Feb. 24

On our first world cruise (2017-18), we docked at Semarang and took an all day tour to Borobudur, the world’s largest Buddhist temple…..in the middle of a primarily Muslim country. It was a decent tour, but we didn’t even consider spending at least 6 hours on a hot and humid bus.  We chose an included tour billed as Dutch Heritage. From what I had read, I wasn’t optimistic.

Semarang is the capital and largest city of Central Java. The city has about 1.7 million people, but the greater urban area hosts over 6 million. (The states of Washington and Oregon have 8 million and 4.3 million for comparison.)  Think about putting all Oregonians in one place and giving them all motor scooters. Throw in some cars and buses and you have Semarang traffic. It takes lots of time to get places. The road and river system was developed to bring goods to port and isn’t bad, but there are so many (unruly) vehicles. Fortunately, the residents hold down the number of vehicles by placing 3-4 people on a scooter. It’s not surprising to see a family of 4 on a scooter. The parents sometimes have helmets.

Early on, we were reminded of a Saudi tour where there wasn’t much to see and the older buildings were in disrepair. As we were taking the 45 minute ride from town to the older Dutch quarter, the guide said…”there’s a warehouse on the right”….”that’s a gas station”….”that used to be a supermarket.”  The old Dutch quarter was indeed old and hadn’t been renovated. Nevertheless we saw the oldest church in Semarang, an older government building/museum and later a large Chinese Buddhist temple– Sam Po Kong. In each case, we looked for shade.

The raw material for the excursion was lacking, but trips are what you make of them. We enjoyed the entertainment by younger kids (teenagers?) dressed in dragon suits and dancing to drum and gong music. They performed with two per suit and seemed to enjoy it even in hot and humid weather Perhaps it was normal to them. Karla had an interesting discussion with a local about “her fortune.” There were several pronouncements about her future. I was relieved to hear that her next pregnancy would go well. When we returned to the ship we visited several booths on the dock and added a nice shirt to my collection.

Our memories of Semarang are not bad, but it won’t be a destination of choice. Bali had lots of cultural charm, although the urban area was a bit crowded and hectic. The traffic and urbanization in Semarang have squeezed out too much of the charm.

In the evening, we altered our usual routine and ate at the restaurant…where I have to wear pants (no shorts), and you sit down and get served. We thought that we would eat less if we ordered and got served as contrasted with piling food on our trays in a buffet line because everything looked so good. The downside was that we sat with other people. It’s a reminder of how many different passengers there are on board.

On to Jakarta where we have been warned of crowded conditions and pollution.

2017-18 Borobudur visit. Note all the prohibitions in the first photo.