Semarang

Two sea days gave us a chance to catch up on schooling and get both boys all the way to the end of their scheduled math for the year. We’ll do a review and a final exam, but that’s going to be it for math.

The big attraction for most folks coming to Semarang is the Borobudur temple, a huge ancient Buddhist site that was buried under volcanic ash and (re)discovered by Stamford Raffles during Britain’s brief administration of Java in the early 18th century. We’d looked at the Oceania expedition, but it was not available to kids under 12 for some reason. We considered doing our own trip out there, but it’s a 2.5 hour drive and the traffic can apparently be unpredictable, so we didn’t want to chance it. As it turns out, one of the ship’s buses didn’t get back until 3 minutes before all-aboard, even with a police escort. So I think we did the right thing.

Instead we hired a taxi to take us to the Wisata Sam Poo Kong temple complex. We had the driver wait for us as we explored the sprawling compound for about an hour. The multiple buildings provided a series of great views and interesting artifacts, making it worth the visit even given the oppressive heat and humidity.

When we were done we asked the driver to drop us in the center of the old town at the Blenduk Church. This domed building dates back to 1753 and is an easily-recognizable landmark. We didn’t have much of a plan, so we first grabbed lunch at Spiegel, an Italian restaurant near the church. It was blissfully air conditioned inside and we enjoyed a very nice meal. After filling up on pizza and pasta we wandered somewhat aimlessly through the old town. The recurring instances of modern buildings build alongside or even on top of old Dutch architecture were striking. Many of the old Dutch buildings were allowed to deteriorate over time, but recently there has been a spurt of renovation in the area. Some of the old buildings have trees and vines growing up through, over, and on them, giving the city a jungle vibe.

We spent a while wandering the streets, enjoying the sights and sounds. The heat did catch up to us, though, so we summoned a Grab car and got back to the ship. There was a bit of a hiccup at the end of this as the driver took us to the cruise port building, which is where most cruise ships apparently dock. We, however, had docked at a different spot a little ways away. Fortunately we could see Insignia from where we were, so it was easy enough to get over there. Ports are weird places, with fencing, gates, differing regulations over who gets to go where, and unpredictable docking locations. That always makes that last mile a bit of an adventure.Baca lagi