Reposted from the web

Summary: This Indonesia Muslim travel guide part 1 covers visa-free entry, avoiding bribes, Jakarta, Indonesian halal travel basics, Java history, Trowulan, Wali Songo heritage, Demak Grand Mosque, Sunan Ampel sites, and the country through the eyes of a Chinese Hui Muslim.

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, with over 200 million Muslims. Most follow the Shafi'i school of jurisprudence. Indonesian Muslims have long been on the fringes of the Muslim world, but this marginalization has gradually improved since Indonesia gained independence from colonial rulers in 1945. Today, hundreds of thousands of Indonesians go on the Hajj to Mecca every year. They are known as the "rice of Hejaz," with Hejaz referring to the region of Mecca and Medina.

Indonesia currently offers visa-free entry to citizens from mainland China. You only need your passport to fly in, with no prior application or fees. I have seen many netizens online complain about customs officers asking for bribes upon entry. I flew from Beijing to Jakarta and was not asked for a bribe, so it might be an isolated issue. My consistent principle is to firmly refuse any customs bribes. As Muslims, we cannot engage in bribery. I would rather not enter the country than pay. Even if the bribe is only a small amount, it is a matter of principle that I will not compromise on. Since this behavior often targets Chinese travelers, we must not encourage such discriminatory practices.

I heard about similar bribe requests when I visited Vietnam, but I never encountered them. My method is to prepare my round-trip flight tickets and hotel booking confirmations in advance, print them out, and have them ready when customs asks me the purpose of my visit. I show them the itinerary I prepared, which clearly states my travel purpose. Once customs sees this, they know I am an experienced traveler, and they have no reason to ask for a bribe before letting me through.

Many online travel guides view Indonesia from a non-Muslim perspective. I have read many of them and find them superficial and biased when judging the country's majority ethnic group. Below, I will introduce my halal journey through Indonesia from the perspective of a Chinese Hui Muslim.

Items to prepare before leaving for Indonesia:

1. Round-trip flight tickets and hotel booking confirmations, printed out and kept handy to prevent customs from questioning you or asking for bribes;

2. Portable WiFi, which can be rented from major travel websites for about 10 yuan a day. Renting WiFi is more convenient than buying a local SIM card. In my experience, mobile signals on many islands are not as good as WiFi. You can activate international roaming in advance, but it is only useful for receiving text messages. International roaming still cannot access sites like Google, but portable WiFi can. Google Maps is very important when traveling abroad;

3. Power adapter

Indonesian power plugs are wider than those in China, so you will need an adapter. You can buy a universal multi-function power adapter online.

4. Grab

This is a ride-hailing app used across Southeast Asia. You must have it; it is very useful. You can link your credit card to pay without cash. If you do not have it, you will almost certainly be overcharged for taxis.

5. Sunscreen, mosquito repellent, sunglasses, and flip-flops

These are all essentials for life in the tropics.

6. Indonesian Rupiah cash

You can exchange money in China or at the airport in Indonesia. The currency has a low value; 10,000 Indonesian Rupiah is worth about 5 Chinese Yuan.

First stop: Jakarta

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Many people only use it as a short transit stop, but there is actually a lot to see and do here. It is a microcosm of Indonesia where you can experience all kinds of local cultures. If your schedule is not tight, you might want to stay a few extra days. As a food blogger, what attracts me most is that I can find halal versions of cuisines from all over the world here.



Xiamen Airlines halal meal

I have to praise the halal meal on Xiamen Airlines; it was better than any other halal meal I have had on domestic airlines. A quick tip: I did not book a halal meal in advance for this flight, but Xiamen Airlines offers both halal and non-halal options on flights to Jakarta, so you do not need to reserve one ahead of time.

Except for budget airlines that do not provide meals, almost all airlines offer a meal booking service. Booking a religious meal costs nothing extra as it is included in your ticket price. You must book at least 24 hours in advance. You can do this through the airline's app, by calling their customer service, or through the customer service of the platform where you bought your ticket. If you are worried about the airline's ingredients, you can also book a vegetarian meal. Some airlines let you set dietary preferences in their app. Once you do this, the system will automatically book a halal meal whenever you buy a ticket with them.



DIGITAL AIRPORT capsule hotel

After flying all day, I arrived in Jakarta at 10 p.m. My plan was to fly to Komodo Island early the day after tomorrow. To save time and money, I chose a capsule hotel on the first floor of Terminal 3 at the airport. This way, I did not have to travel into the city after landing that night, and I would not have to wake up early to catch my flight later. It turned out to be a great choice. Although the capsule was small and only fit one person, it was clean and had everything I needed, including bottled water, a towel, a locker, a power outlet, and a TV. It felt like lying inside a space pod.



The lights in the space could change color, and there was air conditioning.

The capsule hotel has shared bathrooms. Even though it is a public area, each shower and washroom is private. Once you lock the door, it is just like a private bathroom, so it does not feel awkward at all. This was my first time staying in a capsule hotel, and I was very satisfied. I hope this model becomes more popular.



MALACCA TOAST airport fast food restaurant



Egg sandwich



Halal bidet spray in the bathroom

You can still find non-halal food in Indonesia. Some restaurants run by non-Muslims, such as Catholics or Hindus, sell alcohol but will note that they are pork-free. I have seen women wearing headscarves eating in these places. I only saw pork sold in Chinese-run restaurants in Surabaya, and you will never see anyone wearing a headscarf in those shops. If a restaurant has a clear halal certification sign at the entrance, it definitely does not sell alcohol.



