Kretek MuseumMUSEUM
(Jl Museum Kretek Jati Kulon; donations accepted; h7.30am-4pm; a)
This lonely, shabby old compound has some interesting exhibits of the history of kretek production, including some fascinating old photographs and machinery, though the fountain out front is as funky as the inside of a pair of charred lungs. Almost all explanations are in Bahasa Indonesia but there's a guide here who speaks English well. Next door, Rumah Adat is a traditional wooden Kudus house exhibiting the fabulous carving work the town is noted for.
Djarum Kretek FactoryFACTORY
(Jl Ahmed Yani)F
Djarum, opened in 1951, is the main employer in town and third-biggest kretek manufacturer in Indonesia. Ninety-minute tours of its modern factory are available between 8am and 11am.
KRETEK CIGARETTES
If Java has a smell, it is the sweet, spicy scent of the clove-flavoured kretek. The kretek has only been around since the early 20th century, but today the addiction is nationwide and accounts for 90% of the cigarette market, while sales of rokok putih (cigarettes without cloves) are languishing. So high is the consumption of cloves used in the kretek industry that Indonesia, traditionally a supplier of cloves in world markets, has become a substantial net importer from other world centres.
The invention of the kretek is attributed to a Kudus man, Jamahri, who claimed the cigarettes relieved his asthma. Later another local, Nitisemitol, who had a gift for business, started selling the cigarettes commercially. He mixed tobacco with crushed cloves rolled in rokok klobot (corn leaves); this was the prototype for his Bal Tiga brand, which he began selling in 1906.
Kudus became the centre for the kretek industry and at one stage the town had more than 200 factories, though today fewer than 50 cottage industries and a few large factories remain. Rationalisation in the industry has seen kretek production dominated by big producers, such as Sampoerna in Surabaya, Gudang Garam in Kediri and Djarum in Kudus.
Although filtered kretek are produced by modern machinery – Djarum churns out up to 140 million a day – nonfiltered kretek are still rolled by hand on simple wooden rolling machines. The best rollers can turn out around 4000 cigarettes in a day.
As to the claim that kretek are good for smoker’s cough, cloves are a natural anaesthetic and do have a numbing effect on the throat. Any other claims to aiding health stop there – the tar and nicotine levels in the raw, slowly cured tobaccos are so high that some countries have banned or restricted their import.
Filtered kretek now dominate the market. There are ‘mild’ versions on offer, but for the kretek purist, the conical, crackling, nonfiltered kretek has no substitute – Sampoerna’s Dji Sam Soe (‘234’) brand is regarded as the Rolls Royce of kretek. To see Sampoerna rollers in action visit the factory in Surabaya.
4Sleeping & Eating
Kudus has several good inexpensive hotels; all are on or just off the main drag, Jl Ahmed Yani.
You have to try soto kudus (a rich chicken soup), which the town is famous for. It’s usually served up bright yellow (from turmeric) with lots of garlic, and the chicken is sometimes shredded. Jenang kudus is a sweet that’s made of glutinous rice, brown sugar and coconut.
The best place for inexpensive food and such local specialities is Taman Bojana, a food-stall complex on the main roundabout in the centre of town.
Wisma KarimaGUESTHOUSE$
(%0291-431712; Jl Museum Kretek Jati Kulon III; r incl breakfast from 120,000Rp; a)
Just off the highway on the south side of town, this guesthouse is orderly and good value. It's run by a welcoming family and has nine rooms, some quite spacious but all a little old-fashioned.
Hotel Kenari AsriHOTEL$$
(%0291-446200; www.hotelkenari-central.com; Jl Kenari II; r incl breakfast 350,000-500,000Rp, ste 600,000Rp; aW)
Down a little lane off the main drag, this gaudy hotel looks like a fancy wedding cake, rising up in levels from the road. Its rooms are in good condition with flat-screens and modern furniture.
Sari Lembur KuringINDONESIAN$
(Jl Agil Kusumadya 35; mains 18,000-50,000Rp)
A large, pleasant restaurant complete with water features, where you can tuck into tasty Sundanese and Javanese food under a shady pagoda.
8Information
The BII Bank (Jl Dr Lukmonohadi; h8am-4pm Mon-Sat) has an ATM, and there are several more on Jl Ahmed Yani beside the Taman Bojana food complex (which also has public toilets).
8Getting There & Away
Kudus is on the main Semarang–Surabaya road. The bus terminal is around 4km south of town. City minibuses run from behind the bus terminal to the town centre (3000Rp), or you can take a becak. Buses go from Kudus to Demak (5000Rp, 50 minutes) and Semarang (25,000Rp, 1½ hours), while minibuses go to Colo (9000Rp). Buses to Jepara (15,000Rp, 1¼ hours) leave from the Jetak subterminal, 4km west of town (3000Rp by minibus).
