Surabaya Dancers

Surabaya Cigarette Factory

Surabaya Flower Market

Surabaya Crocodile and Shark Statue

Our tour was titled “ Surabaya Sights” where we had the opportunity to explore the capital city of East Java called Surabaya. Our fist stop was at the House of Sampoerna, a clove cigarette factory and museum owned by a subsidiary of Philip Morris. The old buildings, which once housed the factory, are built in the Dutch colonial style and date back to 1858. The buildings were initially used as an orphanage. Here you can see displays and photographs of the Sampoerna family, who started the cigarette factory more than 100 years ago, and has passed down the family several generations. You see a replica of the family’s original cigarette stand, a printing press that printed the packaging and many family photos.

At the rear of the museum there was once a movie theater for the public, but has now been converted to a factory for the making of hand rolled tobacco/clove cigarettes with no filters. Here you see five hundred women sitting and rolling cigarettes, clipping the ends or packaging the cigarettes at lightening speed. They get paid by the piece, so the faster they work, the more money they can make. On average each woman rolls more than 2,000 cigarettes a day. They are so fast at what they do, that it is like watching a piece of film footage that has been sped up. The smell of the cloves is wonderful as soon as you enter the museum.

Our next stop was at the Mayor of Surabaya’s office and residence. Here we were treated to a folkloric show with traditional Javanese music and dances. After the show we enjoyed local pastries, bay coconut and fruit drinks, coffee and tea. We were also given batik printed fabric hats to wear and take home as souvenirs. Some young local men and women gave us a tour of the building, including a bomb shelter bunker in the basement. These young people are required to give service to the community for one year and are ambassadors for the local tourist industry. They were beautifully dressed and wore sashes stating that they were Mr. or Miss Surabaya.

A KRI Pasopati 410-type Whiskey-Class Russian submarine was our next stop. This submarine was built in 1952 by the Russians and used by the Indonesian Army in 1962 for surveillance and for silent raids. It remains a reminder of the fragile alliances forged throughout Asia in the post-war era. You now access the sub from doors cut in the side so the access is a bit easier but you still must transit the length of the sub through small portholes, which was difficult. The submarine is 249 feet in length and about 20 feet in diameter. The interior is much better suited to short people than tall people. To relocate the submarine to this central city location, it had to be cut into 16 sections and then reassembled.

The Kayoon flower market located on the western bank of the Kayoon River was our next stop. Here we wandered the narrow walkways of shops busy preparing arrangements for locals, hotels and many wedding parties. The market is open 24 hours a day and they prepare the flowers very differently than we do in the states, so it was very interesting. None of the shops were particularly inviting, clean or eye catching, but this is how they do it here. Kent had to use a toilet (his mother always said, “Don’t pass a toilet when on tour!”) and was led to one at the rear of the market. He was asked to take off his shoes to use the toilet. The floor was wet, as people use a hose to wash themselves after using the toilet. So, Kent’s socks were wet for the remainder of the tour. Always a new experience!

We departed Surabaya about 4:30pm after a shore side performance by the local musicians and folk dancers. The entertainment was a variety show featuring Mario D’Andrea and Ashley Carruthers.

Surabaya Temple Ruins

Surabaya Hotel pool

Surabaya is the commercial and administrative capital of East Java and is the 2nd largest city in Indonesia with a population of nearly five million. They have a very busy international cargo port and is a major shopping destination for Indonesians with several large malls. They export local sugar, tobacco and coffee. The name Surabaya means Shark and Crocodile so you see these symbols represented in statues, manhole covers and other places around the city.

Our tour on this day was titled “Archeological Trowulan”. Trowulan is a town that is located about a 90-minute drive southwest of Surabaya. Here we began our tour at the Trowulan Archeological Museum where they have an extensive collection of Majapahit sculpture and pottery from East Java. In this area there are archeological sites of the Majapahit Hindu Kingdom that ruled here from the 13th to the 16th centuries. The sculptures are mostly of Hindu gods like Vishnu and Ganesh. While at the museum we also were able to see a short music and dance performance by some local performers.