Indonesian halal certification logo

This is what the common Indonesian halal certification logo looks like. It comes in two versions: one in Arabic script and one in Latin letters. HALAL also means halal in the Indonesian language. If the logo on a package is very small, they might leave out the Latin letters but will still include the Arabic word حلال

to make it easy for friends (dosti) from all countries to recognize.



Shaburi all-you-can-eat Japanese hot pot restaurant

Located on the third floor of Terminal 3 at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, a set meal costs about 60 yuan. You get one plate of meat, and you can eat as many vegetables, fruits, and sushi as you like.



Restaurant service in Indonesia is generally warm and attentive, especially with the servers' sweet smiles.







The individual hot pots are very similar to the Xiabu Xiabu chain back home.



Indonesian casual dining restaurant in Terminal 2



Indonesian fried rice (nasi goreng)

This type of fried rice is what I eat most often in Indonesia, and it is one of my favorite Indonesian foods. You can even eat it for breakfast. It costs anywhere from 6 to 30 yuan and is popular all over Southeast Asia. It is made by stir-frying white rice with sweet soy sauce, tamarind, and dried shrimp. It is served with various sides, including satay skewers, cucumber, Indonesian shrimp crackers, and a fried egg.

Istiqlal Mosque (Masjid Istiqlal)



Jakarta's Istiqlal Mosque (Masjid Istiqlal in Indonesian, which means 'independence' in Arabic) was built to celebrate Indonesia's independence. The foundation was laid on August 24, 1961, and it opened on February 22, 1978. The architect, Frederich Silaban, was a Christian. The mosque was built next to the Jakarta Cathedral to symbolize religious harmony.



The site was under renovation when I arrived. It was the rainy season in Indonesia, and Jakarta had just experienced flooding, leaving many areas waterlogged. Yet, after the floods, everything went back to normal. I was struck by the driver who brought me here. As we talked about the Jakarta floods, he pointed to the water marks along the street while laughing. I was amazed at how optimistic they could be. Their love for smiling is my deepest impression of Indonesians. Even though they are poor, they have a high sense of happiness.



Visiting the mosque is free. You need to take off your shoes and leave them at the storage area. The man at the entrance greeted me warmly and asked me to write down my country and religion in the guest book.



I had learned about this mosque on TV before. It is considered the largest in Southeast Asia and was built at a huge cost. However, after visiting in person, I did not find it as beautiful as I had imagined. As my trip continued, I saw many more unique mosques in Indonesia.



Jakarta Old Town

(Kota Tua Jakarta)



Jakarta Old Town covers only 1.3 square kilometers, about the size of a plaza. It contains many Dutch buildings from the 17th century. At that time, Jakarta was the headquarters for the Dutch East India Company to trade spices and other goods in Asia.



Let's talk about Indonesia's colonial history. A friend once asked me why we rarely hear from Indonesian Muslims on the world stage despite there being so many of them. The reason is that Indonesia was colonized for a long time. From the 16th to the 20th century, it was a Dutch colony. During World War II, the Japanese arrived and drove out the Dutch, and Indonesia was colonized by Japan for a few years. It was not until 1945 that Indonesia declared independence. Before this, the actual ruling class was never Muslim, which is why Indonesian Muslims have been marginalized internationally.



Street view of Jakarta Old Town

Although Indonesia is considered a Muslim country with a Muslim population of over 80%, it is not an Islamic state. Only countries with Islam as the state religion can be called Islamic states, and Indonesia has no state religion. This shows the marginalized status of Indonesian Muslims in their own history. A country where 87% of the population is Muslim cannot even establish Islam as the state religion. Neighboring Malaysia manages to do this, even though its Muslim population is only 60%, so Malaysia is considered an Islamic state.



Performance in the Old Town square

The Indonesian constitution requires citizens to have a religious belief. The Jakarta Charter published in 1945 clearly stated: 'The state shall be based on the belief in the One Supreme Allah, with the obligation for adherents of Islam to practice Sharia in accordance with correct and moral humanitarian principles.'

Indonesian citizens cannot have no religion, or they will be treated as materialist communists. You know what I mean. This is often linked to what people call the anti-Chinese sentiment in Indonesia, because at that time, many Chinese in Indonesia were associated with communism. Major General Suharto, who was pro-Western, overthrew the pro-communist Sukarno government and then started a massive anti-communist purge. When it happened, it targeted communists and was not specifically aimed at Chinese people. Therefore, focusing only on anti-Chinese sentiment ignores the background of the event.

The Special Region of Banda Aceh in Indonesia follows the second half of the Jakarta Charter by implementing Sharia law. Located in the northwest corner of Indonesia, Banda Aceh is the closest city in the country to Mecca. The prayer direction (qibla) in Indonesia faces northwest, but there are no direct flights, or I would really like to go there and experience the atmosphere of Sharia.



Street snacks in the old town

There are many snacks along the streets of the old town. I am not used to eating these unfamiliar foods on the side of the road, but interested friends can go and try them. I suspect they might not taste very good, as we may not be used to many Southeast Asian specialties. Plus, the hot weather could easily give you an upset stomach.



Some basic toilets in Indonesia have a plastic water bottle placed above the urinal. This bottle is used for washing yourself.

Grand Indonesia



Grand Indonesia is the largest shopping mall in Jakarta. It is truly massive and ranks among the best in Asia. The mall has everything, including a farmers market and numerous restaurants and snack shops. You can spend an entire day here. If you do not want to walk around in the scorching sun, I suggest coming here for shopping and relaxation.



The supermarket on the basement floor



Indonesian specialty civet coffee beans (kopi luwak)

I carefully checked the various internationally famous brands in the supermarket, and almost every product I saw had a halal certification mark.



