INDONESIA - JAVA: SURABAYA, PART I (CITY TOUR)

 July 7, 2023

We made our way out of the jungle of Borneo and to the airport in Pangkalan Bun, a small facility with just one runway. I love the blue sign below. At first I thought it was a play room for kids--a nursery--but then I realized from the image that it is a room where mothers can nurse their babies.

We flew on Nam Air, an Indoneisan regional airline based in Jakarta.

Our flight from Sumatra to Surabaya on the island of Java took about an hour and a half. Surabaya's Juanda International Airport is the third busiest airport in Indonesia. In 2019, it had about 24 million passengers. Compare that to the 3rd busiest airport in the United States, Denver, which had 34 million passengers. The numbers are a lot closer than I would have guessed.

I was a little surprised to see Beard Papa's--a Japanese creme puff chain--in the Juanda Airport. Of course, we have them in the US too, usually attached to Asian grocery stores.

INDONESIA - SUMATRA, MEDAN: MAIMOON PALACE, GUNUNG TIMUR BUDDHIST TEMPLE, AND CABE HIJO

 July 1, 2023

After a 17-hour flight to Singapore, a 15-hour time change, and a full day on our feet, we really needed sleep, but we got up at 4:30 AM, pulled ourselves together and called a car, and made our way to the airport for a 7:00 AM flight to the city of Medan, located on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. The flight itself was just 1 hour 5 minutes.

Arrival was complicated. We got in line at Passport control, only to be sent back to buy a 30-day "Visa on Arrival." In all our correspondence with the travel company and research online, this was not mentioned. The price was $35/person, and of course they required cash (no credit), and we had yet to visit an ATM in Indonesia to get some cash, so we had to dig out US dollars. 

We presented our VOA at Passport Control, after which we had to fill out and print a customs report, then go through customs, then have our carry-on luggage x-rayed. We think that was the most steps we have ever had to take on entry to a foreign country.

I had checked a bag, so we made a bathroom stop (apparently women are identified by their shopping bags here?) and then waited for my suitcase, hoping it wasn't one of the suitcases dangling artistically from the ceiling. I was happy to see it come rolling out on the conveyor belt.