Mar 9 - Indonesia is an archipelagic country, that is, entirely composed of islands. Between 17,000 and 18,000 of them. Most are tiny, as only 8,844 are named and less than a thousand with permanent inhabitants. The most densely populated island, Java, is much smaller than Sumatra, Kalimantan (the Indonesian part of Borneo), or Papua (western Papua New Guinea).
It is impressive that the predictably diverse cultures of Indonesia have stayed together as one country. There are a few conflicts, such as the one that created the separate country of East Timor in 2002 (this one is actually more complicated as it involves Portugal), and the occasional rebellious action of the Free Papua Movement. Each island has a particular history, and religious affiliation is not evenly spread. Java, where we are now, is predominantly Muslim. It also has the highest concentration of archaeological sites (as least those with significant structures).
The cohesive beginnings of Indonesia begin with the Srivijaya Kingdom that dominated starting in the 7th century CE, bringing Hinduism. Buddhism came later, and several Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms rose and fell. It took Islam, slowly spreading from Sumatra in the 13th century, to supplant them, at least in Sumatra and Java. Both the Dutch and Portuguese got their hands on the islands starting in the 16th century, vying for control of the lucrative spice trade. It took until the Japanese invasion and the end of WWII before the Dutch were forced to relinquish control. Indonesia officially became independent in 1949.
First thing in the morning I am informed through an email that a flight we are taking to leave Indonesia is cancelled. Just one week ago I got the same message, so this is the second cancellation of the flight I already rescheduled. I try to sort it out online but that proves hopelessly vague. We decide to go in search of an Air Asia office. Surabaya being spread out over a huge area, we get a Grab (SE Asian equivalent of Uber) and head Pakuwon City. The office is closed for lunch but the door is open so I go in to bother them anyway. They inform me that no office in Surabaya can help me with my problem except the one at the airport we just landed in yesterday.
I really don’t feel like going back there already, as it is far south of downtown and not cheap by Grab (even less so by regular taxi). We go to the train station (Surabaya Gubeng) to get tickets for when we leave here. Find out that supposedly we can only get tickets either three hours before the train, or purchase them with an app. My experience with payment apps in many countries is that they don’t work well for foreigners. This proves correct again as we sit at the station, waiting a long time for the app to download, only to find that it won’t accept a foreign telephone number when we try to create a user profile. I go up to the customer service window and convince the guy that he should help out, which he does. So at least today we get that done.
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To Odette’s joy, we are back at the hotel in time for a trip to the pool.