Halal Yoshinoya



Japanese food in the mall

Japanese food is quite common in Indonesia and very popular with the locals. You often have to wait in line to eat at these types of restaurants. Japanese food in Indonesia is linked to the Japanese occupation during World War II. Many Japanese companies stayed in Indonesia after the war, bringing a large number of Japanese people with them.



A bookstore in the mall.

The bookstore in the mall has a large section for religious books. It carries books from all major religions, with the most being Islamic books. They are mostly in Indonesian, so I could not read them. Otherwise, I would have bought a few to take home.



Italian restaurant Popolamama.

This is an Italian restaurant in the mall. I have not seen a halal Italian restaurant in Beijing yet. The standard of Western restaurants in Jakarta is world-famous.



Italian pizza.

A pizza, a salad, and a glass of juice cost about 60 RMB. This price level is already quite high for Indonesia, as costs are even lower in other smaller Indonesian cities.

Second stop: Komodo Island.

Komodo Island is a major destination for my trip. I came here to fulfill a childhood wish as a nature enthusiast. When I was in elementary school, my family gave me a set of four encyclopedias. I flipped through the natural science volume the most, and I was deeply impressed by the various record-breaking plants and animals it introduced. Komodo Island is a place with great biodiversity and frequently appeared on nature shows.



Komodo Island is located in the southeastern corner of Indonesia. It is just a bit further south to reach Australia, so it faces Oceania across the sea. There are no direct flights from China to Komodo Island, so you must transfer through Jakarta or Bali. I flew for over three hours from Jakarta to reach Labuan Bajo Airport, which is the closest airport to Komodo Island. If you transfer from Bali to Labuan Bajo, it only takes one hour.





The main road of Labuan Bajo town.

After leaving Labuan Bajo Airport, I took a taxi for half an hour to reach the small town of Labuan Bajo. This is the busiest area in the region. The picture above shows the liveliest street in this town. The town has a small population, underdeveloped commerce, and covers only two square kilometers. Many residents still keep their traditional way of life, and most make a living from fishing and tourism. The most common shops along the street are dive shops. Komodo Island has many high-quality diving spots, but the underwater currents are complex and suitable for professional divers. Beginners are not advised to go.



Sylvia Hotel & Resort Komodo

My hotel had a private beach. Many hotels here have private beaches, and they are affordable and beautiful. You can stay in a very nice place for two or three hundred a night. I do not recommend this hotel, though, because it is far from the town center. There are no shops nearby and no public transport, so you cannot go out for a walk at night. I suggest staying in town next time for more convenience.



The hotel swimming pool



The only restaurant in the hotel



A steak set meal

A steak costs less than 100 yuan. There are no decent restaurants in Labuan Bajo town, mostly just small street shops. It is important to note that many Christians live in this town, and most restaurants on the island are run by Christians. They often label their food as halal and serve no pork, but they do sell alcohol.



Masjid Agung Nurul Falaq Labuan Bajo mosque

I took a taxi from the hotel and asked the driver to take me to the biggest mosque in town. He brought me here. This mosque is small compared to others in Indonesia. The density of Muslims in Indonesia decreases from the northwest to the southeast. The Aceh Special Region in the far northwest is the most Islamic, while Bali in the southeast is dominated by Hindus.



Muslims in Southeast Asia are mainly followers of the Shafi'i school. You can see them raise their hands three times during namaz. Whether they raise their hands three times or once, both practices have correct hadith support.



Small Indonesian barbecue

A simple Indonesian meal on the island, grilled chicken skewers with rice. The chili sauce is extremely spicy, just like the chili in Hunan.



I walked through a residential area and found a small mosque in the village. It was very simple, surrounded by villagers' houses, with chickens pecking for bugs nearby.



Interestingly, there is a pink Catholic grave built right next to this mosque. It is the first time I have seen such a combination.



The tombstone features paintings of the Virgin Mary and Jesus.



After resting for the night, I booked a one-day tour on Trip.com for the next day. The itinerary included Padar Island, Komodo Island, Pink Beach, Taka Makassar, a manta ray snorkeling spot, and Kanawa Island. It cost 789 RMB and included lunch, hotel pickup and drop-off, and an English-speaking guide.



The tour group provided face masks.

We left at 5:30 in the morning, and the driver arrived at the hotel on time to pick us up. Before we left, the guide gave every tourist a face mask. It was January 27, 2020. The epidemic had already broken out in China, but Indonesia was not affected at all, so the tourists did not pay much attention to it. The group included people from various countries, including Japan, South Korea, Sichuan, Taiwan, and Europe and America.

Padar Island



Overlooking from the top of Padar Island.

It took about an hour by boat to reach Padar Island. There are no residents on this island, and it remains in its original state. I climbed along the seaside to the top of the mountain to overlook the whole area. Some tourists brought drones for aerial photography.



Panoramic view of Padar Island.

After a short stay on the island, we continued by boat to Taka Makassar.



Taka Makassar.

The small island is a crescent-shaped isolated island that might be submerged when the tide rises slightly. However, the island is very beautiful with blue water. Looking down from the air, it looks like a gemstone embedded in the sea. The sand on the island already shows a light pink color, which is a feature of the Komodo area.



Taka Makassar.

You can go snorkeling nearby. It is very shallow, and because the water is so clear, you cannot see many fish. Be sure to protect yourself from the sun.



Pink Beach

The beaches around Komodo Island are generally pink because they contain tiny coral particles. Since this area was developed late, it has maintained its original natural state, and the seawater is crystal clear.





Fine pink sand grains



The sea view of Komodo Island is incredibly beautiful.

The underwater video of me trying to catch fish with a GoPro

Komodo National Park



Next, I continued to Komodo National Park. Just before landing, I saw a dark cloud floating over Komodo Island from a distance, making the atmosphere of landing on the island feel even more eerie. The world's largest venomous reptile, the Komodo dragon, lives on this island.



