The leaders' exile
Sukarno, Hatta and Agus Salim.
A mountain guesthouse the Dutch built in the late 1920s on the summit of Menumbing hill in west Bangka, about 445 metres above the coastal town of Muntok. In 1948-1949, after the Dutch arrested the leaders of the young Indonesian republic, President Sukarno, Vice-President Mohammad Hatta and leading ministers including Agus Salim and Mohammad Roem were exiled here. From this exile the leaders took part in the negotiations that produced the Roem-Van Roijen agreement of 1949, and returned to Yogyakarta in July that year; months later the Netherlands recognised Indonesia's independence. The rooms are preserved, including Sukarno's room and desk, and an old car Hatta used. Entry is free; a winding road climbs through forest to the summit, which has a broad view over Muntok, the sea and the Bangka Strait. Muntok is about three hours by car from Pangkal Pinang, so make it a day trip, combining it with the Tanjung Kalian lighthouse and the Muntok tin museum.
Sukarno, Hatta and Agus Salim.
Sukarno's room and desk.
Muntok and the sea from the top.
Top of Menumbing hill, about 12 km from Muntok, west Bangka
Here the republic's leaders spent their last months of captivity before full independence and took part in the negotiations that returned them to power; it is a milestone in the birth of the state.