Semarang, Java Indonesia
March 1, 2024 - Today we sailed the Java Sea, and for our evening meal the chef’s prepared a “Taste of Indonesia” which was spread throughout the pool deck. The food and decorations were beautiful and as many of our crew come from Bali, they said it was set up like what you would experience at a wedding feast.
March 2, 2024 - Today we took the included tour which was “ Discover Semarang” and we first went to the Old City, which has Dutch colonial architecture where we went into the local church which is used by many different groups all day on Sundays. We then visited Rainbow City, an area of Semarang that we would call a very poor community but, it is actually a middle class neighborhood. Rainbow village is built on the side of the hill and people have painted their homes all different colors. We walked halfway up the hill, which was a steep incline and several guests wanted to go to the top and as they did several of us meet a woman who invited us to come in and see her home. She was very proud of her home and shared with us that she lived there alone as her children were grown and lived in other areas. She was selling small merchandise outside her home as most people do as a way to survive. Ann Marie actually found that the women had a jar of large hair clips which she was looking for. The Woman accepted US dollars and Ann Marie was happy to give her a lot more than she was charging for the hair clips, and the woman was so grateful. On our way back to our bus, we went through a flower market and large wedding signs being painted on boards on the street and then delivered by scooter. Our last stop on the tour was SAM POO KONG Chinese temple, the largest temple in Java. We were not able to go into the temple itself but we walked around the grounds and walk through the other structures.
It was a great day, extremely hot, but all of us were going back to an air conditioned ship for dinner and a good nights sleep. Each day we are more and more grateful to be able to learn about different cultures and communities and feel so blessed and grateful for all we have been gifted with.