Komodo National Park consists of many islands, including the larger Padar Island, Rinca Island, and Komodo Island. About 3,000 giant lizards live on the islands. Indonesia established the national park to protect the Komodo dragons, and it was later listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.



You must be led by a park ranger to enter the forest. Tourists cannot act alone because the giant lizards on the island are all in the wild and are venomous and very dangerous. The long stick in the ranger's hand can block the giant lizard's attack. People often say Komodo dragons have toxic bacteria in their saliva because they eat carrion, which kills their prey through infection. Scientists have disproven this. In reality, Komodo dragons are born with venom glands, and it is their venom that kills the prey.



The park entrance asks visitors to stay quiet. Our group walked carefully the whole way, eyes wide open, watching every plant and tree around us.



I saw a dead, dried-up tree trunk and imagined a dinosaur pushing it over.



Komodo dragon nest

Our guide pointed to a mound of dirt in the distance, saying it was a Komodo dragon nest. It was about a meter high and five or six meters wide. The scene looked just like something out of Jurassic Park.



Near a pond, the guide stopped to tell us that dragons often come here to drink. Then I saw a deer limping toward the water. Its head was already injured, likely by a dragon. The guide said deer are the dragon's main food, and this deer would probably die soon after the attack.



A dragon in the bushes

We kept walking until the guide suddenly stopped and pointed to a dragon in the nearby bushes. I followed his finger and took a photo of the first dragon I saw. It was about two meters long, lying perfectly still in the brush. I could clearly hear it breathing.



Right after that, we saw three more dragons in the rest area, lying in the corner of a pavilion where tourists drink tea. The crowd got excited, and some people wanted to get close for photos. The guide became very alert and sternly warned everyone not to get too close.



Komodo dragons are hermaphroditic and can reproduce asexually. They live in trees when young and move to the plains as adults. They can dive, and they can run at speeds of 20 kilometers per hour. Their mitochondria are different from typical cold-blooded animals, allowing them to boost their metabolism to the level of a mammal, which gives them amazing speed and endurance. Attacks on humans are rare on the island, though there has been a case of a fisherman being killed by a dragon. Dragons have no natural predators on the island, but they will not attack humans if there is plenty of food.



Adult dragons grow over 3 meters long. They use their tongues to identify scents and can smell blood from 10 kilometers away. For small prey, the dragon bites them to death immediately. For larger prey, the dragon bites once and lets go, waiting for the venom to take effect before tracking the scent of blood to find the carcass.

We left Komodo National Park and headed to our next spot for snorkeling. The waters there are home to another ancient giant, the manta ray (guifu), which lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. They are the largest of their kind, reaching up to eight meters in length. They are said to be rare, and seeing them depends on luck, but we were very fortunate to spot a group of about four or five swimming right beneath our feet.



The manta ray is a strange-looking giant that has not changed since the dinosaur era, making it a true living fossil. These unique ancient creatures were the biggest draw for me on Komodo Island. Seeing animals I once only watched on nature shows appear right before my eyes was such a thrill.

The actual view is about what you see in the photos. The water where the manta rays appear is not very clear, but as the saying goes, clear water has no fish. The guy in the video is quite brave to get so close to the manta rays. It is actually a bit dangerous. Although manta rays have a gentle temperament, divers fear them when they get angry, as their two wings can break a diver's ribs.



Komodo Island is only a one-hour flight from the popular Indonesian tourist destination of Bali. To travel from Komodo to other Indonesian cities, you have to transfer through Bali. Although I am not very interested in Bali, since I am already here, I decided to go and look around the island.

Stop 3: Bali



The Hindu-style gates on Bali represent the journey from the secular to the sacred.

Bali is the only island in Indonesia where Hinduism is the dominant religion, and Hindu statues can be seen everywhere. Since this is a halal trip, I am not very interested in these non-Islamic artifacts. I came here mainly to have a decent halal seafood meal. If friends (dosti) plan to vacation in Bali, you do not need to worry too much about food, as halal restaurants are easy to find. The native residents here have a habit of eating roast suckling pig, most restaurants sell alcohol, and prices are very high.



Jimbaran Beach

Bali Airport is about three kilometers from Jimbaran Beach. In Indonesia, you must be careful not to engage with drivers soliciting passengers around the airport, as the chance of being ripped off is nearly 100%. There are two options for taking a taxi. One is the official taxi ticket counter at the airport where fares are prepaid. Just tell the staff your destination, pay, and you will get a slip. Follow the staff's instructions to find your driver, and there will be no extra charges. The other option is to use Grab. I highly recommend this app because it is cheaper, you do not need to pay cash, and you do not have to worry about language barriers, just like using Didi.



The exterior view of a restaurant on Jimbaran Beach.

Having just come from the pristine Komodo Island, seeing these highly commercialized beaches felt like a bit of a letdown, and the seawater is far less clear than in Komodo.



Crabs picked and cooked on the spot.

I asked my Hindu driver to take me to a halal restaurant, and he brought me to this place. He charged me over 100 yuan for a trip of less than five kilometers. It was my own fault for mishearing his 100 as 10 before I got in. I was in a rush, so I didn't argue. I only regret not installing the Grab app back home. I couldn't download it while in Indonesia and had to use a VPN to finally get it.



A squid weighing over one kilogram.



This seafood meal cost about 500 yuan. The prices were clearly marked, but it was definitely not as good a value as eating back home. The rice and side dishes were free. The taste was just average. The seafood was boiled plain, and you could add some strange seasonings or just squeeze some lemon juice over it to mix with the rice.



The island residents love growing flowers.

