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Take the train
across Java! |
Jakarta, Yogyakarta,
Surabaya, Bromo & Bali...
Indonesia is a great place to
visit. Here we travel from capital Jakarta across the most populous
island of Java by train and across the straits to Bali by ferry.
Jakarta
Jakarta to Yogyakarta by train
Yogyakarta & Buddhist temple
at Borobudur
A day trip to Solo
Yogyakarta to Surabaya by train
Surabaya & a trip to Mt. Bromo
Surabaya to Bali by train & ferry
Bali
Practical information on other
pages...
Useful country information
Indonesian train times &
fares
How to buy tickets
What are
Indonesian
trains like?
Luggage, food & train travel tips
Recommended hotels
The obvious place to start is Java's (and Indonesia's) capital Jakarta. A
huge metropolis, most of the tourist sights are in the old Dutch colonial city
to the north of the modern centre, known either as Jakarta Kota or by it's old
Dutch name, Batavia. Strangely, all the main tourist hotels seem to be in
the modern city south of Merdeka Square, so a taxi or tuk-tuk is needed to reach
old Batavia, although a suburban train into Jakartakota station is also an
option. Jakarta lacks a metro system, although there are buses.
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The old Stadthuis... At the
heart of old Batavia is the old colonial town hall (in Dutch, stadthuis) on Fatahillah
Square. It's now the Jakarta History Museum, also known as the Fatahillah
Museum. |
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Also on Fatahillah Square
you'll find other colonial buildings including the post office (worth a
wander inside) and the
Batavia cafe... |
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Batavia Cafe...
Built in what was once the VOC (Dutch East India Company) admin offices, the
well-known Batavia Cafe is the place on Fatahillah Square to stop for a beer, coffee or meal. It's the second oldest building in Batavia after the
stadthuis itself, according to their website,
www.cafebatavia.com. |
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Old Dutch bridge...
Not far from Fatahillah Square is the old Dutch lifting bridge across the canal, dating
from 1655 (above left). For a few rupiah you can still walk across it.
Governor's residence... The red-tiled building in the photo above
right is the old Dutch governor's residence, one of a row of old colonial
buildings on the far side of the canal behind Fatahillah Square. |
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Harbour tower...
15 minutes walk north of Fatahillah Square, just south of the harbour, is the
19th century harbour
lookout tower. For a small fee you can climb
to the top. |
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Jakartakota station...
A stone's throw from Fatahillah Square, the impressive Jakartakota station was once Batavia's
main rail terminus. It's well worth a look! Built in 1926, you could almost be in 1920s Holland.
It now only handles local trains, the expresses depart from the modern stations
of Gambir or Pasar Senen further south, closer to the centre of modern Jakarta.
You can easily travel by suburban train between here and local stations across
the Jakarta urban area, including Pasar Senen, although strangely not Gambir as
suburban trains don't call there. |
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Jakarta cathedral, completed in 1901... |
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The
National Monument in Merdeka (Freedom) Square. This is the epicentre
of today's Jakarta, with the modern city to the south and the old city to the
north. In Dutch times it was known as the Konigsplein (King's Plain).
Express lifts take you up the tower to the observation deck. |
The best Eksekutif and Bisnis
class trains leave from Jakarta's modern Gambir station, located to the east
side of the vast grassy park known as Merdeka Square.
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Jakarta's Gambir station |
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South concourse, beneath
the overhead tracks... |
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Check-in using the
machines to get a boarding pass... |
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ID check at the entrance
to the platforms... |
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Ready to leave Jakarta.
The tracks are above the concourse, on a viaduct running across the
city. The station has just four platforms, only used by
long-distance trains - the suburban trains pass through Gambir without
stopping. |
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Boarding the Argo
Dwipangga... |
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Eksekutif class seats... |
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The train passes through
the crowded Jakarta suburbs... |
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Around Cirebon you'll see
the imposing shadow of
Mt
Cereme on your right, an active volcano & highest point in West Java. |
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Villages & more rice
fields... |
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People working in the
fields... |
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The train calls at Kutoarjo
station. At major stops you have a few minutes to stretch your legs. |
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More people at work in
the fields... |
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Rivers & bridges... |
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Rice fields, occasional
mosques, distant hills, villages... |
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Crossing another river... |
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Trolley refreshments! |
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A visit to the buffet
car... |
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Palms and rice... |
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The Argo Dwipangga arrives
at Yogyakarta Tugu... |
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Yogyakarta station's
southern exit... |
Visiting the city of
Yogyakarta...