After the museum we visited some ruins of the Bajang Ratu Temple built from red clay brick with sculptures of Kala Heads (Dragon like faces with large eyes and big teeth). While at the temple we saw a young local couple having their wedding photos taken in very elaborate traditional clothing. We understand from our guide that most people rent these clothes for their wedding and that most people have their wedding photos completed prior to the wedding. At a wedding the bride and groom stand in a receiving line for as many as five hours and will change outfits a minimum of three times.

Next was a nearby portion of the old temple complex called the Segaran Pool. They believe this to be the largest ancient pool used as a place of recreation for the Majapahit family. The pool is also made of red clay brick and is sunken into the earth with a large decorative tower in the center. There is also a Tikus Temple used for bathing and cleansing.

We then visited a nearby local village where they make clay bricks from the earth for use in building homes. The bricks are more of a gray brown color than a red color but this is what they get from the local soil. We saw many local homes, which are mostly very modest with an outdoor toilet and sink for bathing with a bucket. Many of the homes are built of brick and when they can afford to, they will then stucco over the brick and paint the structure. In this local village they also have a community mosque that is quite simple with a three-tiered tile roof. Everyone in the village contributes what they can afford and the village builds and maintains the mosque, chairs, silverware and other items that the community can then use for festivals or parties.

From here we drove about 30 minutes up into the local hills to a lovely hotel where we had a delicious buffet lunch in an open pavilion. This hotel had extensive grounds that were lushly planted with tropical plants and were beautifully maintained and manicured. They have a large sparkling pool surrounded by large statues that looked extraordinarily inviting in the heat and humidity. The hotel had mostly bungalow style rooms scattered around the lush grounds.

A short drive away, but still on the hotel property, was an extensive medicinal herb garden display. Here we had a guide who explained about the different types of herbs and trees, how they prepare the plant as a medicine and what ailments they should cure. Many of these herbs required some time to prepare by drying, boiling, grating, mashing, etc., for use as medicines.

On our way back to the ship at the end of the day, we had some rain and drove through areas that must have had significant rain because many streets, shops and homes were flooded. Children were joyfully playing in the flooded streets. For a place that has a significant amount of rainfall, they do not seem to have much a drainage system in place to deal with it.

Back onboard we were entertained by a young man from Australia by the name of Ashley Carruthers. He holds the Guinness Book of world records for the fastest piano playing and has a great sense of showmanship on the stage.

The weather remains very warm with temperatures in the high 80’s and high humidity. Yesterday at Komodo Island we reached the furthest point east we would travel and we have now begun our journey back west towards Singapore. We attended a lecture by Barry Dreyer who spoke on the Dutch Colonization of Indonesia, the competition with the East India Trading Company and the events that led up to the Japanese conquests of WWII.

We enjoyed lunch in the dining room with a couple of lesbian’s Claire and Heather from Toronto. They are very sweet and filled a lifetime of stories and experiences.

The afternoon included a lecture by Valerie Mock on how coffee and cocoa are contributors to the Indonesian economy. Then we attended another Q&A session with the Rotterdam singers and dancers and a behind the scenes tour.

The evening was a gala or formal dinner where guests were encouraged to wear sarongs and batik dresses or shirts that they had purchased in Indonesia. The entertainment was a young woman by the name of Sarah Chandler who played the saxophone.

Komodo Island Landscape

Komodo Island Landscape

Komodo Island Komodo Dragons

Komodo Island, named after the Komodo dragon, has a population of only 2,000 people and is 60 square miles in size. The Komodo dragon is the largest lizard on earth and can grow to more than ten feet in length and weigh more than 300 pounds. The dragons have long yellow deeply forked tongues and enjoy a diet of deer and wild pigs. From 15 to 30 eggs are laid after a nine-month pregnancy period, although many of the eggs do not survive. Once hatched, they can live in the trees for up to five years before becoming land animals. They can live for more than 30 years.

