Krui Putra Bus

TRAVELING by yourself means you have to manage your own transport. While chartering a taxi or renting a car is expensive, then a bus is a smart choice. Krui Putra is the only regular bus you can take to get to Krui and away, from Jakarta or from Bandarlampung.

If you start from Jakarta, you can take Krui Putra at Kalideres bus station or Kampung Rambutan bus station. Kampung Rambutan bus station is in east Jakarta, while Kalideres bus station is in west Jakarta. If you land on Sukarno-Hatta airport, then Kalideres bus station is closer than Kampung Rambutan.

Krui Putra regularly start from these two bus stations to Krui twice a day, at 11 and at 14 o’cock. You can take either a regular bus (Non-AC) or an AC bus, a long bus with 58 seats or a regular one with 30 seats. The regular bus with 30 seats usually starts at 11, while the long bus starts at 14. If you are taller than Indonesian average, you'd better take the long bus, so you'll have enough space for your long legs. If you miss the bus for the day, you need to take a different bus to Bandarlampung.

And if you take another flight from Jakarta to Bandarlampung, then you can start from Rajabasa bus station. Rajabasa bus station is about fifteen minutes drive from Raden Intan airport in Bandarlampung. You can take a taxi from the airport to Rajabasa bus terminal. From this terminal, Krui Putra start to Krui many times a day, whether in the morning and in the afternoon. For your convenience, you’d better arrive in Bandarlampung airport earlier in the morning, so you can start your trip to Krui no later than 12 o’clock so as to get to Krui at about 6 or 7 o’clock at night, so you have enough time to sleep for your very first day.

Krui Putra (AC)/ www.bismania.com

Boarding Krui Putra, make sure that the bus man take good care of your surfboards. You can ask the man to top load your surfboards on the baggage on top of the bus, you can say, “Barang rapuh. Taruh di tempat paling atas” (fragile stuff, put on the very top). Since the bus men have done this a lot, they know what to do, but it’s not useless to remind them.

On its trip from Jakarta to Krui, Krui Putra will stop for a transit at Bandarlampung for about one hour, not to mention a two hour stop in the ferry from Java to Sumatera. In the ferry, the bus park at the lowest deck, so the passengers need to get off the bus until she gets over Sumatera. It takes at least two hours to ferry over from Merak in Java to Bakauheni in Sumatera. Passengers of the buses usually go upstairs to the higher decks for some fresh air. In Bandarlampung transit, you can have meals or something to drink. Try not to have a meal or to buy something to eat or to drink in the ferry for they are very expensive.

A trip from Rajabasa bus terminal to Krui will stop once at a restaurant so the passengers can have a meal or take a rest for about an hour.


Two Ways

There are two ways to get to Krui from Bandarlampung as Krui Putra does. The first way is Bandarlampung-Liwa-Krui. And the second way is Bandarlampung-Kota Agung-Krui. Bandarlampung-Liwa-Krui takes through the hills, it is longer with more winding roads and abrupt turns.While Bandarlampung-Kota Agung-Krui is shorter and strighter. Just about 100 km before Krui on this route, the roads run through the coastlines. You can check the waves from your bus seat here and there if you sit on the left side. Krui people prefer to take Bandarlampung-Kota Agung-Krui route for it is shorter and more convenient. If you want to get off at Karang Nyimbur all at once, you need to take this route (via Kota Agung route) because the bus will pass the place right before it gets Krui. Ask the bus men in Rajabasa bus terminal whether the bus take this route is still available for the day or not. However, sometime the bus is subject to change the route when there is a block or a cut off on the road. If one way is blocked or cut off because of landslide or flood, then the bus take the other way.

However, if you take a through bus from Jakarta to Krui, it will go via the hill only, via Liwa, the next town of Krui ( so you'll miss the chance to get off right at the surf, at Karang Nyimbur). Anda then you have to get off at Krui, and continue your journey to Karang Nyimbur by a taxi.

Western Coastline of South Sumatera; A: Liwa, B: Kota Agung, C: Krui
(maps.google.com)

To Bengkulu

Krui Putra also goes to Bengkulu once a day, everyday, but you'll have to wait for the bus to arrive from Jakarta (the route of the bus is Jakarta-Krui-Bengkulu). In Krui, the bus to Bengkulu starts from the bus office next two doors from Sempana Lima, near the Blue Marlin column. You need to ask the bus man at the office what time the bus will start because sometimes the time changes as the time she takes from Jakarta change. Then you need to make a reservation.


Important Words

Lewat Liwa: Via Liwa
Lewat Kota Agung: Via Kota Agung
Jalan putus: The road cut off, or blocked
Jalan licin: The road is slippery
I need to get off at Karang Nyimbur: Saya mau turun di Karang Nyimbur