Often just called Yogya or Jogya,
Yogyakarta is Java's cultural capital, and most travellers pass through here
sooner or later. The contrast with the hectic metropolis of Jakarta
couldn't be more pronounced. Yogya is also the jumping-off point for the
famous temple at Borobudur. Yogya's main rail station is also known as
Yogyakarta Tugu.
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The
Phoenix Hotel, Yogyakarta, the most venerable hotel in town and arguably the
best place to stay. The main
building dates from 1918, originally the home of a wealthy merchant and after
WW2
the residence of the Chinese consul before being converted
into a hotel. |
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Exploring the city using local
transport. Above right, the main road south through central Yogyakarta
from the Phoenix Hotel past the railway station to the kraton (royal palace). |
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The Kraton (royal palace)... |
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Yogyakarta's market... |
A morning trip to
Borobudur...
Borobudur is the world's largest
Buddhist temple, and one of Java's must-see sights. It's around 40km from
Yogyakarta and easily done as a day trip, any travel agency or hotel can arrange
transport - we used
www.viaviajogja.com. For more information see
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobudur and the official site
borobudurpark.com.
You'll be offered sunrise or daytime tours, personally I can't say I regret not
getting up at 4am to do the sunrise tour. The temple is impressive enough
by day!
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Borobudur temple... |
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Inside each perforated stupa is a
carved figure... |
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Borobudur temple... |
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Borobudur temple, looking at the
backdrop of mountains... |
A day trip to Solo...
Solo is just an hour east of Yogyakarta.
It's Yogya's cultural rival, and well worth a visit. The station you want
in Solo is Solobalapan. It's on the way to Surabaya so can be a stopover
in its own right, but we chose to do a day trip from Yogya to avoid moving
hotels.
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Solo has a kraton (albeit largely
rebuilt) and many interesting sights and at this point I would have shown you
some photos of Solo if events hadn't taken an unusual twist. Mrs 61 had
been searching for the burial site of her Dutch colonial ancestors, and as the
train sped towards Solo she received a reply from a local archaeologist.
An associate of his had
discovered the forgotten graveyard of the Dezentjé family and had reclaimed it from the jungle
only the previous week. If we could get to Ampel, some 40km from Solo, he
would meet us there. We hopped in a taxi. And here was the grave of Mrs
61's second cousin 5 times removed, Augustinus ('Tinus') Dezentjé, who had
married an Indonesian princess, the daughter of the Sultan of Solo. He
died in 1839 aged just 42... |
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Yogyakarta station. A steam
traction engine (above left) stands guard on the main road at the foot of the
station approach road to the station building on the northern side of the
tracks. The station is an attractive 1920s art deco structure... |
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Yogyakarta station, inside the
station building on the northern side (above left) and (above right) waiting for the train on the
main eastbound platform next to a rather nice station cafe... |
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Train 102 Ranggajati
from Bandung to Surabaya pulls in to Yogyakarta station... |
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The Ranggajati
makes a station stop at Solobalapan. |
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More Javan scenery... |
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The buffet car... |
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Lunch on the train! |
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Passing a typical Javan
village... |
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Yet more rice... |
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Steam locomotives rusting gently
in the yard at Purwosari station... |
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Rotor cultivators seem to have
replaced water buffalo here... |
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Arrival at Surabaya Gubeng
station... |
Visiting the city of
Surabaya...
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The Majapahit Hotel, formerly
the Oranje Hotel, opened in 1911 with this art deco front building added
in 1936. Charlie Chaplin and others attended the inauguration! This isn't just a place to stay, it's a Surabaya landmark and an
original Sarkies Brothers hotel like Raffles in Singapore - but at a
fraction of the price. History was made here in 1945 with the Flag
Incident, for more photos &
information about this hotel see the hotels in Indonesia section.
Don't even think about staying anywhere else, this is the place... |
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Surabaya's submarine museum - the Indonesian navy's first submarine, built in Russia in 1952. |
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The governor's residence, Surabaya... |
A day trip to Mt.
Bromo...