Our tour this day was titled “Komodo Island Trek” and was about two hours in length. We tendered ashore to meet our guide and naturalist who took us on a nature walk (about 2 hours) to see the Komodo dragons. The island is very diverse in its landscape with mountains as high as 2,000 feet in height, deep arroyos, canyons, savannahs and monsoon rain forests. The area that we trekked through was fairly level and fairly densely forested with palm trees, tamarind trees, cycads, mint and a variety of other vegetation. The paths are well traveled and many have been lined with rocks on the edges and filled with coral bits from the sea to cut down on the muddy trails. We saw some birds, wild deer and butterflies on our walk.

After a mile or so of walking in the heat, humidity and a bit of rain, we finally reached a watering hole where the Komodo dragons are known to hang out. They hang out here because the deer come to this location to drink the water and so it is a place where the dragons feed. We were able to see four male and two female dragons resting under a canopy of trees near the watering hole. We were able to get within fifteen feet of the dragons as the naturalist watched the dragons behavior with a long forked stick. They use the stick on the dragon’s sensitive neck and nose if needed to stop an animal that may be going after a tourist. They are not particularly beautiful animals but we can now say that we have seen them.

Also on Komodo Island you can find an unusual pink sand beach. The beach gets its unusual color from a mixture of both red and white sands that get mixed together. We were not able to see the beach as it was on the other side of the island but it sounds interesting.

The afternoon was quiet back onboard the ship, but we enjoyed the cool air conditioning. We had a beautiful scenic sail away in the crow’s nest bar. We sailed through many small-uninhabited islands that were a beautiful shade of green in the afternoon sunlight. The evening entertainer was a gentleman by the name of Mario D’Andrea who is an Italian from Australia and performs in Las Vegas. He sang a variety of songs, played the electric guitar and was very popular with the guests.

Lumbar Wood Furniture

Lembar Rice Fields

Lumbar Puppet Show

Lumbar – Furniture Finished

Lembar is located on the island of Lombok in Indonesia east of Bali. They say that Lombok is what Bali was like before the tourist arrived and hotels were built on all of the beaches. Lombok has a population of about 3.5 million inhabitants and is home to the second tallest volcano (Mt. Rinjani) in Indonesia at 3,726 meters. 90% of the islanders are Muslim as was evident by the huge number of mosques that we saw around the island.

Our tour was titled “Mataram Highlights” but it was more of a shopping tour than anything else. Mataram is a larger city near the port where we tendered ashore. We drove about 45 minutes to the town of Lingsar where we visited the Lingsar Temple Complex built in 1714. This temple is the most important temple on the island for the Balinese people and for the local Sasak people who adhere to Wetu Telu Islam. This temple has a special area set aside for both the Muslims and the Buddhists but also has a central area where people of all faiths can come together. Its fountain contains fish that are believed to appear only when a persons wish is going to be granted. Many visitors throw coins into the fountain in hopes of seeing the fish and their wish coming true. The temple in general was very plain and not much to look at.

Our next stop was in the town of Sesera where we visited the Sayang Art Market. The market is a handicraft type market where people were demonstrating the making of baskets, carving wooden doors, inlaying wood furniture with some white material in elaborate patterns. The furniture would then be stained dark brown and the contrast with the white inlay was very beautiful. Here there were maybe twenty shops selling all types of local crafts, woodcarvings, batik clothing, pearl jewelry, masks baskets and more. Then we visited a pearl shop that had all kinds of pearls made into all types of jewelry. These are salt-water pearls that are harvested here on the island.

Finally we visited the Nusa Tenggara Barat Museum where we saw displays of cloth, Kris Knives, shadow puppets, drums, “mystic” paraphernalia-amulets used to acquire supernatural force, immunity from weapons or to foretell the future. The collection was quite extensive and beautifully displayed although they have no air conditioning so it was a bit uncomfortable.