Jepara
%0291 / Pop 18,400
Famed as the best woodcarving centre in Java, Jepara’s once booming furniture business brought it all the trappings of prosperity. The highwater days are done now, but as you enter town you'll still pass dozens of furniture showrooms offering contemporary, 'distressed' and 'antique' designs. Even the fields here are full of woodcarvings and half-finished wardrobes rather than rice and vegetables.
The laid-back town's broad avenues, neighbourhood lumber yards, small gangs lined with humble homes that open onto back-door canals, which lead to nearby beaches, make it a tranquil spot to take a break from the road. The area is home to a now dwindling population of expats and is still visited by buyers from all over the world, so it's more cosmopolitan than many small Indonesian towns.
Jepara is also a jumping-off point for the Karimunjawa Islands. Which is probably why you're here.
1Sights
Museum RA KartiniMUSEUM
(admission 5000Rp; h8am-2pm)
On the north side of the alun-alun, this museum is dedicated to one of Indonesia’s most celebrated women. One room is devoted to Kartini and contains portraits of her and her family, plus memorabilia. Other rooms contain assorted archaeological findings, including a yoni and lingam, and local art and artefacts, such as fine woodcarvings and ceramics. There’s also a 16m skeleton of whale. It is sometimes possible to visit Kartini’s old rooms, if you contact the tourist office.
Benteng VOCFORTRESS
Heading north from the Museum RA Kartini, cross the river and veer left up the hill to the old Dutch Benteng VOC. Over the last 50 years the fort’s stonework has been pillaged, but the site has good views across town to the Java Sea. The cemetery nearby has some Dutch graves.
Pantai KartiniBEACH
The most popular beach is Pantai Kartini, 3km west of town – locals often call it Pemandian. From there you can rent a boat (around 150,000Rp return) to nearby Pulau Panjang, which has excellent white-sand beaches.
AN INDO ICON
Raden Ajeng Kartini, a writer, feminist and progressive thinker, was born in 1879, the daughter of the bupati (regent) of Jepara. She grew up in the bupati’s residence, on the eastern side of the alun-alun, excelled at school and learnt to speak fluent Dutch by the age of 12. It was in this residence that Kartini spent her pingit (‘confinement’ in Javanese), when girls from 12 to 16 are kept in virtual imprisonment and forbidden to venture outside the family home. She later used her education to campaign for women’s rights and against colonialism, before dying at the age of 24 just after the birth of her first child. A national holiday is held on 21 April, known as Kartini Day, in recognition of her work.
4Sleeping
Hotel Jepara IndahHOTEL$$
(%0291-593548; Jl Cokeoaminoto 12; standard/deluxe from 350,000/395,000Rp; aW)
A four-storey concrete-tower hotel with modern, tiled rooms that are a bit dark due to tinted windows. Deluxe rooms are better updated. Walls are scuffed and tile is chipped here and there, but the digs are still reasonably clean.
Bayfront VillaINN$$
(%0821 3634 6151; www.hoteljeparabayfront.com; standard/deluxe 750,000/850,000Rp)
This laid-back inn on a clean, narrow stretch of beach offers a handful of homely, not fancy, rooms with creative paintjobs. All open onto a common terrace upstairs or pool deck downstairs. That pool is lovely, as is the little bar on the beach.
Ocean View ResidenceHOTEL, APARTMENTS$$
(%0291-429 9022; www.oceanview-residence.com; standard/deluxe 770,000/875,000Rp; aWs)
Down a narrow lane that zigzags through rice fields, this beachside resort is a mash up of modernist units with a party-people vibe. Standard rooms are quite simple and overpriced. Deluxe rooms are imaginatively desgined with full kitchens, ocean views and cool art on the wall.
Around the pool are ample lounges – and a thumping sound system – overlooking the scruffy beachfront.
5Eating
Jepara is noted for its wonderful soto ayam. If you love chicken soup, you can find it in warung all around town.
Pondok RasaINDONESIAN$
(%0291-591025; Jl Pahlawan II; mains 15,000-65,000Rp; v)
Inland, just across the river from the alun-alun, Rasa is a traditional Javanese restaurant with a pleasant garden setting and tasty Indonesian food served lesahan style. There's lots of choice for vegetarians.
oYam-YamINTERNATIONAL$$
(%0291-598755; Jl Pantai Karang Kebagusan, Km5; mains from 25,000-78,000Rp; h11am-10pm)
There's no topping this stylish beachfront restaurant in Jepara, where candlelit wood tables are scattered around a pool that overlooks the bay. The thatched brick-house kitchen turns out solid Thai food, as well as grilled fish, steaks and chicken, big salads and a lot more.