I don't recommend Bali because it really doesn't live up to its reputation. Prices on the island are more than double those in other parts of Indonesia, and it is heavily commercialized. Many of my friends who have been there don't think highly of it. I think it is only suitable for people who like to stay in their hotels, which we call hotel-staying. But everyone has their own preferences. Compared to Komodo Island, the hotels in Bali are much higher quality. If you don't mind spending the money, you can find a nice hotel here and stay for a few days.

Fourth stop: Yogyakarta.

I added Yogyakarta and Surabaya to my trip at the last minute because the pandemic suddenly broke out, my holiday was extended, and my flight home was canceled. A lady traveling with us, who had just arrived from there with her family, raved about how fun Yogyakarta and Surabaya were. She strongly suggested I go to Yogyakarta to experience Javanese culture. So, I just bought a ticket from Bali to Yogyakarta, and the flight took about an hour.

Yogyakarta is a famous historical and cultural city in Indonesia, similar to ancient capitals like Nanjing or Xi'an in China. All Javanese court arts originated here. Historically, Yogyakarta was ruled by a Sultan. After Indonesia gained independence in 1945, the Sultan of Yogyakarta pledged loyalty to Indonesia. The Sultanate became the Yogyakarta Special Region under Indonesia, with the Sultan serving as the governor and retaining his hereditary position.



The hotel garden and swimming pool.

Everything from landing to checking into the hotel was comfortable, and everyone I met was very friendly. I remember sitting in a taxi, staring blankly at the road outside the window. The car slowly drove past two girls. I wasn't sure if one of them was a transgender woman or a cross-dresser, but when she saw me looking at her, she winked at me.



I came for breakfast in the morning and it looked like I was the only guest. The waiter greeted me very warmly and asked what kind of breakfast I wanted. There were Western and Indonesian options, so of course, I chose the Indonesian style.



I enjoyed the view outside the window while eating. The spire in the distance is Prambanan, a famous Hindu site in Yogyakarta.



I always eat Indonesian fried rice (nasi goreng) for breakfast. The hotel breakfast is included in the room rate. Everything in Yogyakarta is very cheap, and even a five-star resort costs only about 300 RMB per night.



Some Indonesian TV stations automatically broadcast the call to prayer (adhan) when it is time for namaz.

Masjid Raya Al-Muttaqun mosque



Masjid Raya Al-Muttaqun mosque

I originally planned to visit the nearby Prambanan mosque. When I reached the entrance, I saw a mosque in traditional Javanese style across the street. It caught my full attention, so I decided to skip Prambanan and start my Javanese mosque tour instead.



The interior of the mosque is made of wood. A downside to this dark-colored wood is that it makes the main hall look dim. I noticed this same issue in several other mosques.



Since the prayer direction in Indonesia is toward the northwest, but buildings usually face south, the carpets in the main hall are laid out toward Mecca, which makes them look slanted.



The main hall of the mosque is on the second floor, and the first floor is a classroom where children are learning Arabic under a teacher's guidance. It started raining outside. January and February are the rainy season in Indonesia, with thunderstorms almost every day, but they stop quickly.

Prambanan (Candi Prambanan)



Prambanan ruins

Yogyakarta has two popular tourist spots. One is Borobudur, the world's largest Buddhist temple complex, and the other is Prambanan, the largest Hindu temple complex in Southeast Asia. Both are World Heritage sites built around the 9th century by unknown creators, and both were abandoned after completion. Legend says Prambanan might have been built by the second king of the Mataram Kingdom. Both complexes were rediscovered and rebuilt in the early 20th century, so most of the structures are new. Prambanan charges an entrance fee of 170 RMB, and Borobudur is over a hundred kilometers away, so I only walked around the entrance of the Prambanan temple.



I see many tourists online taking provocative photos in temples. I don't think this is right. After all, this is a religious holy site, and taking such photos feels out of place. A girl wrote in her travel guide that many Indonesian girls asked to take photos with her at Prambanan. She thought they were interested in her hairstyle because they envied her freedom to show her hair. I really want to tell her she is overthinking it. This is as ridiculous as those fake posts in China claiming Hui Muslims envy Han people for being able to eat pork. Don't you know that Indonesia does not force women to wear headscarves at all?

Mataram Mosque (Masjid Mataram)



In the Kotagede suburb of Yogyakarta, I found the tomb of Sultan Suta Wijaya Senapati of the Mataram Kingdom. Next to it stands a mosque that combines Hindu and Javanese architectural styles. The Mataram Kingdom was the first Islamic kingdom established in the Central Java region of Indonesia.



Because the faith in the Java region shifted from Hinduism to Islam, the ancient buildings on the island retain many traces of Hinduism. The gate of this mosque is a type of Hindu architectural style.



The internet says Mataram Mosque charges an entrance fee of about 10 yuan. I didn't run into anyone asking me for a ticket, and mosques really shouldn't charge tourists.



In the front hall of the mosque, some tourists were resting to escape the heat. The main hall of Mataram Mosque still uses the Javanese architectural style, with a front hall and a main hall, but no minaret. Drum beating is used instead of the call to prayer.



Prayer drum

The prayer drum is usually beaten during congregational prayers or festival prayers, which is a distinct Javanese feature.



Although the lights were on in the main hall, it was actually still quite dark. I brightened the photo a bit. This style is indeed not as well-lit as domed buildings.



The ritual of offering flowers to commemorate the deceased is inherited from Hindu traditions.



Next to the cemetery, there is a pool built as a bathhouse for performing major and minor ablutions. It is likely no longer in use. The pond is home to many giant catfish, both black and white.