The countryside is lush and green with many rice fields, fruit trees like bananas. The roads are well paved and many of the homes are much more substantial than some that we have seen in other ports. Most of the locals wear western style clothing although you do see some batik shirts and skirts. The mosques were a highlight as they dotted the landscape everywhere we visited. Many of them were still under construction but the domes and minarets soared above the landscape in vivid colors of all shades. The pony carts are very popular here.   We saw many of those transporting people and goods all around town.

The entertainment was a show by the Rotterdam singers and dancers titled Iris. We had seen the show once before but still enjoyed it this time.

After a long hot day yesterday, we decided that we would stay onboard the ship rather than venture out into town on this day. There was nothing of particular interest that we wanted to do and the heat and humidity are overwhelming.

Mark had his hair cut, worked on a community puzzle onboard, a Sudoku puzzle of the day and just relaxed a bit. In the afternoon we ventured off the ship to see what was being offered in the market set up in the port, but there was nothing unique or of interest to us.

Bali – Klungkung Kertagosa

Bali – Pura Kehan Temple

Bali – Pura Khan Temple

Bali – Tengana Village

Denpasar is the capital of Bali on the island of Bali. The island of Bali has about 4.25 million people while Denpasar has about 850,000 inhabitants with more than 2 million in the metropolitan area. 95% of the population is Hindu. Bali is known the world over for its beautiful white sand beaches, surfing and diving. The Balinese people are extremely devout and life on the island revolves around prayers and ceremonies. Many of the crewmembers are from Bali and they will have the opportunity to visit with their families both on and off of the ship today.

Our excursion on this day was called Historic and Scenic Bali. Due to the change in tides the ship was unable to dock at the port when we arrived, so guest needed to tender to shore until late morning when the tide had risen enough for the ship to dock in port. This slows down the time that it takes to get ashore significantly and many of the guests get angry having to wait for a tender.

Our first stop was at a small village called Tenganan about a 90-minute drive from the port. The distance is not that far but there are no freeways and traffic is busy on the narrow and winding streets. About 100 families live in the village that are called Bali Aga and are descendants of the original island people who maintain their pre-Hindu culture. The village is arranged like a city street with homes on each side of two stone paved lanes. Between the two lanes is a common area with public buildings used for festivals and special events. Most of the families invite you into their homes where they sell merchandise of one type or another. A few of the residents were weaving a unique Kamben Grinsing (flaming cloth) believed to protect its weavers from evil. Many were selling calendars, batik fabrics and clothing, woodcarvings, hand-painted eggs, and more. There were also many wicker baskets with brightly colored (red, yellow, green and purple) roosters in them used for cockfights. In the street we found water buffalo, chickens with many baby chicks, cats and dogs.

Our next stop was at the Klungkung Kertagosa, which was built in 1710 by some of the best artists in the country. This compound contains the Bale Kambang floating pavilion and the Kertagosa Royal Court of Justice. Each of these structures is a raised open-air pavilion with richly painted murals on the interior peaked ceilings. The originals are now housed in a museum but have been replaced with replicas. The Court of Justice contains a large table and chairs where criminals would be seated across from a judge to plead their case before being punished for whatever crime they were charged with. The murals above are explicit, colored murals depicting several rows of acts for which you would be punished and suffer the fate of hell while the upper tiers of the mural reflect good behaviors for which you would be rewarded with eternal life in paradise. The site is very well preserved and contains beautifully landscaped gardens.

A buffet lunch was enjoyed at a local restaurant located in the foothills overlooking the terraced rice fields. The food included rice, fried chicken, pepper steak, chicken and fish satay, fried noodles and more. The dessert included fried bananas, fresh fruit and a local dish that had a coconut mixture wrapped like a mini burrito in a light green colored pastry. While at lunch the skies opened up once again and the rain came pouring down. This is typical weather for this time of year.

Our final stop was at the Pura Kehan Hindu temple complex built on a hillside in the 11^th century. A staircase leads you to the main entrance where the demonic face of Kala Makarta stands guard over the temple grounds. Every temple has a temple tree and this was no exception. The Banyan tree in this temple was enormous and must have been many years old. The temple itself consisted of one main temple building plus twenty or more smaller temple structures, each dedicated to a different entity like elephants, people, the sun, etc.

