NOMADIC JOURNEYS: Malang

A Slice of Netherlands

July 2024

One of the countless Coffee Shops in Malang

The overnight train to Malang starts at 1230 AM and reaches at around 0700 AM. The executive coach has ample space to stretch the legs and I was able to catch up on some sleep during the journey. The train stations are sparkling clean and the washrooms were even better than what I have seen in many airports. The trains were on time, sanitized blankets were provided and the overall experience has been very good.

Malang turned out to be a beautiful Dutch colonial university town. It is at an elevation, so the weather is cool. The infrastructure is very good and classy cafes and restaurants dot the town. I took a hotel just beside the University in a quiet locality and the first thing that I did was to hire a bike for the next few days so that I could explore around.

In the evening, went out to a restaurant called Ikan Bakar (Means Fish and grill) and had heir signature dish, Nila Pesmol, a freshwater fish cooked in Sundanese style from West Java. This had a yellow sauce and mix of herbs, chillies and tomatoes.

A hike and a chance Temple encounter

After a day of rest, the next day I ventured out of the city to the nearby hills called Coban Glotek which is south of Batu and about 45 minutes away. It was a nice and pleasant drive with the hills just outside the town. I took a trek to a nearby waterfall and then on noticing that there were many Hindu temples, stopped at a temple called Pura Patirtan Taman Pasupati dedicated to Shiva. I later figured out that the area near the hills are primarily Hindu villages with their traditional Bamboo poles called Penjor. In the temple, a family had come to celebrate Saraswati Puja and on finding out I was from India, invited me to join them in their ceremonies. The Husband was from Bali while the lady is from Java. They had a son and daughter, Dhananjaya and Savithri, typical Hindu names. I introduced myself and they nodded, as Baskara is a known name in Java (means Sun in Sanskrit. I later found out that one of the more famous Baskara was Baskara Putra, a young singer whose music I quite liked! ).

The ceremony was very solemn and deep felt, and I reflected on how traditions from the past over 1000 years ago still held strong and unchanged in this Island far away from India where the ceremonies have in fact become more loud and raucous compared to the simplicity and devotion that I saw here in this remote outpost of Hindu culture.

Outside the temple, in the village there were some beautiful Hindu houses and the community seemed to be rich and thriving. I reflected on the fact that temples were common in the hills and mountains, the abode of the gods, whereas the mosques that I saw were primarily urban in the cities, towns and villages where most of the population stayed.

Back at Malang, I looked out for something different for Lunch and this time settled for a Bebek Sedak Hitam (Duck cooked in Carok, a black spice which tasted like fermented salted beans served with Sambal and rice.

The City and People

Kirana and Karina

Over the days, loved taking walks around the campus and outside the university. Malang is one of the most beautiful and livable cities that I have seen with its restored Dutch buildings, wide and well marked roads, boulevards and parks. I could easily stay a few months enjoying the place and its mild cool weather, a better version of Bangalore I thought.

The reception ladies were kind and lively and I got to know them over the days. There were Kirana and Karina, the twins who inspired with their attitude and dedication. Then there was Sharifa who spoke decent English and wanted to work, earn money and then go to college and Dui (meaning Two), a smiling affable guy who used to do the night shift.

Trip to Bromo

July 15th early morning was the trip to Bromo, the most accessible active volcano in Indonesia. The travel would be in a jeep with a group and the pick up was scheduled for 1230 in the early morning. Yes, it was going to be tough sleepless night for the plan was to catch the sun rise over Bromo before we made our way to see the crater.

We were a bunch of French, German folks and myself. By 3 AM, we were at the location and after loads of coffee, we went out to the designated hill stop to settle down in the cold for the sun rise. There would have been hundreds of people from all over the world who had come down to watch this extremely popular activity.

We were rewarded by an amazing sun rise over the clouds in the far valleys, before the rays of the sun revealed the Bromo Volcano and the Caldera below us. After the frenzy of cameras from all around, we reluctantly started our journey back, but our first stop would be at the edge of the crater itself so that we could climb up Bromo and peer deep in to the crater where the lava was smoking up.

It was an interesting bunch of people walking up to the crater. We had the Europeans, both young and old and the Japanese who were trudging up the black lava sands. Then there were the Koreans and Chinese who were in horses which were taking them to the crater, complete with their Sunglasses and makeup intact, hands on their mobile phones taking selfies. If there were Indians, they to would join on the Ponies, I thought.

The Crater was an incredible sight and my first volcano experience. All in all, as we came back to our hotels exhausted, it was an experience worth it and I came back a tired, sleepy but happy man.