Long a center of Hindu-Buddhist empires and an
important trade center of the Dutch East India Company in the 17th and 18th
centuries, the island of Java is Indonesia’s repository of history and culture.
The bustling port of Semarang was founded by the Dutch and hints of the
island’s colonial past dot the cityscape. Outside the city, Borobudur, the
largest Buddhist monument in the world, strikes a dramatic pose against a
backdrop of four volcanoes. A popular place of pilgrimage and a UNESCO World
Heritage Site, the massive pyramidal temple towers to a great height. The
devout walk up a clockwise path to the pinnacle, passing 2,672 reliefs and 504
Buddha statues along the way. We did not
do this tour this time, as we did it in 2015 when we were here.
Today we took
what was billed to be a tour of Semarang; however, we drove to a protestant
church, a Chinese House of God and to a mall. So, there are not a lot of
pictures, though I did some shopping at the mall. As we got off the ship there
were some Indonesian dancers and a band, again not dancing.
We met our tour guide and
headed for a 18th-century Dome Church, the oldest Christian church in Central
Java, with its huge copper dome and baroque organ. It was built in 1573 by the Dutch
and was the first Protestant church in Indonesia. They tried to make it look European.
The pulpit is made of teak. The organ was manufactured in Germany, but no
longer is operational as they can no longer get the parts to fix it. The
grounds around the church included a pretty park.
We then went to another center of worship, the
Sam Po Kong temple, a unique Chinese Muslim temple shared by Buddhists and
Muslims. The impressive temple was built for the Muslim Admiral Chen Ho of the
Ming Dynasty, who led Chinese fleets throughout Asia and Java in the 15th
century.
From there we went to a big shopping mall. Here
are some of the sights we saw on our drive through the city.
One of the things he did point out was the
monument that looks like a candle. It is to commemorate the Five-Day War
against the Dutch, which they lost.
And since I started with an Indonesian band, I
thought I would end with the one that now was at the port when we returned.
Yes, they were playing country music, and there were people sitting in there,
from the ship, listening and applauding.
Now we have two sea days, where I will learn
more bridge, play more bridge and play more trivia. Be back the first of March.