The drive back to the ship took us another 90 minutes or more in traffic. In total our tour lasted about ten hours including the time it took us to get ashore on the tender.

For entertainment they had arranged a local dance and music troop to come onboard to entertain us. They had a band of ten members who played a variety of drums, cymbals, xylophone-like instruments and gongs. Several men and women dressed as women in beautiful costumes presented a variety of dances using both their hands movements and eye movements to entertain.

Probolinggo Chinese Temple

Probolinggo Pedicab

Probolinggo Red Church

This is a smaller port located on the island of Java and known for its fishing industry. Tourists usually only stop here on their way to visit the nearby Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park. The Mount Bromo national park is a volcanic complex of five volcanoes including a new caldera forming within an ancient old caldera nearly six miles in diameter. Mount Bromo stands some 7,850 feet and is Indonesia’s highest mountain and best-known volcano in the Tengger chain.

During the 19^th century, under the Dutch East Indies colonial administration Probolinggo, was a lucrative regional center for refining and exporting sugar, and remains an important product today. Today it is also famous for Mangoes, rice and grapes.

The weather was extremely hot and humid and our tour this morning was called Probolinggo Highlights. This is a tender port, meaning that we were required to anchor offshore and take a small tender boat to shore. Our first stop was at the City Square that is more like a central park with a large lawn area for sports or civic activities. Next to the lawn area is a large park area with many trees and birdhouses for the pigeons. This area also has many food stands where people can enjoy some local cuisine.

We then took Pedi cabs to the Red Church, built in 1862 by the Dutch, with a bible inside that dates back to the 16^th century. This Catholic Church is constructed of bright red corrugated steel and is very minimally decorated inside. The Pedi-cabs then took us to the Probolinggo Museum to watch a traditional dance demonstration and enjoy some of the local sweets. The dances were quite simple in steps but some of the participants wore elaborate headdresses with peacock feathers. The museum is fairly small but had some displays of local dress, modes of transportation, bicycles, an airplane, some agricultural equipment, weapons, houses and some information on the area.

Next the Pedi-cabs took us to the local market called Pasar Baru, which is very dark under a roof of corrugated steel. The tiny winding walk ways through the market lead you to small stands of fresh fruits, fish, chicken, baskets, flowers, vegetables and many other items. There was no refrigeration and things looked very primitive.

We then went to a local batik workshop, known for creating designs incorporating the local mangoes and grapes for which Probolinggo is famous. Mark was able to create his own small batik print in the short thirty minutes or so that we were there. They showed us how they apply the wax to the muslin fabric, dye the cloth and then remove the wax. They also had a small shop where you could purchase their batik fabrics.

Our last stop was at the Tri Dharma Sumbernaga Chinese Temple built over 145 years ago. The temple is built in a very ornate Chinese building style. This is the center of activity during the Chinese New Year celebrations and the Chinese Cultural Parade. This temple is still used today for religious ceremonies.

Since this is not much of a tourist town, the locals are not used to seeing foreigners. Many people wanted to take pictures of us or to have a photo taken with them. In the local market, our guide commented that many of the ladies were talking about how long our noses were compared to theirs. They have very flat noses so all of these Europeans and Americans had very large prominent noses to them. The people were extremely friendly, smiling and waving as we transited the city from place to place. It is a very simple town with mostly modest housing, but is was fairly clean and well maintained. On the way back to the ship, Mark noticed his room key was missing and made a stop to get it replaced at the Front Desk. All is well.

The evening’s entertainment was a variety show featuring the comedian Tom Sutton and the Japanese violinists called String Idols.

This morning David, our location guide, discussed several upcoming ports before we had a lecture on the spice trade by Barry Dryer. Barry discussed how valuable spices were in this region and how the Dutch, English and Portuguese competed for the spice trade over two centuries before the Dutch conquered the trade.

