Our day in Probolingo, Java, Indonesia

Going ashore today was quite complicated as this is a tender port. For 4 and 5 star Mariners, that would not normally be a complication, except today we will be on a private tour with just 9 or 10 other guests, some of whom have not reached our “high” status. During tendering operations those guests without “status”must obtain “numbered” tender tickets and can not go ashore until their number group is called.

As it happened, we were all able go over together, for our “Probolingo City Tour”.

Upon our arrival at the landing, we were greeted by a group of small children just winding up their performance of song and dance.

After some delay in finding our transportation we headed for our first stop; Th Oldest Buddhist Temple (Tri dharma). As in most Buddhist Temples there was the heavy smell of burning incense , which immediately attacked my sensitive nose.

The foreground is a gathering or rickshaws to transport tour groups.

Next we visited the Red Church, which is the only building in the city constructed of “iron”. THe Dutch have had a very long relationship with Indonesia, and apparently the church we dissembled in Holland, shipped to Probolingo and reassembled on this site. I loved the pulpit.

The landscaping was sparse, but well maintained.

The city abounds in manpowered open rickshaws, with is a novel way of moving tourists around. This was our mode of transportation to our next stop; The Traditional Museum

In and attempt to work “ahead” to the large ships tours, we headed to the Batik Center, where several of the ladies were invited to creat their own Batik, with skilled artisans guiding the process.

A “Trip to the Market” was next and that was a real eye opener, as it was not a modern vegetable market in any sense of the word. Money was not wasted on electricity, as well as maintenance on the uneven floors to keep them clean – what was amazing,was the abundance of, and variety of, fresh vegetables. There was even a woman chopping up raw chicken for …. ?

Our communal lunch was served on long wooden tables, next to a koi pond and fountain. Several times during the day we were given “mineral water” to keep the group hydrated in the 84 degree heat and 87 % humidity.

To work off our scrumptious lunch we were escorted several blocks (on foot) to the “City Hall”. Surprisingly it was not a grand building but resembled a large city park. Apparently the open grounds were used on the occasion of a national celebration. Probably like Washington DC uses the Capitol Mall for 4th of July.

As we were gathering to listen to the guide relate these facts, there were a group of Junior High School boys, what had been brought to the city on a field day to assist greeting Maasdam guests.

As I struck up a dialogue with a few of the boys, I quickly found myself in the midst of a growing number of these young lads. It seemed to expand until several in our group were interacting with family pictures and stories. Barbara handed out a Port Angeles post card to one of the boys he quickly requested she add our names and the name of the city.

On their uniform white shirts was a symbol of he Red Cross, which our guide explained, the from an early age all children are made aware of the importance of donating blood to the Red Cross. What a great humanitarian plan.

This a selfie I took, had to have a smoke to settle my nerves – like my tan?

To soon our day tour came to an end as we were returned to the tender landing, and we made our way back to the ship except Barbara – the craft stalls at the pier exerted a forced she could not overcome. She did great!

As we were dressing for dinner, we noticed the ships stern thrusters going at full speed, I glanced out our wind and was amazed to see how much the wind and waves had picked up. So much so that it took more that an hour to retrieve two of the tenders, before we could get under weigh.

Next: A night race at almost 18 knots to reach the Pier at Surabaya, Java by 8 am on the 23rd.