The name Surabaya is derived from the Javanese phrase "sura ing baya" which translates to "bravely facing danger". Is that because Indonesia has around 130 active volcanoes that are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, and it has suffered the highest numbers of eruptions resulting in fatalities, damage to arable land, debris flows, tsunamis, lava domes, and pyroclastic flows? Indonesia's most active volcanoes are Kelut and Mount Merapi on the island of Java. 

Fortunately no earthquakes or eruptions occurred while we were visiting.

This is the capital of East Java province and the second-largest city in Indonesia with a population of nearly 3 million. We expected bad traffic but were fortunate to be there on Saturday so we enjoyed the empty streets.

We learned of the Dutch colonialism with a stop with the Majapahit Hotel.

The hotel was founded in 1910 as the Hotel Oranje by Lucas Martin Sarkies, by the son of Martin Sarkies of the Sarkies brothers, who commissioned Regent Alfred John Bidwell to design the hotel. It opened in 1911. Interestingly one brother first opened the Eastern Hotel (now Eastern & Oriental Hotel) in George Town, Penang on 15 April 1884. The brothers went on to found several hotels in the region, including the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, and the Strand Hotel in Rangoon.

Like the other hotels they opened this is very traditional (think black & white tiles) and the like. It's very, very classic. It was a pleasant visit but we thought it was an odd place to visit. No museums or other historical sites? We decided that it was an example of the city's historical colonial living. After a nice coffee and snack break we moved on.

We then visited Kampung Lawas Mespati, a traditional village inside the city. Apparently there are about 250 people who live on this narrow, enclosed street/ neighbourhood.

What we thought could have been a patronising and tacky visit was actually very moving.

Here people live in small homes that have been in the family for years. They all work together to make the neighbourhood a cohesive family unit.

They showed us how they grow their own fish and plants in this area with no open space, This was something they learned to do post Covid when they were forced to come up with a way to feed everyone in their neighbourhood.

They work on recycled plastics making flowers and a woman was wearing a traditional style of dress made out of recycled products. Boy she must have been hot!

They sell coffee Kopi luwak, also known as civet coffee, which is a coffee that consists of partially digested coffee cherries, which have been eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet. David and I drank some a couple of times before in HK. There I think we paid 20USD for a cup while here it was available for 1 USD.

They demonstrated how they make their rice crackers and when they asked if we wanted to try one a local young boy ran up, grabbed one and ran away to the sound of our resounding laughter.

They make small noise making toys from recycled wood and they are available for sale for 50 cents.

And at two different times during out visit they performed folkloric dance- once will balancing a horse made of reeds between their legs, and another in traditional costumes. One dance included giving massages as they danced which was fun. Even more fun was watching the two guides along the sideline follow along with the words and dance. This wasn't an act for tourists, this was their life & heritage and they were so proud and excited to perform for us.

It was so wonderful to have a very real and personal experience with the locals. Everyone on the tour raved about the experience.

We then visited the Heroes Monument. The Heroes Monument is the main symbol of the city, dedicated to the people who died during the Battle of Surabaya on 10 November 1945, when many heroes died in the War of Independence.

Our guide passionately shared her views here, including answering a question about the countries biggest issues. Corruption and too many people were at the top of her list. Fortunately, she was very funny as well, doing her impressions of various forms of English speakers (English, Americans, Indians, Aussies, etc) which had everyone in stitches.

Later that night we had a Passover on board the ship for 70+ people, both jewish people and those interested in the culture. It was pleasant if not a bit rushed in its delivery.