Semarang, Java, Indonesia - December 2019

We got to go on a small train journey today - always a good thing in my books!

It was a grey old day that was dawning as we sailed into Semarang first thing this morning. Semararg is a city of around 1.6 million people in Java, Indonesia and while it looked pretty grey and gritty this morning Sam and I were keen to get off the ship and see what the city had to offer. The good news at Semarang was that we docked at Samudera Wharf so we wouldn’t have to muck around with the ships tenders getting off the boat, meaning that we were off and on our way through the early morning traffic and humidity before 9am this morning. The other good news was that by the time we were off the ship the sun was out. 

The sun was out by the time we got off the ship this morning.

Gedung Batu

With not many great beaches or snorkelling spots within easy reach (to my knowledge, anyway) Sam and I decided to head out on a bit of a cultural tour. Our first stop this morning was Gedung Batu. This spot is a large complex of Indo-Chinese temples a few kilometres out of the city. Jumping off the bus the first thing we noticed was the wall of humidity we walked into, it was seriously hot and humid this morning, I’m normally pretty tolerant to heat and humidity but I was searching out the shade this morning. Gedung Batu is a series of temples that we were able to walk through and check out, their bright red pagoda-styled roofs making for some nice photos in the bright sunshine. 

While the grounds of Gedung Batu are fairly serene we didn't have to look far to see suburbia encroaching.

Gedung Batu

This is actually the cave beneath the temples for which Gedung Batu is named.

Gedung Batu actually translates to Stone Building which relates to a cave under one of the temples. Guarded by two big stone dragons the cave is home to a gilded statue of Sam Po and features a small shrine. Tourists are allowed into temples and the cave so long as they are respectful and remove their shoes, although ladies are who are menstruating are not allowed to enter the temples. The complex was constructed to honour Cheng Ho, a famous Muslin eunuch who led a Chinese fleet of boats to this part of the world back in 15 century. Cheng Ho later became a saint and was named Sam Po - hence the statue in the cave under the temple. 

 

There are a few different temples scattered around the precinct. 

Gedung Batu

The stone murals tell the story of Cheng Ho and his voyage across the seas.

Gedung Batu

After an hour exploring Gedung Batu we jumped back on our air conditioned bus and headed up into the hills. We now climbed from sea level up to around 400 metre above sea level at Ambarawa. The main reason we were visiting Ambarawa today was to check out a railway museum and to take a short steam train journey (yeah it’s not all hardcore walking in my world). The Ambarawa Train Station Museum celebrates 150 years of railway history in the immediate area and was a nice spot for a trainspotter like me to spend awhile, with 22 old steam trains and a variety of other rolling stock and paraphernalia you could spend hours here. 

Next up we visited the train museum at Ambarawa.

Maybe it's because I'm old however whatever the reason I like checking out old trains and train lines.

Here comes our chariot. 

Leaving Ambarawa we headed out across the rice paddies.

The highlight of our visit to the train museum though was a short steam train ride out into the country side. Sitting in the old open sided carriages as we jolted our way at not much more than walking pace through the rice paddys, passing tiny villages and a rural mosque along the way. With things being fairly relaxed when it comes to occupational health and safety over here there was no problem with me standing at the open area at the back of the carriage…and when I got tired of standing I just sat on the steps on the edge of the carriage and took some photos. Being quite a few hundred metres above sea level the humidity and temperature had been a lot more tolerable up here and sitting on the slowly moving train with the breeze blowing through was quite pleasant, although the approaching black clouds looked a little ominous. 

I love travelling in these open sided carriages - although I was hoping our train journey was going to be over by the time that weather arrived.

Sitting on the steps between the carriages it was very apparent that the OH&S regulations are a little more relaxed in Indonesia.

The farm houses and little shops were built on floats.

Jumping off our steam train and straight onto our waiting bus we were whisked off to our next stop, the Tlogo Plantation. After snacking on fried banana we headed out into the plantation to check out the coffee making process, from trees to roasting the beans. I’d done something similar on a walk in Peru years ago where we roasted our own beans and then had them vacuum packed to bring back to Australia, so I had a fair idea about what was going on, the main difference was that over in Peru I was blowing the bellows to keep the heat in the roaster where as over here they had a nice shiny electric model. After witnessing the coffee making process we moved on to anther section of the plantation to check out the rubber making process, once again something that I’ve had a bit to do with over the years. Still watching someone tap and drain a rubber tree is always interesting and this afternoon was no different. 

Tlogo Plantation

Tlogo Plantation, coffee and rubber were the order of the day here.

I worked most of my adult life for a multi national rubber company so I know a little about this stuff.

It was while watching the white liquid rubber slowly drip out of the tree that the rain that had been threatening for the last couple of hours arrived. Oh boy did it arrive, we were only around 80 metres from our bus but covering that 80 metres meant that we got absolutely soaked this afternoon. Sam had the good sense to bring her umbrella with her but I was just braving out the tropical downpour, by the time I got back to the bus I was able to take my shirt off and ring it out, at least the humidity wasn’t bothering me now! Our journey back down from the highlands to the Semarang was a bit of a white knuckle one this afternoon as the bus dropped down the rain soaked road in the middle of a conga line of unpredictable traffic. Thankfully we all made it back safely and were soon back in dry clothes. Our sail away from Semarang that night was fairly drab as the rain didn’t stop, in fact typing up this post 24 hours and 500 kilometres later the rain still hasn’t dissipated. 

 

Our port at Semarang wasn't the most scenic spot that we've ever visited.

The back end of the day had a bit of a melancholy feel to it.

The Dirt.
We were on a Princess Cruise today, the tour was booked on the ship. The tour was called Tlogo Agro Highland and set us back $180 so it wasn’t cheap, although for that we got entrance to all the sights plus the ubiquitous buffet lunch so I suppose it wasn’t too bad. We were here in the wet season on this visit and the humidity was fairly intense, especially when the sun was out before the rain arrived, although once up on the highlands things were a little more reasonable. If anyone wants to follow in our foot steps then keep in mind that Ambarawa and the Tlogo Plantation are a fair way out of Semarang.

Relevant Posts.
Komodo Island, Komodo National Park, Nusa Tenggara, 2019.

Bali, 2019.

Sailing away from Semarang into the Java Sea.

I actually enjoy checking out these industrial areas and seeing as it's my blog I'm gonna post a photo;)