In the morning, we took the train from Yogyakarta to Jombang. We traveled first class (like almost all Europeans) and enjoyed wide seats and plenty of legroom.
Yogyakarta Station
The ticket was called 'Boarding Pass' and you could only go to the platform if you had a valid ticket. In the train, videos about important safety information (such as the nearest emergency exits) were shown, which strongly resembled flying.
Trowulan Archaeological Museum
In Jombang, we were picked up by our driver, who had already driven our luggage there at night. On the way, we visited the Trowulan Archaeological Museum. We were now off the beaten path of most tourists. In the museum, every other visitor - apart from the only other European couple - approached us to ask if they could take a photo with us.
Candi Bajang Ratu
At the next temple we visited, Candi Bajang Ratu, we were allowed to pose for several photos with a group of girls.
White skin is considered beautiful here and you can even buy special creams that are supposed to make your skin whiter. So we are very popular as a photo motif here because of our exotic skin color, sometimes even secretly without asking and group photo.
The 'Mouse Temple', as it is called because many mice lived there during the excavation, was actually a ritual bath with various basins.
Mouse Temple We stayed overnight in Malang, an old Dutch colonial city that served as a retreat for many Dutch people because of its cooler climate. Our hotel was right on 'Alun-Alun Tugu', the main square where the town hall and a monument are located in the middle of a lotus pond. Alun-Alun Tugu in Malang The next morning, we strolled with our tour guide through the flower market, where we could admire the beauty of the local flowers. Flower Market We continued to the bird market, which we had already visited in Yogyakarta. It was located on a street that was unfortunately open not only to pedestrians, but also to motorcycles. Since many market visitors wanted to drive directly to the stands to shop, the street was quite chaotic. Bird Market Malang Besides birds, there were also many other animals for sale. Here we also saw bats, but some of them had cages so small that they couldn't even hang properly from the ceiling. Mosque at Alun-Alun in Malang The majority of Indonesians identify as Muslim. However, there are also Christians, Buddhists, and Hindus. So we saw not only large mosques, but also a Catholic church that strongly resembled churches in Europe. Since many Chinese people live in Indonesia, there are also several Chinese temples in Malang. We visited one of them. It serves not only Chinese Buddhists, but also Taoists and Confucians as a place of worship. Chinese Temple in Malang On our journey towards Bromo, we made one last temple stop, where the huge Java Guardians were particularly impressive, suggesting a huge complex that no longer exists. Java Guardians Singosari Temple
