Malang

After we were all healthy again and had adjusted to the new flow on the island of Java, we continued by train eastward to Malang. The infrastructure in Java is significantly better developed than in Sumatra. It seems unfair considering that about 60 million, which is over 20% of Indonesians, live there. What difference would it make if only the most important main roads (on which we had traveled significantly, a bitter experience) were at least developed enough so that drivers and residents wouldn’t constantly fear for their lives? But it seems to be considered more important to invest money in the future new capital Nusantara, which is being built in the Indonesian part of Borneo, or into the pockets of parliament members, as many protesting people nationwide did when we were in the country. After a proposal that parliament members, who already earn astronomical sums compared to the general population, should receive additional housing allowances of about $3,000 (around ten times the minimum wage) at a time when people were suffering from unemployment, inflation, and rising taxes, people took to the streets. The fact that politicians made excuses and mocked the demonstrators further heated the situation. The protests were suppressed with police violence, a few people lost their lives, and many were arrested. Some benefits (but not all) for the legislators were cut, a few politicians had to go, and some demonstrators still have to face court for incitement to violence and spreading false information. The old game - greedy oligarchs who fear the people and free speech. So far, these protest movements have not led to far-reaching changes, but the dissatisfaction of civil society continues to simmer.

At least we were able to take a train ride and enjoyed a very cozy trip through hills and fields. Green fields, hills, and at every stop friendly ladies offering delicacies such as fried noodles or peeled pomelo. Malang itself primarily serves as a starting point to volcanoes and waterfalls, which was also our plan. But we also found it surprisingly pleasant to wander around the city, drink lots of coffee, and people-watch. There were a few special neighborhoods to visit, where you also had to pay a small entrance fee, but otherwise, there were surprisingly few tourists and you could simply observe very relaxed people in their everyday lives: Kajoetangan Heritage Village, an old Dutch colonial neighborhood, Rainbow Village (Kampung Warna Warni Jodipan), where the little winding houses were brightened up with color, and the small monochrome sister blue Village (Kampung Buru Arema). The trash and scruffy corners looked much nicer there and were of course excellent for photos, also in the rest of the city. We liked it better than we had imagined!

As a change from Indonesian food, we visited the local Irish pub and found that Shepard's Pie just doesn’t taste good anywhere in the world. Better stick to fried rice!

It was lovely, and we were looking forward to waterfalls and volcanoes!