Bengkulu

Bengkulu Province is easily accessible by land, air and sea transportation. You can catch regular buses directly from Medan, Padang or Jakarta. Flight arrives there times a day. Domestic ships from Jakarta, Padang and Medan stop by in Baai Harbor, Bengkulu. Like other provinces in Indonesia, Bengkulu has its own specific cuisine for which it is renowned, among which are pendap, gulai tempoyak, and bagar kambing. Most inhabitants here are Malay and the culture and habits are somewhat similar to neighboring provinces.

Get There

There are no direct international flights to Bengkulu. You will have to take a flight to Jakarta and then take a connecting flight to Bengkulu. Alternately, you can also catch regular buses from Medan, Padang or Jakarta. If you want to go there by bus from Jakarta, there are two common routes, which are The West Route (Lintas Barat) takes you from Jakarta to Bandar Lampung and then through dense tropical jungle of Liwa, Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, and Krui. It takes around 22 hours with magnificent ocean view along the way, but the road condition is not very good and considered unsafe, and the East Route (Lintas Timur) goes from Jakarta to Bandar Lampung and then enters Bengkulu via South Sumatra. It's a longer trip (about 25 hours) but safer.

There are also several Van travel through the route between Padang and Bukit Tinggi to Bengkulu City and the journey take around 19-20 hours. Many drivers tend to use the long journey via Muara Bungo and Sarolangun rather than use the coast road (Muko-Muko and Painan) which has an 'absolutely with better view and scenery'.