Sarcophagus (Ancient Tomb) – Aik Renung

 

In Sumbawa Island, there are some ancient tomb spots. One of the famous ones (and the only i’ve been to) is Ai Renung Sarcophagus. Located in Aik Renung Village, Moyo Hulu District. Still in a same area with the caves, Liang Bukal & Liang Petang.

To reach the district it can be by motorbikes or public transportation like Bemo. The only time i went to Sarcophagus was when i wanted to see the caves, we took Bemo and paid like Rp. 10.000 (± USD 1) and they dropped us on the main road at the entrance gate of Aik Renung Village. We tried to find the caves and with a help from some nice people we met we found the caves and after that they also took us to Sarchopagus. The road was pretty horrible (and it still is), but they were so strong in driving motorbikes on such roads. At 1st they didn’t wanna took our money but then they took a little just for the gas.

The way to Sarcophagus is when you walk from the main road and after 1 km you will find 2 ways footpaths and just go to the right (to the left is going to caves). After going to the left then just go straight and i can’t really describe the way in detail, i didn’t really pay attention, i was so focused on ‘are we gonna fall’ on motorbike at that time. So i suggest any visitors to use a local guide cause it was pretty difficult to find since no signs along the way.

When we arrived there, it was pretty late, around 5 pm, and no guards, and the fence is locked. So we were being pretty bad at that time, we climbed the fence (don’t follow it!). Cause i’ve been so curious about Sarcophagus all this time so when i got a chance to be there i kinda wanted to see it no matter what :). There were some tombs with sculptures around it (such as human, crododiles) but it was empty inside. I kinda expected something more, ended up like Mummy Return movie or something like that. Some parts of the tombs are already broken and i wish they would take care of it more, starts by fixing the horrible road and taking care the tombs cause it’s very potential kind of tourist spot Sumbawa can offer especially for those who love history.

But i knew i should have not been there that late so we just took some pictures and drove back to the village and when we got to the village i felt my backbones moved -,- But luckily we didn’t have to find public transportation to go back to Sumbawa Besar (besides no public transportation in the evening) cause the guy we met offered us a ride and even bought us food for dinner. Well just try to talk and meet as many people as possible along the trip so you prolly end up getting free rides and food. I didn’t mean to be parasite but we should not refuse a good offer, but always gotta be careful tho, you could just end up being killed in the wood in Psycho’s hands. So again, hitchhiking is basically safe in Sumbawa but always be careful for our own safety :).