A day in Cirebon

I once heard a popular saying "Tourism is knowledge". This is true without any doubt, and I have personally experienced it many times.

The most recent example is my one day trip to Cirebon, West Java, on July 12. My experience there may certainly be of immense benefit to tourism fans. Generally, one may not have first-class knowledge of a society within a day or two. People need sufficient time to know things properly not superficially.

Despite this, I noticed that Jakarta doesn't give a true image of Indonesia compared with other more beautiful cities like Cirebon, where I saw a completely different environment that is free of pollution. Although I didn't see any high-rise buildings, the city's architectural system was quite impressive. Cleanliness in the city was a surprise as there was no street garbage. The weather was neither too hot nor too cold, just reasonably cool.

Economically, many readers may hardly believe how cheap life in the city is with food expenditure being a minor issue. My hotel room, with TV, AC and telephone etc. only cost Rp 45,000 per night. As a foreigner, I didn't find any problems with overcharging of items in shops or markets. Becaks, the three- wheeled bicycle, were a 24-hour daily service. In terms of popularity, it was second only to the public bus service that covered a wide area.

In the late afternoon of July 13, I left for Jakarta, but earlier that morning I decided to take another short trip 35 kilometers away to the nearby town of Kuningan, where I found the same story as in Cirebon.

I imagine those expats living in Jakarta who have never seen other cities would assess the whole of Indonesia negatively. All in all, it was a good trip although as a black man, I regrettably noticed the way some people were laughing at me for no reason, while others stared at me intently until I was out of sight.

BUHARI ABDU

Jakarta