Great Mosque of Yogyakarta (Masjid Gedhe Kauman)



Great Mosque of Yogyakarta

The Great Mosque of Yogyakarta (Masjid Gedhe Kauman) was built in 1773 right next to the Yogyakarta Palace. It is a traditional Javanese-style building. When I visited, I happened to run into a group of students there for an activity. Their teacher led them in namaz, so I joined in too.



This Javanese architectural style was likely influenced by ancient Chinese architecture. During the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He traveled to Java many times, bringing many craftsmen with him and spreading Islamic culture and Chinese civilization.



The front hall of the main prayer hall



A sign written in Javanese script hangs on the wall





A group of religious school students perform namaz led by their teacher, with the boys in front and the girls in a designated area behind them.



This is the area reserved for the Sultan to perform namaz, and ordinary people are not allowed inside. Honestly, this kind of privilege is not something Islam promotes; even a king should stand in the same row as the common people.



The minbar pulpit features typical Javanese patterns and a golden color, just like the tones of the Thai Royal Palace.



A mihrab with Southeast Asian royal characteristics

The Yogyakarta Palace is right next to the mosque. The palace is divided into a south section and a north section, and you have to buy separate tickets for each, costing about three yuan per ticket. I visited the north section, and it didn't feel like a palace at all to me. It was too simple, with only a few shed-like buildings, which made me wonder for a moment if this was really a palace.



Yogyakarta Palace

Soko Tunggal Mosque



Soko Tunggal Mosque

The Soko Tunggal Mosque in Yogyakarta gets its name from the Indonesian words for 'one pillar.' Built in 1972, it was designed by R. Ngabehi Mintobudoyo, who also designed the Yogyakarta Palace.



The main hall is supported by one central pillar and four side pillars, making five in total. This represents the temptations of evil from the four directions, a common feature in Javanese architecture. The flower carvings on the pillars show that praying in the mosque brings the grace of Allah.



A single pillar inside the main hall.

Yogyakarta is a city with a strong religious atmosphere. I felt this at the hotel where I stayed in the suburbs. Every time for namaz arrived, the sound of the adhan echoed from all around. It lasted for about ten minutes, likely because the clocks at different mosques were slightly out of sync.



I wandered into a nearby village. I saw a sign at the entrance that said 'Selamat Datang.' I first thought it was the village name, but that did not seem right since I had seen the phrase in many places. I asked a villager and learned it is Indonesian for 'welcome,' a phrase used across Southeast Asia.



Nurul Falaq Mosque

The people in this village are very friendly. Everyone I met on the road, whether young or old, smiled and nodded to greet me. The village loudspeaker was broadcasting an imam giving a sermon. I followed the sound to the mosque, but the door was closed. Before I could even say anything, a villager walked over and opened the door for me. It turned out the key was kept right by the entrance.



A mosque plaque. No matter how small the mosque is, it is officially registered.



A list of donations (niet), just like the ones in our mosques back home.



Baitussalam religious school



The Baitussalam religious school in the village

There are many religious schools like this in Yogyakarta. The children inside look like elementary school students. During breaks, they run around and play, and some gather around their teacher to do homework.



Main entrance of the school



Playground



The mosque inside the school



Exterior of the school mosque



Masjid Nurul Iman mosque in the same village

If this small mosque were in the city center, it would only be considered a dua room (musholla). Every mosque here is officially registered.





Masjid Jogokariyan mosque



Masjid Jogokariyan mosque

The mosque was built in 1967. Most people in this area work in batik, so the mosque has bright colors. Notice that the name of the mosque on the right side of the photo uses many colors.



No matter the time, you can always see people reading the Quran in the mosque, most of them women.



While I was in a taxi heading to the mosque, the driver noticed I was busy taking photos of every mosque we passed. He asked if I was a Muslim, so I blurted out, "Assalamu alaikum." He laughed after returning the greeting and pointed at my beard, saying I looked like a Muslim. I told him of course, as growing a beard is Sunnah.



You do not really need to emphasize your Muslim identity while traveling in Indonesia. From my experience, even if people only know you are from China, they treat you no differently. Talk of anti-Chinese sentiment is an exaggeration. Many ethnic Chinese still live in Indonesia today, with families who settled here hundreds of years ago. They have intermarried for generations, making it hard to tell their ethnicity by appearance alone.



SIX SENSES Spanish Restaurant

I saw a beautiful Spanish restaurant nearby on TripAdvisor. The setting is truly lovely, featuring a manor with a fountain and a garden. There are no halal Spanish restaurants back home in China, so I decided to fill that gap in my palate here in Yogyakarta.



The front porch of the restaurant



The interior decor of the restaurant



Cream of mushroom soup

I originally wanted to eat Spanish seafood paella, but after checking the menu, the portion was too large for one person. I did not want to waste food, and since the weather is hot and my appetite is smaller, I ordered a cream of mushroom soup and a salmon salad instead.



Salmon salad, with the salmon at the bottom of the plate

The tableware at this restaurant is very exquisite, and the waiters are very gentlemanly.



Lemon juice, with a small cup of honey on the side

This restaurant looks very fancy, but the bill, including service charge and tax, was less than 100 RMB. That is considered high-end spending locally, which shows how down-to-earth Yogyakarta is.



Fried chicken meal eaten next to the mosque

This meal cost about 5 RMB. Indonesians love fried food and will fry almost anything. The waiter did not give me any cutlery with my meal because everyone eats with their hands, so I followed suit and finished it that way.

Stop 5: Surabaya

It takes one hour to fly from Yogyakarta to Surabaya, but I suggest taking a train or bus instead. My flight was canceled once, and when I rebooked, it was delayed. The weather on Java island is unpredictable, so traveling by land is better from the start. Land transport only costs a few dozen RMB, while a plane ticket costs over 300.

