Chris receives travel advice from his local caleg.

I recently received a brochure from my local legislative candidate, known in Indonesia as a caleg. Nothing unusual about that, but there were two things that aroused my interest:

Two possible victims of photo-montage (L to R): Bapak Zahrus Faisal and Lee Harvey Oswald

1. In one promotional photo (see above), he looked like an extra from “Pirates of the Caribbean”. I also wondered whether they were really his clothes, and/or whether it was a Lee Harvey Oswald-style photo montage.
2. He lived within walking distance of my house.

So, after a few unsuccessful attempts – not surprisingly, he is rather busy campaigning at the moment – I managed to gain an audience with Bapak Zahrus. Having read and heard a multitude of stories about rich, corrupt and lazy politicians, I must admit I was pleasantly surprised to discover him to be a mature, wise and generally decent guy. I was also a little surprised by his answers.

Having explained a bit about me and Indonesia Matters, I asked BZ to recommend to IM readers some suitable tourist attractions in Surabaya. I expected him to recommend the normal things – e.g. the Heroes Statue and other independence monuments, shopping malls – but he didn’t. What he said was:

Surabaya is a commercial city/city of trade
Surabaya kota perdagandan

and therefore isn’t really the nicest or best city for tourists to visit.

However, he then went on to recommend the nearby city and regency of Lamongan for its natural beauty, relaxed lifestyle, quietness and friendly people. He continued in lilting phrases that were a bit beyond my level of Indonesian, but the general idea seemed to be that Lamongan was everything a large Indonesian city (whether Surabaya, Jakarta or another) isn’t.

Lamongan isn’t on the map, both literally (see map above – it doesn’t appear until you zoom in a lot!) and figuratively, for most tourists. Tourist information online isn’t plentiful, not helped by the Lamongan Regency’s website never working. To locals, it is perhaps best known for its yummy chicken soup (Soto Ayam Lamongan), recent flooding and – unfortunately^* – as the hometown of some of the Bali bombers. However, it does receive its own section on the East Java tourism website: http://lamongan.eastjava.com. Some of the listed attractions include:

Maharani Cave

• – Maharani Cave

Wisata Bahari Lamongan

• – Wisata Bahari Lamongan, a marine fun park
• – Graves of two of the nine Wali Songo, who first brought Islam to Indonesia many centuries ago.

It could be visited as a day trip from Surabaya, but if you want to stay in the area there are a few accommodation options, including a 3+-star hotel on the coast called: Tanjung Kodok Beach Resort.

Getting there isn’t difficult. It is served by numerous daily trains (both executive and economy class) from Pasar Turi in Surabaya, while people with their own wheels just need to continue past the end of the Surabaya-Gresik toll road. If you’re coming from the airport or another town to the south or east, this then connects to the Surabaya-Gempol toll road.

I am interested to hear from readers who have visited Lamongan. Was your experience similar to Bapak Zairus’s? What would you recommend for other visitors to the area?

And if you haven’t visited Lamongan, what do you think? Would you consider visiting it? Why or why not?

Oh, and about the choice of costume, BZ informed me this was the traditional attire of Madura. I don’t know whether he is trying to corner the Madurese vote in the area, or whether he is trying to stand out from the crowd of politicians trying to appear more pious than their competitors.

* I am not suggesting Lamongan and/or its inhabitants are responsible for the Bali bombing. A major influence was the bombers’ prior attendance at Abu Bakar Ba’asyir‘s Islamic boarding school in Solo, Central Java. I also do not feel tourists will encounter any hostility from locals.