A Cup of Java

Let me start this entry by saying that Java has somewhat of a unenthusiastic reputation amongst travelers. I’ve never met anyone who likes the smoggy capital, Jakarta, and the island itself is known for its rather conservative Muslim population. After talking to other travelers, I regretted booking my flight out of Jakarta, and wished I’d gone to Lombok or the Gili islands instead. Not only was there a volcano spewing ash in the middle of the island, no one I met recommended Java or was heading there.

Because of this lack of interest, Java was relatively tourist-free as compared to other places in Indo. As soon as we arrived in Banyuwangi from Bali, there was a 180 degree difference in atmosphere—and I’m not just referring to the increase in ash in the air. While Bali operated on a tourist-driven axis, constantly catering to tourist culture and needs, Banyuwangi demonstrated no interest in supplying Western attractions. No fast food, no English tourist information centers and pretty much no white people. There were plenty of mosques, and all the women were wearing headscarves.


In spite of a very different vibe in Banyuwangi, the local’s fascination and kindness towards us was pretty much the same. We met a friendly man named Totok while sitting by a harbor, and he invited us to have chicken satay with him at a local restaurant. In spite of the language barrier, he eagerly took us home to meet his wife and children, and serenaded us on guitar. I also met a local girl in an internet café who took a photo of me then promptly made the photo her facebook profile picture, as if she were posing with a celebrity.

Probably my favorite part of Java was our hike up Ijen Crater, a steaming volcanic crater with a bright blue lake. Ijen is an active sulfur mine, so there miners are brought in every day to carry the heavy chunks of pale yellow sulfur down to be processed. There was no easy way to get to Ijen, so we managed to connect with a man who got us on the work truck with the miners at 5am. I rode in front, since the miners were allegedly “very interested” in foreign girls, and held on for the bumpiest ride of my entire life (I could only imagine how Jake was doing in the back with the miners). Because we were riding with the workers, we also followed them to the processing plant after our hike, and I got to see how sulfur is melted down and packaged… a random but rather fascinating process to see in full.


Our next stop was an island off the northeast corner of Java called “Madura,” which has a population of over 3 million people and its own unique culture and history. We stayed in Sumenep, which was a cute town with a pretty amazing night festival—everyone rode these small vehicles covered in lights (see right). We took a rather crazy bemo ride to Slopeng, which was a beautiful empty beach with what looked like a bunch of pirate ships on shore (see below). A kind woman served us coconuts and Rujak (peanut sauce, cucumber and sticky rice) for lunch, which was probably the tastiest thing we’d had our entire trip. When we realized the bemos had stopped running, the woman enlisted her husband and his friend to give us a ride home on their motorbikes.



Our final stop was the infamous Jakarta, also known as “The Big Durian”—and it was certainly smelly enough to live up to its name. To be honest, we were prepared to dislike the sprawling capital when we arrived. We’d spent 14 hours in a grubby train watching slums and trash piles fly by, and we were pretty filthy from the ash in the air. Our antipathy softened a bit when we got in a cab, because the sheer size of Jakarta as quite a sight to behold. The massive malls and office buildings stretched on for miles, and we were oddly comforted by their cleanliness and modernity.

We found a few backpacker havens around Jalan Jaksa, such as Margot Café (which played CNN around the clock) and a bar called Melly’s where we joined a pub quiz. The National Museum was pretty interesting, although it underwhelmed me a bit as a representation of Indonesian civilization. All I could think was “Really? This is the capital of Indonesia? This is the metropolis that’s supposed to represent such a diverse, culturally rich and interesting country?” Perhaps this said a lot about the high expectations I had, based on everything else I’d seen thus far.


On my last night I actually really enjoyed myself at a club called Stadium, which was a four-story superstructure with different music on every level. I departed Indonesia with a somewhat heavy heart, wishing I could continue exploring. Of course, I perked up a bit when I thought about the adventures waiting for me in Cambodia …