The afternoon brought a lecture by Dr. Valerie Mock on rubber and rice, two Indonesian commodities. She discussed how important rice is to the Indonesian people who eat rice for three meals a day. Rubber plants were brought to Indonesia from Brazil and helped make them the largest economy in Southeast Asia.

We met Charlie, one of the singers from the Rotterdam cast, for drinks along with some of our other friends onboard. Charlie is from London but has dreams of performing at the Hollywood Bowl one day. Kent enjoyed asking Charlie and the others in the drink group his “25 Questions” to facilitate “getting to know you better.” Dinner was shared with our Dutch and German friends, Martin and Thomas, as well as some others from our “group.” The nightly show was a new show by Master Magician Peter Mehtab who had performed for us a few nights ago.

Borobudur with Robert and Dennis

Borobudur

Borobudur

Semarang is located on the north shore of the island of Java and home to 2 million residents while another 4 million reside in the region. First inhabited by the Chinese in the 15^th century, Java has played host to many occupants due to its strategic position along major trade routes. In the 18^th century Semarang became a part of the Dutch East India Company.

Our tour took us to the Borobudur Temple located 56 miles south from Semarang. Even with the help of a police escort the travel time is about two-hours each way. We stopped in route at the Eva Café House for coffee and a snack of cashews, a sweet and a mini banana about four-inches in length. When we arrived at the temple we enjoyed a beautiful Javanese buffet lunch in the garden under a canopy. During lunch the skies opened up and it poured rain for an hour or so. Luckily it had mostly stopped by the time we began our walk up to the temple.

The Buddhist Kings of the Sailenra Dynasty, around the year 800, built the Borobudur Temple, possibly to enhance the image of Buddhism when Hinduism was growing in strength across the Indonesian archipelago. It is believed that it took more than 100 years to build the temple. It is the largest Buddhist Temple in the world, built with over two million stones. Shortly after its completion, the temple may have been abandoned when the Hindu Majapahit Empire overthrew the Sailenra Dynasty in 850. It lay buried in volcanic ash and vegetation for more than 1,000 years until Sir Stamford Raffles discovered it in 1814. Over the next century the temple was cleared and the process of restoring it began. Additional restorations were done between 1907 and 1911 and again from 1975 to 1982.

The temple is built on ten terraces, each level symbolizing a different stage of enlightenment or Nirvana and is covered in some of the finest examples of Buddhist reliefs in the world. At the top is the great stupa, surrounded by 72 smaller stupas and statues. From the top platform you are able to see the lush green landscape around. Our guide took us around the temple to explain some of the reliefs, carved into the stone, reflecting the teachings of Buddha. There were many school children at the temple who wanted to have their photo taken with us. I guess that it is unusual for them to see tourists—like us.

After exploring the temple, we were taken a short drive to see a demonstration of a Wayang shadow puppet show. The puppets were stick puppets traditionally made from the leather of a water buffalo. These traditional puppet shows may include hundreds of puppet characters and the performance may last for eight hours or more. A man telling an old epic story from India manipulated the puppets. As he tells the story he is accompanied by live music and a female singer who sings songs related to the female characters in the story. At this same stop they have a very large gift shop filled with traditional Javanese handicrafts. The crafts included many types of silver jewelry, silver figurines, woodcarving and some puppets.

The countryside is extremely lush, green and beautiful with rolling hills, rice paddies and terraces. The main roads are filled with many homes and shops selling everything from bananas and jackfruit to auto parts and gasoline. Most of these properties face directly on the street with little or no sidewalks and the streets are filled with motorcycles, cars, trucks and busses.

It rained on our return to the ship and there was much lightening in the dark skies. The streets in the port area were flooded from the heavy rains but we arrived back safely to the ship after a nine hour excursion.

The evening entertainment was a couple of young Japanese women who had graduated from the London academy of music. They played the violin and called themselves the String Idols. They were excellent musicians, however one of them had such a heavy accent you could hardly understand her English.