A day in Cirebon

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