Semarang Old City

Another early start, as we caught a Grab from the hotel to the Joglosemar bus terminal. This is a private shuttle bus service that goes between Jogja, Solo and Semarang, hence the odd name. I got the front passenger seat meaning I had plenty of room, but also the most dangerous seat in a collision! Thankfully the driver was quite passive and safe and I felt fine for the 3 hour ride north to Semarang.

This city was an important Dutch colonial outpost, though never quite as important as Batavia (now Jakarta). We'd come here as the old city is aiming for World Heritage status in the next couple of years, and after checking into our hotel we set off to see the sights.

First stop was the Lawang Sewu, or House of a Thousand Doors. This was the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company in Semarang, and although it seemed to have a lot of doors, a thousand was probably stretching the truth. It was in good condition though and a nice place to walk around for an hour, being entertained by the locals and their favourite pastime - selfies.

Grabbed lunch in a shopping mall where there was a large organised video game tournament taking place entirely on mobile phones, then headed for the old city proper. It's fairly small, probably only 3-4 blocks, but fairly nice. Alan (whose wife Hanna is originally from here and has visited several times) said they've done it up a fair bit the last few years: "before that it was a dump".

Spent a couple of hours looking at the colonial era buildings, some of which were nicely done up into fancy hotels and cafes, others which were derelict hulks on the verge of toppling over. Still a fair way to go I think.

Had a drink (an actual alcoholic drink!) in a bar before walking back to the hotel, only venturing out across the road later to get some satay sticks for dinner.Read more