Central Java Road Trip


Central Java is predominantly Muslim, and also very proud of its role in the independence of Indonesia from Dutch rule in the mid-20th century. Most cities on the route has a brilliant white Masjid and one or more independence memorials, such as seen above. Most cases, the Masjid was the best maintained structure in the city.	From Cirebon to the beginning of Central Java province, we hugged the coastline, crossing over river after river. A number of such rivers harbored traditional Javanese fishing vessels such as shown in this photo. These wooden boats were incredibly colorful, but at the time activity was low. Javanese fishermen typically head out to sea in the very early morning and return mid-morning with the days' catch that they then sell at the local markets or to larger distributors. (Much of the fish sold in Jakarta itself is grown in modern nurseries.)

Several of the cities also had a central roundabout near the town square with a column like this. They had a plaque on the side that listed 10 goals for the town, things like 'quality services,' 'care for the environment'. These 10 goals were virtually identical for each town. We also saw a few sculptures of a hand showing two fingers, legacies of a 1970s population-control program where the states was recommending all families have only two children (similar to a program in China that continues today).	This shot was from the Central Java city of Tegal, on the coast east of Cirebon. Tegal was one of the wealthier towns, a benefactor of a common Javanese practice -- sending the eldest children to Jakarta to make their fortunes and send the money home. Vero pointed out that a number of street sellers around Jakarta are listed as "Warung Tegal", roughly meaning "Tegal Food Stand." As street food is still a primary means of subsistence across Indonesia, it doesn't take too long before the money sent home is enough to fund the construction of modern shopping malls like this one.

But in between signs of civilization were miles and miles and miles of these scenes -- rice fields as far as the eye can see, worked by a handful of men and women. It was planting season, and people were out planting the rice the old-fashioned way, by hand under the baking sun. Although it was mostly clear, it was so hazy that none of the pictures we took caught the beautiful mountians in the backdrop.	Once we turned south from Semarang, the terrain changed from flat rice fields to thick mountain jungles, and the cities largely gave way to small villages. This shot was taken from one of the steepest passes, capturing the palm forest below, and a Javanese man standing at the side of the road wearing a traditional conical straw hat, the same hat worn by most of the workers in the rice fields.

This is Mount Merapi, the largest active volcano in Indonesia, most recently erupting about ten years earlier. At the top is a small billow of steam that was more visible from the south side toward Jogja, an indicator of the potential for future activity. Such would be a disappointment for the Central Javanese, who have been given offerings for protection from such events for many years, and whose faith was badly shaken after the last eruption.	But Mount Merapi was not the only volcano, here it is in the background with Mount Merbabu, another volcano that is now inactive. Mountains like these lined across the middle of Java like a spine, with beautiful plains in between. About once an hour during the return trip, we stopped off the side of the road to take a couple pictures, and respite for a moment while the scenery took our breath away.

This shot was taken from the interior of Java island. The rice fields here are more terraced, naturally, much like the paddy fields all around Bali. The rice grown here was on a different cycle from that of the coastline, much of it was already grown and nearing harvest time. There are several varieties of rice grown, each with its own time cycle -- from three months to six months. The longer the growth cycle, the more expensive but the higher quality the rice.	But the Javanese don't just eat rice. Buffalo meat (daging sapi), chicken (daging ayam), and goat (daging kambing) are also staples. The cuisine is known as 'sundanese', encompassing Java and neighboring Sumatra, and can be characterized as spicy-sweet, using chili peppers and palm sugar among other ingredients. Buffaloes are also beasts of burden in Java, but those buffaloes are usually black or brown. Sadly, these white ones are bound for someone's dinner table.

Road Trip Through Central Java