Day 3 – 22 February 2020
We decided to rest and explore the areas within the City Centre.
Day 4 – 23 February 2020
As mentioned in the previous post, we visited the other Masjid Muhammad Cheng Ho situated at the heart of Surabaya City Centre at Jalan Gading, Ketabang, Genteng.
A visit to Madura Island.
The name of Madura island is of Hindu origin. The origin of the island’s name lies in the legend that the island is in the realm of Hindu deity Baladewa. The name Madura itself is derived from the word “Mathura” – a word in Indian-origin language Sanskrit for the native home of Baladewa “Baladeva”. The corrupted form of Sanskrit word Mathura became the Madura. The island comprises an area of approximately 4,441.95 square km and is separated from Java by the narrow Madura Strait. (Source from Wikipedia). We entered the Island via the 5km Suramadu Bridge that linked Surabaya.
One of the places that we explored was Jaddih Hill. A limestone area converted into a tourist attraction. It is located in Madura’s Jaddih village, around 10km and 28 km from the island’s largest town of Bangkalan and Surabaya, respectively. The hill, which was once a mining area, is now parched, with a lot of dust and a high temperature, therefore visitors are urged to wear face masks.
Apart from the beautiful set of stonewalls, it also has a lake that was formed by limestone mining. Visitors can ride a boat to appreciate the beauty of the lake at a depth of 2.5 meters. On this hill, there’s also a cave, but it was off-limits to visitors due to its weak and shaky structure. Public amenities such as bathrooms and restaurants maintained by locals, are available too. An entrance fee of Rp5000 per pax and Rp20000 for motorcar are chargeable upon entry into the actual park.
After visited Jaddih Hill, we went to have our lunch at Rumah Makan Tera Bulan, one of the famous restaurant in Bangkalan. We also purchased some batiks made by the people of Madura. Batik is a type of textile art that uses wax and dye to produce patterns on a piece of plain cloth. Though the word Batik may have been derived from the Malay word titik which means to dot, Batik can in fact be found across the world from Africa to Asia.
To be continued…
PS. We visited few other places in Surabaya before ending our tour.
Jailani Mahmood
"Many years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails...…. Explore the Dreams, Experience to Discover it"
Explore to Discover Life 