Kemaro Island, Romance in The Middle of Musi River

Once upon a time, a princess of Palembang, Siti Fatimah was sent to marry a prince from China, Tan Bun An. The Princess asked nine gold jars for her wedding gift. To avoid pirates, that gold jars were covered by vegetables. When The Prince opened it, he saw that jars are only filled by vegetables, so he threw them to Musi River. Fell ashamed and disappointed, The Prince decided to fell himself to Musi River and he sunk. Knowing that, The Princess  fell herself to Musi River too, following her lover. A moment before, she left a message: “If you see a tree grow on the land where i sink, it will be our love tree”. Then The Princess sunk, and suddenly appear a land above the river. People believed this is the grave of both lover, and called it “Pulau Kemaro/Kemarau” (lit. Dry Island) which means even high water happened in Musi River, this island would always dry. And that was the story goes.

Kemaro Island is located in the middle of Musi River, Palembang. To go to Kemaro Island, you must rent a boat from Ampera Bridge, and it takes 30 minutes to get there. A round trip rate with boat is from Rp.50.000-Rp.70.000,-. But if you want faster, you can rent a speedboat. Speedboat can cut your time till 15 minutes, and surely it’s more expensive. A round trip rate with speedboat is from Rp.100.000-Rp.150.000,-. A boat/speedboat can accommodates up to 10 people, so it’s a better way if you bring many of your friends to go there. It’s getting cheaper, right?

Besides the story of Siti Fatimah and Tan Bun An, there is another romance lies down on this island. And that is the myth of Love Tree. That Love Tree is an old banyan tree. People say, if you write your name and your lover on that Love Tree, then your love story will last forever. But if you are single, and you write your name and your crush, then someday you will be a brand new couple. Believe it or not. It’s myth.

Kemaro Island is identical with China’s ethnic. Chinese people use this island as their worship place, so they build temple and pagoda there. Also you can find many Budha statues in there, including Tong Sam Chong or Tripitaka statue, along with his pupils such as, Sun Go Kong, Ti Pat Kai, and Sha Wu Jin. No wonder if on Chinese New Year’s Day or any other feast days, this island always be busy by local visitors or even foreign tourists. At that moment, this island will be lovely decorated with lanterns everywhere and enlighten a whole island beautifully. Not excessive if we say like we are in China now.