Mount Bromo is an active volcano
and another of Java's must-see sights. It's most easily visited whilst
staying in
Probolinggo (on the Surabaya-Ketapang rail line en route to Bali) or perhaps in
Malang (also on the rail network), but in this case we made a long day trip from Surabaya to avoid moving hotels
more than necessary. For more about this volcano see
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Bromo. Any decent Indonesian travel agency or
your hotel can arrange a trip to Mt Bromo, we used
www.bromotour.com who
were fine.
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An overview of Mt Bromo, taken from a viewpoint on the side of a
neighbouring mountain after the visit.
This is the overall 10-mile-wide crater with the sandy floor, ringed by smaller
craters and mountains. Mt Bromo is the smaller smoking crater to the right
of centre. The distinctive green conical volcano to the right of Mt. Bromo
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1. It's a long way up into
the hills in a minivan. The minivan is then swapped for a jeep for the final
leg, an old Toyota Landcruiser. |
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2. The jeep drives further
up into the hills then descends onto the sandy floor of a vast 10-mile-wide
crater... |
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3. The jeep parks up on the
Sea of Sands.
You can rent a horse here if you like... |
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4. It's now a 1.5km walk
(or horse ride) from across the sandy crater floor to the foot of Mt Bromo... |
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5. The path gets
rocky and starts to climb... |
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6. The final leg, 250 steep steps
to the rim... |
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7. At the rim of Mt Bromo
you'll find little by way of safety barriers. You stare down into Mt Bromo's
crater, listening to the volcano's deafeningly loud roar. You can smell
the sulphur... |
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8. You head back down the way you came. Here you can see the 250 steps down, the
rocky walk to the flat sand. The jeeps are just visible as a collection of
specks in the background upper-centre-left. |
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Back to Surabaya Gubeng for the
09:00 train to Ketapang ... |
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Eksekutif class seats... |
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The Mutiara
Timur at Probolinggo... |
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Probolinggo's pretty station... |
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Scenery... |
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The scenery
just keeps on coming... |
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Jungle, hills, rice paddies, palms, bananas,
villages... |
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Passing through the hills in
eastern Java. This stretch of line included several short tunnels, the
only ones we noticed on Java, and some high bridges... |
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Arrival at Ketapang station
(known as Banyuwangi Baru until 2020) spot on time... |
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Ketapang station, known as
Banyuwangi until 2020. |
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At the station exit... |
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Walk 150m directly away from
Ketapang station down the station approach road, turn right onto the main
road and walk another 150m. The ferry terminal is on your left on the far
side of the road (pictured above left),
see it on Google Maps. Or you can take a taxi or cycle rickshaw.
Walk into the passengers entrance (marked by the blue arrow above), along the
retail tunnel to the ticket office (pictured above right)... |
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Ferries sail
every 15 minutes around the clock. Board the next ferry via the
car ramp and go upstairs into the passenger area. There's a kiosk
selling water, drinks, biscuits & crisps. |
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Bali ahead!
The crossing takes just 45 minutes... |
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The ferries come in all
shapes, sizes & colours... |
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Approaching Gilimanuk... |
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Arrival at Gilimanuk on Bali... |
The change in culture between
Java and Bali is immediately apparent. The many mosques become few, Hindu shrines appear in every front garden, temples dot the towns and Hindu
statues adorn many main road junctions (below right).
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Gilimanuk bus terminal is right
next to the ferry terminal for buses to Denpasar, Bali's capital city.
However, on this occasion I arranged a transfer by minivan to our hotel (above
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Ubud...
Denpasar is the island's capital
and largest town, it's also where all the buses go. But Ubud is Bali's cultural
and tourist capital.
It's well worth a visit, wherever you're staying on Bali.
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Ubud Palace... |
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Saraswati Temple, Ubud... |
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The rice fields of Ubud...
Just behind Ubud's shops and houses are the town's famous rice paddies. |
Padangbai...
Bali is a holiday island and it
goes without saying that there are many resorts, some better for surfing, some
for diving. This is Padangbai, which also happens to be the ferry terminal
for boats to Lombok and the Gili Islands.
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Padangbai beachfront and
harbour.... |
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After the journey from Jakarta to
Bali with no airports, no flights, I think we earned some R&R at a resort,
the highly-recommended
Bloo Lagoon Eco Village. Now back to Jakarta again by minivan, ferry
and train... |
Practical information...
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