our culinary pathways.

Not "asli Palembang", but absolutely ubiquitous is es oyen, a delicious combo of soft pink jelly, coconut, avocado, and sweet corn that I'd never had before and am now addicted to. (And if anyone asks me how the healthy eating is coming on, I will clock them...)







We stayed at the Emilia (by Amazing). Provided you don't need fast, reliable internet, this is a perfectly good place to base yourself. (For really good internet, visit the friendly Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in the adjacent Palembang Indah Mall.)

The Emilia's location is great.

Just across the road you have Vico, which specializes in pempek, but also offers a range of traditional desserts like es kacang and es tape.

You can easily walk down the main road, Lintas Sumatera (stopping at Martabak HAR, which accompanies its eponymous crispy filled pancakes with a tasty lamb and potato curry), to the Ampera Bridge, the picturesque Musi River, the mosque, the Museum Sultan Badaruddin II (housed in a very lovely traditional building), the Monpera (Monument to the People's Struggle -- climb up the ladder and through the manhole cover to get to the top deck), and the remains of the Dutch fort (now occupied by the military). If you cross the Lintas Sumatera by going under the bridge, you get to an area with brightly painted houses and hundreds of shops, stalls, and eating places.























If, on the other hand, you set off down Jalan Radial, which becomes Jalan Mujahidin, which becomes Jalan Temon, you pass (in the daytime) a busy market and (in the evening) a huge collection of food vendors. At any time of day you'll find lots of little shops, eateries, and other businesses (Nigel got his hair cut, for a very modest sum); you'll pass a number of picturesque old buildings and alleyways; and finally you'll get to the river.







And if, on some mythical third hand, you head for the mosque via Jalan Kapten Cek Syeh, the road that bisects this rectangle you've created, you again get lots of interesting roadside views.





We devised enough variations on these walks to cover our entire five days.

One day we hired a driver and motorized becak to take us on a day's tour of the quite far-flung museums. These vehicles don't go fast, especially with two solid Westerners squeezed into the front chair, and on the way home in the afternoon we hit some tedious jams. But it wasn't a bad way to travel, and the first leg (through areas with colonial and traditional housing) was particularly pleasant.

From the 7th to the 13th centuries the area round Palembang was the heartland of the Buddhist Sriwijaya kingdom, which radiated out over quite an area of today's Southeast Asia and attracted considerable attention from the outside world (making today's "off the traveller trail" designation even more ironic...). This fluid and cosmopolitan past is all very interestingly evoked at the Sriwijaya Museum, our first stop. We spent quite a while taking in the exhibitions, and strolling the extensive grounds. From there we drove to Bukit Siguntang, an important archaeological and spiritual site with seven notable tombs. Because of the renovation work underway in preparation for next year's Games, it's technically closed to tourists at the moment (although locals can obviously still go in, make offerings at the tombs, and talk to the guardian of the site). After a little pleading, they let us in, but we felt unable to linger in the way we otherwise would have done.









We had lunch next, at the Sri Melayu restaurant. This is next to the very imposing governor's office; it's all pleasantly arranged around a pond; and the food is nice. But it's very expensive, by Indonesian standards. We probably wouldn't go again.

We ended the trip at the Museum of South Sumatra. As well as more on Sriwijaya, there was a preview of the megaliths we hope to see at Lahat, and an extensive gallery with fabrics and other crafts. At the back is the traditional house that features on the 10,000-rupiah note.









It's definitely worth doing a little boat trip. This involves first going through the hazardous business of selecting one of the boatmen who hang around outside the benteng (they get really quite uppity about not being picked). But then you get to chug breezily down the fascinating Musi River, alive with craft of all descriptions, and to stroll Pulau Kemaro, where a delightful Chinese temple and pagoda commemorate the sad fate of two lovers.























So, big tick for Palembang. Ignore Lonely Planet, and just plunge on in.