Surabaya is the second-largest city in Indonesia. Indonesians call it Surabaya, so remember this name to make asking for directions easier. Zheng He landed here when he reached Java island during his voyages to the Western Ocean, and it is now home to the largest population of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia.

In 1520, the first Islamic dynasty to rise in central Java, Indonesia, was the Demak Sultanate. Sultan Raden Patah (1475-1518) was of Chinese descent and an ancestor of Indonesia's fourth president, Abdurrahman Wahid. His surname was Chen. Wahid stated he had Chinese ancestry, and his ancestor, Chen Jinhan, traveled to Java with Zheng He's fleet during his fifth voyage in the 15th year of the Yongle reign (1417) and settled in Surabaya.

Al-Akbar National Mosque (Masjid Nasional Al-Akbar Surabaya)



Al-Akbar National Mosque

This is a landmark building in Surabaya. It feels even bigger and more beautiful than the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta. Construction began in 1995, stopped for two years during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and was completed in 2000. Then-President Abdurrahman Wahid presided over the opening ceremony. President Wahid was also the chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama, making him a leader in the Indonesian religious community. It says a lot that a descendant of a Chinese ancestor could achieve such a position in Indonesia.



A cat in the main prayer hall





Mihrab



pulpit (minbar)



Prayer drum



Sunan Ampel arch
Sunan Ampel Tomb view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Indonesia Muslim travel guide part 2 follows Surabaya, Sunan Ampel Mosque, Cheng Ho Mosque, Islamic history in Java, local Chinese Muslim heritage, airport halal food, and practical reflections from a Chinese Hui Muslim traveler.

The gongbei of Sunan Ampel (1401-1481).

Sunan Ampel Mosque (1401-1481) in Surabaya was built in 1421. Sunan Ampel was a key founder of Islam in Java and held a status similar to Hu Dengzhou in China. His ancestor was the famous Sufi master Ahmad Muhajir from Iraq. Ampel married a woman of Chinese descent named Nyi Gede Manila, and they had two sons and two daughters. After Ampel passed away in 1481, he was buried inside the mosque. Today, it is a place of pilgrimage for believers. When I arrived, a school was organizing a visit to the grave, so I joined the students in performing a dua and listened to them chant various melodies of praise for the Prophet. Although this is a holy tomb, it looks very simple. It has no grave mound and is not as luxurious as the menhuan gongbei in China.



The main hall of Sunan Ampel Mosque.

Islam had already spread to Indonesia as early as the 13th century. In his travelogues, Marco Polo mentioned that when he stayed in the kingdom of Perlak on the Malay Peninsula and the kingdom of Pasai in Sumatra in 1292, he found that the people there practiced Islam. Meanwhile, the Chinese historian Ma Huan recorded his observations in Sumatra during Zheng He's voyages in "The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores" (Yingya Shenglan). He stated that in places like Palembang, West Sumatra, and Aceh on the northeast coast of Sumatra, the kings and the people were all Hui Muslims, and there were also merchants from Guangzhou, Zhangzhou, and Quanzhou in China.



Students arrived one after another, sat on the ground, and followed their teacher in praising Allah and the Prophet.

Indonesia established its first Islamic sultanate in the 13th century on the island of Sumatra, called Samudera Pasai. Its founder, Mirah Silau, was a royal descendant who converted to Islam under the influence of the Arab merchant Sheikh Ismail and the South Indian mentor Sultan Muhammad.



The boys finished reciting, and then the girls continued.



No matter whose tombstone it is, it is always in such a small space.

Cheng Ho Mosque

Surabaya has a Cheng Ho Mosque named after Zheng He, built by Indonesian Chinese. There are over 200,000 Indonesian Chinese Muslims. Many more have long blended into the Indonesian community, some even changing to Indonesian surnames, making them hard to distinguish by appearance. These facts show that any attempt to exclude Chinese people in Indonesia is unpopular and impossible to succeed in theory or practice.



Cheng Ho Mosque

The architectural style of the Cheng Ho Mosque references the Niujie Mosque in Beijing. Since then, seven more Cheng Ho mosques have been built in Indonesia. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on October 15, 2001, which was the day of Isra and Mi'raj.



Islam spread in Indonesia mainly through peaceful means. Scholars currently believe there were several channels. First, merchants from Arabia, India, and China brought Islam to Indonesia through trade. On May 22, 2006, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported that after 18 months of salvage work, European and Indonesian teams discovered about 250,000 artifacts from the Tang and Song dynasties in an ancient shipwreck in the Java Sea, including many Islamic items. This shows that China had a significant influence on the Islamization of Indonesia. Zheng He was very active in Southeast Asia. He actively engaged in local Islamic activities, built mosques, and established Chinese Muslim communities. To this day, Indonesian Chinese Muslims still commemorate Zheng He.



The second channel for spreading the faith was Sufi missionary work. The mystical ideas of Sufism were easily accepted by local residents who practiced Hinduism. Before Islam arrived, Hinduism was the mainstream religion in Indonesia. As Sufi scholars became more active, many residents and the ruling class abandoned their original polytheism and converted to the monotheistic faith of Islam.



Large red lanterns and the call-to-prayer drum are a perfect blend of Chinese and Indonesian cultures.





The main hall is an open space, meaning it has no doors. Doors are not needed here, as the mosque is always open to the public.



This is the location of the Indonesian Chinese Islamic Association and the Indonesian Haji Cheng Ho Foundation.



The stone inscriptions inside the mosque record the history of Zheng He and the spiritual legacy he left behind in Surabaya.



The inscriptions clearly state that Zheng He was a Muslim. They also explain why he participated in Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist activities. Simply put, he had to adapt to the world around him.

