Paul in Bali: Palembang Debating Championship (Part 4

On the Thursday of the Championship the teams which had made it through to the semi-finals began their debates. Mmbers of teams which did not qualify boarded buses for a half day "city sights" tour.

The first difficulty was getting out of the University grounds. The roads were generally rather narrow, having been built more with motorcycles in mind than larger vehicles. At a tight corner the convoy of busses was stopped by 2 cars "illegally parked" (as are so many in a country where signs are so often ignored). The driver of the first coach loudly and continuously sounded the horn until a driver emerged from a nearby building, entered the car and drove off. The bus edged forward but couldn't squeeze past the red car thoughtlessly parked over a metre from the road edge and right on the corner. Eventually we summoned enough "young muscle" and bounced the offending car to the side of the road leaving just enough room for the busses to squeeze past.

Shifting the badly parked red car to allow the busses to pass through

Once out of the University campus we travelled towards the river, past buildings completed in a variety of architectural styles - and many which defied any sort of description. The kind of buildings which were thrown together rather than being designed.

The modernist dome of a mosque peeps around the street front buildings. Got to
get used to power lines. They are almost at eye level in the bus and are hard to avoid.

A rather grand building displaying a mix of styles, and a rare dome with lantern atop

There's no missing this one in its "high visibility" paint job.

Office of the Mayor - called the "water tower"
because of the header tanks on the roof.

Pedal power - a cheap way of getting about in Pelambang

At the waterfront not far from the Ampera Bridge we parked in the grounds of the Museum Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II. He's also early 19th century local sultan after whom the airport is named. He led a significant struggle against the Dutch colonialists and achieved several significant victories in the 1820s before being overwhelmed by superior forces. As we were late leaving the University (partly due to the red car) we missed the chance to go into the museum which houses displays exhibits depicting the city's history from the early days of the Buddhist Srivijaya empire (which flourished from about 850 to 1025 AD) through to present days.

Students pass beneath the museum's archway in traditional style

The museum building - a good example of
Palembang "Limasan" architectural style

The pedicab rank in front of the museum

One pylon of the Ampera Bridge

Small hire boats wait beneath the bridge's carriageway

Beside the bridge work was proceeding rapidly on a new "market" building, and we picked our way past excavations and scaffolds and boarded a couple of passenger boats for a cruise along the River Musi.

The incomplete "Pasar" (market) building
seen from the stern of the cruise boat.

The river was busy. Small ferries motored from shore to shore. Some commercial traffic moved up and down the river. Large and small vessels were moored along the extensive docks and piers.

The existing market building on the waterfront

The Ampera Bridge - it looked prettier by night.

A variety of river craft.

The blue vessel is named "Noah" and the big one is the "Ark"

A small car freighter moored not far from Ampera Bridge.

Part of the commercial port for larger ships. The oil refinery
and urea production plant is further down the river.

A small coastal trader pulled up on river bank for maintenance.

Down stream from Palembang, and past the main industrial zone and dock is Kemaro Island. On the island is a small recreational area and a Chinese Temple and supporting buildings.

Section of the Chinese temple precinct on Kemaro Island

The main pagoda

"Let sleeping dogs lie" - a dog asleep on the top step
protected by the pair of dragons guarding the steps

Yes, I was there. A student insisted on taking my photo for me.

Traditional red Chinese lanterns add a bright touch to the building

After a quick walk around the compound (no access to buildings) we returned to our boat and returned upstream to our starting point.

A passing local boat

At the pier we left the boat, boarded our busses again and made our way back to campus.

Billboard advertising the forthcoming Solidarity Games in Palembang

Palembang has many small waterways and although it is
a "sister city" of Venice, it lacks the Italian city's charm.

Was this building was painted by the same team
which produced the yellow building seen earlier?
Marred by the ever present abundant power lines.

It had been a hot outing, but at least we had the chance to see something of Palembang away from the campus and the road to and from our hotel.

On the last day of the Championship we slipped out for a little water recreation at the Palembang Water Park. After a fairly tiring week this was quite a pleasant activity. There were the usual slides and some pools to offer a range of vigorous or sedate activities.

Some of the contingent from Bali, with student hosts.

Now, which is my foot?

Group photo time

By popular request we have a "jump sequence". Some were
able to jump much higher and stay airborne longer than others!

Still up in the air

Some have landed already

Some have landed, others are just coming down.

Well that was fun, what will we do next?

The return trip to the University took us past the central and largest mosque "Masjid Agung Palembang". WE parked and I was able to get a few photos from the gateway. I was able to enter a few steps into the outer courtyard to get a better view, but just a few steps were allowed, no more.

This grand mosque at the roundabout on the approach to the Ampera Bridge has been renovated and enlarged several times in its lifetime. Parts of it still retain the distinctive old Sriwijayan style architecture. "Agung" denotes a big or grand thing. The highest mountain in Bali is Mt Agung and "Agung" is often part of the name of upper class males.