Although East Java struggles to compete for tourist attention compared with other Indonesian provinces such as Bali and Sulawesi, or even other parts of Java itself, this mountainous region asserts its own culture and actually benefits from a lack of tourist congestion. Most visitors head along challenging roads to the area's national parks and cultural centers. The eastern part of the island is renowned above all for its hiking among volcanic peaks and the religious shrines left by the Singosari kingdom.
Active Volcano
- The Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park is East Java’s main attraction and the island’s second-most popular in all of eastern Indonesia. Covering 300 square miles, the area presents a seemingly endless vista of smoking volcanic cones, including Mount Semeru, an active volcano and the area's highest peak at 12,000 feet. Most visitors head to Mount Bromo, another active volcano around 90 miles south of Surabaya. Numerous guesthouses cluster around the base of the mountain, with most guided hikes leaving early to reach the crater rim and catch the sunrise over the Tengger Caldera with views over the smoking peaks.
Acid Lake
- In the center of the Ijen Merapi Magelang reserve, the Ijen Plateau contains the largest acidic lake on the planet, a lurid blue-green hue fringed by sulphurous yellow. Visitors can base themselves at Bondowosu or Banyuwangi and take public transport over a fairly rough road to spend the night at one of the resorts at the mountain base. From there, rise early to hike to the crater in just over an hour. From the crater rim, some 7,545 feet above sea level, unparalleled views await over the lake and the surrounding landscape of volcanic cones.
Ancient Temples
- Religious worship has been deeply engrained in Javanese culture for centuries. Just under an hour from Surabaya, the Jawi Temple is a Hindu and Buddhist shrine dating from the 13th century, built for the last king of the Singosari dynasty. In Paiton district, Jabung Temple’s 50-foot red stone monolith marks the remains of the Majapahit Empire. Relief panels depict an a story that hasn't yet been deciphered. Just outside the capital, Singosari Temple poses two giant statues that evoke the grandeur of the 13th-century Singosari Kingdom. Elsewhere, the city of Blitar is famous for a more modern shrine, the tomb of President Sukarno, Indonesia’s first president.
Notable Museum
- The Ngawi region, a little over 100 miles from the capital, is a beautiful natural expanse of waterfalls and tea estates. Hidden in the forests of the Lawu mountains until recently, Srampang waterfall bursts from the forest, a short trip of 15 miles from Ngawi city. More established is the Jamus tea plantation on Mount Lawu, whose cool hillside gardens offer respite from the humidity at sea level. The estate dates from the Dutch colonial period. For archaeologists, however, the region is famous for the Trinil museum, which curates the remains of 1,500 fossils -- including prehistoric bones of Pithecantropus Erectus, one of the oldest remains of early humans yet discovered.
