More than just a transport museum
A look at the history of transportation
Museum Angkut is the first museum in Southeast Asia to use transportation as its main theme. It was built to signal a deep appreciation for the development of the transportation sector both in Indonesia and throughout the world. If you have an interest in the world of automotive, this is the right place for you.
Let us transport you to East Java, Indonesia. Be mesmerised like our writer, who found it unbelievable to see Buckingham Palace inside a transport museum.
Museum Angkut (Transportation Museum, as in English) is in Batu, a landlocked city in the East Java Province of Indonesia, about 20 kilometres northwest of Malang.
We flew from Kuala Lumpur to Surabaya, the second-largest city in Indonesia, and stayed there for two nights before we began our road trip in a rented car. We drove to the vibrant city of Malang, which is 80 kilometres away, and explored some famous tourist sites, experienced its lovely café culture, and enjoyed its famous apple strudel. They grow apples in Malang!
We rested a night in a beautiful hillside resort where our chalet was made of bamboo, overlooking a mountain stream, and our shower ran like a waterfall.
Refreshed from a good night’s sleep and some real local food like bakso, a ginger-flavoured tea, and some well-marinated chicken and local rice, we were ready for our long day at Museum Angkut.
On arrival, we were surprised by the cultural display, even before the entrance part. We were met with floating stores and a slew of cultural showcases of Indonesia.
However, my travelling mates were keener to see cars, so we made a beeline to go inside the entrance of the Main Hall.
What absolutely floored us was its luxurious lobby. There are so many types of transport, old and new, here, from classic cars and motorbikes to traditional transportation modes like stage coaches and even bullock carts.
The highlight is, of course, the classic car collections. This section took us a longer time before we moved onto the upper floor of its aeroplane section.
To say it is a museum is really an understatement of the place, as the area is massive and divided into several zones. The place is built with a theme park concept, with interesting exhibits and displays offering both educational and thrilling experiences.
Museum Angkut is the first all-type and mode of transportation museum in Indonesia and probably in Southeast Asia.
On the third floor of its main building, there is a prototype of the presidential plane and a flight simulator, which is great news for flying enthusiasts. One can also experience exiting a plane with an emergency slide.
Runway 27 itself is the museum’s airport. Replicas of planes and real helicopters are parked neatly in the hangar.
From planes we moved on to other zones. This included a Chinatown with little shops, and then a place where loud vrooming car sounds led us to more vintage cars parked at Gangster Town.
That hot afternoon saw us join a crowd building up on a Broadway like street situated in the Fun Zone section.
American cars were lined up, and a group of girls in hot skirts started cheering on the drivers, giving off the vibe of America’s gangster era. It was really like a scene from a Hollywood movie, and it can set your pulses racing when the cars zoom past at top speed.
For a car lover, you just cannot resist taking photo- or Instagram-worthy moments with your mobile. Note that there is an additional fee of IDR30,000 (about RM9.00) to bring a camera in, but there is no charge if you just take pictures with your mobile phone.
At this museum, you can forget about the calm and boring atmosphere a museum usually has. From immersive learning to cultural experiences to wild fun, this museum has all of them.
There are more than 300 types of traditional and modern transportation. One of the most popular ones is a 1952 Chrysler Windsor Deluxe that belonged to Indonesia’s first president, Soekarno. A 2-door vintage classic with an electric clock, the car fascinated the domestic crowd that came to view it, which belonged to their first president.
There are also zones in the museum decorated with building models from several countries. We passed by many parts of Europe, New York, and Hollywood, where we were greeted by the Incredible Hulk.
It was a charming surprise to walk into the garden of Buckingham Palace and see a huge model of the palace. Aweing us were the vintage cars, all manufactured in the UK. We took our time examining the large collection of British classic cars.
The long walk took tolls on our feet, and we were glad to take turns sitting next to the Queen Elizabeth II mannequin in the throne section.
Museum Angkut is owned and operated by Jawa Timur Park Group, which also has Batu Secret Zoo, Batu Night Spectacular, Eco Green Park, and the Wildlife Museum. The museum was founded on March 9, 2014.
For its unique concept, Museum Angkut received the Best Museum Award from the Indonesian government in 2017.
It is a great place for both young and old, but you need to spend at least four hours here to complete the tour. By the end of our tour, we were famished, so we had a bite at the food outlets at the exit.
Although we wore comfortable shoes, we felt our feet needed a massage, and we were glad they had foot massage services at reasonable rates. The museum is open daily from 12pm to 8pm.
