Sumatra's precious jewel Lake Ranau offers tranquility

Text and photos by Graham Simmons

LAKE RANAU, Sumatra (JP): "Culture shock" is a common term nowadays. But what does it mean?

Maybe Java is a good example. With a population of over 100 million crammed together as if with a shoe-horn, the visitor is confronted by a roller coaster of sights, sounds and feelings. One minute elevated to heights of wonder, the next moment plunged to the mundane or the simply ridiculous.

Sumatra is different. Most of all, there is room to move. Arriving in Sumatra from Java is like stepping out of underwear three sizes too small, straight into a silken bathrobe.

Lake Ranau is a precious jewel set in the heart of the Bukit Barisan range of southern Sumatra. This serene and scenic place has begged so long to be discovered that the outside world is now starting to take notice. The three rudimentary hotels now in existence are being supplemented with brand-new resort developments, sightseeing infrastructure, and even an airport (scheduled to open this year).

Until the new airport opens, the trip must be made by road. From Jakarta, a plane (40 minutes) or a bus-ferry combination (about seven hours) first hits Bandar Lampung, the prosperous and relatively spotless garden capital of Lampung province on the southern tip of Sumatra.

Bandar Lampung is worth a stopover of a few days, with several worthwhile attractions in the vicinity. High on many visitors' agenda is the Way Kambas National Park and Elephant Training Center, a two-hour drive from Bandar Lampung. At Way Kambas, wild elephants are trained to become "useful members of society", carrying building materials and giving visitors elephant rides. Without this novel training program, many of these creatures might have already fallen prey to the poacher's bullet.

Other places worth visiting near Bandar Lampung are Condong and Umang Umang, two small white-sand islands in Lampung Bay. The islands are only 10 to 20 minutes from the mainland by small boat, and offer excellent diving and snorkeling. Umang Umang has 30 cottages for extended stays. Bookings can be made at the Lampung Tourist Information Service on (0721) 51900 or 55208.

Buses to Lake Ranau leave from the Rajabasa Bus Terminal, on the north side of town. I arrived about 10 a.m., much too late for an early departure, and threw my gear into the nearest bus. Two hours late, the bus still hadn't left. With typical Western impatience I started to complain, and was told, with equally- typical Indonesian logic: "If you don't want to wait, it's only about a month's walk."

You can't argue with that.

The bus eventually got away. Fortunately, today's Sumatran buses are roomy and comfortable. The countryside along the trans- Sumatra highway is a picture: coconut and palm-oil plantations behind neat hedgerows. Bandar Jaya in Central Lampung is a staging town, making and selling rattan furniture under a canopy of new satellite dishes.

The traffic thins further down the highway, where the incredibly fertile Sumatran soil yields an abundance of corn, melons and eggplant. Trucks pass, laden with hundreds of new Yamaha motorcycles. The trappings of property are everywhere, and I couldn't help but feel glad for the people on the receiving end, despite any lingering romantic notions I had of "happy paupers".

At Bukit Kemuning the bus leaves the trans-Sumatra highway and climbs into the mountains of the Bukit Barisan range. Here, coffee plantations line the road as it winds along the ridges high above the deep rice paddy valleys below. The villagers of the hilltops live in two-story traditional wooden houses, each with a vegetable plot and a myriad of potted plants on the patio. It's so neat, I thought I was in Switzerland. Then, looking down into the valley I felt I was in Nepal. Try this just after lunch!

Eventually, I reached Banding Agung, a small town on the northern end of Lake Ranau. Give an early start from Bandar Lampung, the whole trip shouldn't take more than five hours.

I stayed in Banding Agung at the Seminung Permai Hotel, a small but impeccable establishment run by Pak Soebli and Bu Saimia, together with their extended family of seven children, sons and daughters-in-law and grandchildren. The family's hospitality is almost embarrassing, but not obtrusive. They're ready to respond, but give you room to move. From the visitor's book, I saw that I was the 22nd guest for the year. This would amount to about 150 guests in a full year. Not exactly an avalanche -- yet. There are several other places to stay near Lake Ranau (see Fact File).

Walking 50 meters down to the lake the next morning, I just about needed smelling salts upon catching a glimpse of Mount Seminung. The volcano's smoking cone towers over the Lake Ranau, witnessing its daily activities. Early-bird fishermen were casting their nets as, on the other side of the village, the school boat prepared to ferry the kids of Banding Agung to their schoolhouse on the other side of the lake.

Breakfast at the Seminung Permai was delicious and abundant. Other meals were to prove even more so. Excellent food, more than you could possibly eat, for under Rp 2,000 (80 US cents).

Pak Soebli had promised to arrange a boat trip for that morning. The price of Rp 30,000 ($15), turned out to be non- negotiable. I could only surmise, therefore, that the trip must be something pretty special.

The boat, it turned out, came complete with a covered deck and could comfortably carry 20 to 25 passengers.

Surrounded by mist-covered mountains and hills with coffee and palm-tree plantations in the valleys, and with tiny fishing villages dotted around the shores, Lake Ranau represents a scene of almost primeval beauty.

The first stop was the island of Pulau Marisa, a tiny speck in the middle of the lake. This "island within an island" is my idea of a tropical paradise: coconut palms canopying an abundance of fruit trees and flowers. A single path leads from one end of the island to the other, a five-minute stroll. The island's only permanent residents are a single fishing family of about eight people.

Small as it is, Pulau Marisa is the stuff of legend. It is supposedly the only completed part of a mythical land-bridge that was meant to connect the two shores of the lake. The building of this bridge was imposed upon two rival suitors by the princess Putri Aisah. According to the legend, both the suitors failed in their bid.

While this story may sound like an early feminist primer, I couldn't help feeling that a Japanese construction company might one day step in and complete the job. I'm sure Putri Aisah will be pleased with the result.

Real construction was underway at a nearby hot springs. Five new cabanas, destined for use as changing rooms, restaurants and rest pavilions, now preside over a new hot spring pool. Relaxing in the warm, lightly-sulfured waters of these baths, I felt the accumulated stresses and tensions of a hundred lifetimes gradually ease away.

On the way back to Banding Agung, I stopped to look at the upmarket Lake Ranau cottages sitting on the eastern shore of the lake, about halfway between Banding Agung and the southern lake settlement of Kotabatu. This resort consists of eight traditional Lampung thatched cottages, each with its own balcony overlooking the lake. Even the standard cottages have choice furnishings and appointments. This development is the shape of things to come.

Lake Ranau has many other attractions, including the Tenang (tranquility) Waterfall northwest of Banding Agung, and also the 25-meter-high Subik Waterfall near the Lake Ranau Cottages. To get to either waterfall, ask for air terjun. There is also excellent fishing, boat hire, and swimming (the lake appears completely unpolluted).

Near Lake Ranau is Mount Pesagi, about an hour's drive southeast of Kotabatu, which has an unexplored peak one meter higher than the 2,230-meter-high Mount Kosciusko in Australia. Then there are several good walks, including a trail from Lake Ranau cottages through forests and coffee plantations.

Leaving Lake Ranau was hard. My destination was Baturaja, the next stage on the trans-Sumatra highway and a transit point for travelers to Palembang. During the pretty three-hour trip from Banding Agung, I vowed to one day return to Lake Ranau. I think I'll be joined by an increasing number of holidayers who instinctively recognize a great destination.