Semarang, Central Java

On our sail in this morning, I counted seven large volcanic mountains peaking above the clouds.  I saw buildings of every size, shape, and architecture.  The water below us was muddy for the first time on this journey.  I heard the call to prayer broadcast from an unseen mosque.  But even before I opened the door to the veranda, I could smell the mixture of incense and spices.  

We had arrived in Semarang, capital of Central Java.  Java is the size of England but with 140 million people it is the most populous island in the world.  The volcanoes that I could see were part of 38 that form an east-west spine along the island.  The most recently active one, Mt. Merpai, erupted in 2010 spewing 10 million metric tons of lava and killing 353 people.      The history of Java includes waves of religious influences starting with Hindu, then Buddism, followed by Islam.  In 1678 it was surrendered to the Dutch East India Company and remained in colonial control until occupied by the Japanese during WWII.  Indonesia finally gained its independence in 1945.  Semarang is now 87% Muslim, but evidence of the historical influence of other religions remains in the monuments built by them in the past.

Our first destination was in the old town to visit the oldest Protestant church in the province--the Blenduk church, built in 1753 by the Dutch.  It was fairly austere on the inside, but had a lovely set of organ pipes.  The octagonal church sits on a stone base and has a copper dome.

Adjacent to the church was this lovely garden with palm and acacia trees.  Some of our crew members had come ashore to visit their homeland.  Unlike their appearance on the ship in crew uniforms, they donned their traditional Muslim dress.  Our fellow bus-mates were delighted to take pictures with them.

Scooter drivers manage to work their way to the front of the line at the stop lights.








Using bamboo to construct scaffolding may be cheap and easy, but it has it drawbacks.

Our  next stop was to the Sam Poo Kong temple complex, also know as Gedung Batu.  It is the oldest Chinese temple in Semarang.  There are actually five temples within its 7.9 acres.  

The foundations of the temple were set when the Muslim admiral Zheng He, shown in the statue at right, visited Java on one of this seven trading voyages between 1400-1416.  His fleet of 317 ships and 28,000 crew members were referred to in our shipboard lecture as Chinese Treasure ships.  The largest of the ships was nearly the size of the Viking Sun. Our enrichment lecturer emphasized that these voyages were not for exploration, but for trading on long established routes, and more particularly, to spread China's power through expansion.  My largely Eurocentric education failed to introduce me to this important figure, so I was amazed at the scope of his influence.  Our lecturer also helped me to have a greater appreciation for the long view of Chinese civilization and goals. 

I always enjoy the statuary and details of the places we visit.  I have no idea of the significance of the lion playing the lute, nor do I know who the statue represents, but I've included these pictures to add the flavor of the experience.  

Our last stop was to the Ciputra Mall.  It wasn't the experience I would have chosen, since I don't really enjoy going to the mall at home, but it was air-conditioned.  'Nuff said.  I was successful in finding a batik dress to wear for our on-board Indonesian cuisine evening scheduled for the next night, so that was a plus.  

While at the mall, David suggested we find something cold and slushy to drink in the food court.  We decided to try this "Hop Hop" stand.  We asked what the bubbles were made of, but the girl who served us didn't speak English well enough to explain it.  The drinks came with a straw about 1/2 inch in diameter to facilitate slurping up the "bubbles", which turned out to be chewy black gelatin pearls.  It was an "interesting" experience, but the rest of the drink was cold and refreshing.

On our last stop in Indonesia, I'm including pictures of their currency.  The exchange rate is 1 USD = 13,724.16 Rupiah.  That means that the 100,000 Rupiah notes are worth around $7.29 and the 2000 one at the bottom is worth $0.15.  Needless to say, I won't be bringing home any coins from Indonesia.

Here'e our "sail-out" photo for Semarang.  We're glad we had the experience, but what we saw of this city didn't have the charm and appeal of others we have visited.