Masjid Al Ittihad Pakuwon Mall mosque



Masjid Al Ittihad Pakuwon Mall mosque

This mosque is built inside the Pakuwon Mall. Indonesian friends (dosti) told me that almost every building in Indonesia has a prayer room. Prayer rooms are different from mosques because they usually lack facilities for a full ritual wash (ghusl) and do not have an imam. This is the first time I have seen a full mosque inside a shopping mall.



The mosque also offers free storage services.





Area for minor ritual washing (wudu)



Main prayer hall

Mount Bromo

(Bromo)

After finishing my tour of the city, I planned to head to Mount Bromo. You can book a two-day local tour from Surabaya for about 1,000 yuan, but they require at least two people. I checked the route and decided I could have a great trip without a tour group, so I boarded the train to the volcano.



The train has first-class and second-class seats.

To get to Mount Bromo, start at Gubeng train station in Surabaya. Take a train for over two hours and get off at Probolinggo. The train ticket costs about 5 yuan. Outside the Probolinggo station, green minibuses head to the village at the foot of the volcano. They leave when full and cost about 15 yuan each. The 50-kilometer trip takes an hour and a half, but you have to wait for the bus to fill up. On my way back, I waited over three hours and it never filled, so I had to take an unlicensed taxi back to the Probolinggo train station. The 100 yuan I paid for the 50-kilometer ride was not expensive.

If you catch the bus smoothly, the total cost to climb Mount Bromo is no more than 50 yuan. Because I arrived in the middle of the night and wanted to see the sunrise, I spent an extra 200 yuan on taxis for the round trip.



A prayer room on the train.

The driver dropped me off at the village at the foot of the volcano at 2 a.m. From there, you have to hike to the summit unless you rent an off-road vehicle or ride a horse, which is expensive. Climbing in the middle of the night is pitch black, so you need to use your phone's flashlight. You must pay a 10 yuan entrance fee to enter the village and climb to the summit for the sunrise, and you need to buy another ticket to get close to the crater.



Off-road vehicles for climbing. You can charter one for a few people for about 300 yuan per vehicle.



The scenery along the way after daybreak.



Dawn before the sunrise.

Google Maps shows the walk to the King Kong Hill (Penanjakan) summit is about 3 kilometers, but it is a mountain road and difficult to walk. It is also cold on the mountain at night, so you need a cotton jacket to stay warm. It took me an hour and a half to walk those three kilometers. It was pitch black along the way with no other tourists, just a few villagers on horseback who occasionally asked if I wanted a ride.



I shivered in the cold wind while waiting for the sunrise. The scenery around Mount Bromo is truly beautiful. In the morning, with the sea of clouds, the small town looks like a fairyland from a distance.



A town in the clouds.





Mount Bromo crater.



Looking from afar, the Mount Bromo crater is still emitting smoke, and you can already smell the sulfur. This volcano is still active, but you can walk up to the crater for a close look. You just need to bring your own gas mask, as a regular face mask won't help. Some people say it stings your throat and eyes. You can ride a horse from the foot of the mountain to the crater. You need to buy a ticket to visit the crater, which costs about 170 yuan per person. Considering the pandemic, I couldn't risk any respiratory issues, or it would be very troublesome to return home, so I gave up on the idea of walking into the crater, even though I really wanted to see the lava flowing.



The meatball noodle soup (wanzi fentang) at the train station restaurant uses meatballs made with beef fat, much like the style in Yunnan.

On the way back to Surabaya, I kept eating to keep my energy up. There is nothing on the mountain except small stalls selling instant noodles and hot coffee, and there are no mosques.



I had an Indonesian-style set meal at the Broadway shopping center.



I ate Indonesian fried rice (nasi goreng) at the Surabaya airport.



Thai-style hot pot, rich in curry flavor and slightly spicy.



Different colored plates have different prices, and they count the plates to calculate the bill after you finish eating.



There are two ways to eat Thai-style hot pot: you can grill or boil the food.



HANAMASA, a Japanese-style wagyu barbecue restaurant near the Surabaya train station.

You can also grill and boil meat at the same time here, and the greeter wearing a headscarf spoke to me in Japanese.



Help yourself to the fruit snacks.



A variety of Southeast Asian desserts.



They specialize in wagyu beef, but also serve chicken, seafood, and more.



The server suggested I try both the grilled meat and the hot pot, and both tasted good. I still think the hot pot in Beijing is better, as Indonesians don't use sesame paste for it. This meal cost a few dozen yuan per person, as prices in Surabaya are also quite low.

My trip to Indonesia ended after my visit to Surabaya. I flew from Surabaya back to Beijing with a layover in Hong Kong. My Cathay Pacific flight was delayed for 12 hours, and I wasn't allowed to leave the airport to look around. Many passengers were stuck at the airport, and since the border was closed during the pandemic, we had to wait at the airport until our flight took off the next morning.

I spent the whole night walking around Hong Kong International Airport. There are currently two dua rooms at the airport, one near gate 42 and the other near gate 211.



The dua room near gate 211



The dua room near gate 42

After leaving Indonesia, it felt a bit strange not being able to eat just anywhere at Hong Kong airport. There is currently only one halal-certified restaurant in the entire airport called Old Town White Coffee. There used to be a halal Popeyes, but it has closed down.



Old Town White Coffee

This restaurant serves no alcohol and offers Southeast Asian food. I ordered a bowl of Ipoh shredded chicken rice noodles (hefen), a side of fried chicken, and a lemon tea for about 100 yuan. The taste was decent, and I felt very grateful to have a hot halal meal at that time.



The restaurant is open from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM and is located in the food court area. view all