7Shopping
Intricately carved jati (teak) and mahogany furniture and relief panels are on display at shops and factories all around Jepara. However, the main carpentry centre is the village of Tahunan, 4km south of Jepara on the road to Kudus, where it’s wall-to-wall furniture.
Brightly coloured, Sumba-style ikat weavings, using traditional motifs, are woven and sold in the village of Torso, situated 14km south of Jepara and 2km off the main road. Other original designs are also produced here. Unusual for Java, men predominantly do the weaving.
Pecangaan, 18km south of Jepara, produces rings, bracelets and other jewellery from monel (a stainless-steel alloy).
8Information
Tourist OfficeTOURIST INFORMATION
(%0291-591493; www.gojepara.com; Jl AR Hakim 51; h8am-4pm Mon-Thu, 7-11am Fri)
In the western part of town; has very helpful staff and runs a particularly informative website.
8Getting There & Around
Frequent buses make the trip from Jepara to Kudus (15,000Rp, 1¼ hours) and Semarang (15,000Rp to 30,000Rp, 2½ hours). A few buses also go to Surabaya, but Kudus has more connections.
Becak are cheap and the best way to get around. From the terminal, about 1km west of the town centre, 10,000Rp will get you anywhere in town, including the Kartini harbour for boats to Karimunjawa.
Around Jepara
1Sights
MantinganMOSQUE
F
The mosque and tomb of Ratu Kali Nyamat, the great warrior-queen, are in Mantingan, 4km south of Jepara. Kali Nyamat twice laid siege to Portugal’s Melaka stronghold in the latter part of the 16th century. The mosque, dating back to 1549, was restored some years ago and the tomb lies to the side of it. It's noted for its Hindu-style embellishments and medallions.
Angkudes (minibuses) depart from the Jepara bus terminal, and can drop you outside the mosque for 3000Rp.
Pantai BandenganBEACH
Jepara has some fine white-sand beaches. Pantai Bandengan (aka Tirta Samudra), 7km northeast of town, is one of the best beaches on the north coast – an arc of gently shelving white sand. The main public section can get littered, but just a short walk away the sand is clean, the water clear and the swimming safe. It's beautiful at sunset. To get here, take a bemo (minibus; 3000Rp) from Jl Pattimura in Jepara.
On weekdays you may have to charter a whole bemo (around 35,000Rp).
Karimunjawa Islands
%0297 / Pop 8700
The dazzling offshore archipelago of Karimunjawa, a marine national park, consists of 27 coral-fringed islands – only five of which are inhabited – that lie about 90km north of Jepara. The white-sand beaches are sublime, swimming is wonderful and the pace of life as relaxed as a destination defined by coconut palms and turquoise seas should be.
Holidaying Indonesians account for most of the visitors here, though Western travellers are starting to be seduced by the islands too.
The main island, Pulau Karimunjawa, a lush mountainous beauty, is home to most of the archipelago’s facilities and the majority of the islanders, most of whom are Javanese, though there are also some Bugis and Madurese families who live off fishing, tourism and seaweed cultivation. This island is also home to the archipelago's only real town, Karimunjawa, and despite widespread mangroves, a couple of good beaches.
So close to Java, yet so way out, Karimunjawa is the kind of place where a stray cow as big as a buffalo will wander onto a ragged soccer pitch to graze, where afternoon naps are sacrosanct, and where wind and weather can keep you delightfully stranded. And that is a wonderful thing.
The archipelago is divided into zones to protect the rich ecosystem. Zone One is completely out of bounds to all except national park rangers, with other areas set aside for sustainable tourism.
Access has improved recently, though during the rainy season boats don't always run. Flights tend to take off as scheduled, though they are also prone to cancellation in rough weather. An airstrip is located on adjacent Pulau Kemujan.
1Sights & Activities
Pulau Karimunjawa is a delight to explore by bike. Most of the shoreline is fringed with mangroves. The best two stretches of sandy beach are Batu Topeng (2000Rp), and Pantai Tanjung Gelam (2000Rp entrance), both accessible from a concrete spit, 7km north of the main village. From that small road two tracks break off. The one closest to the main road leads to Batu Topeng. Pantai Tanjung Gelam has a more beautiful white-sand beach with a handful of warungs set up beneath tarps. Here, the turquoise bathwater stretches out to deeper blue. Even when the wind is blowing, it's often still on this side of the island as it's sheltered by Karimunjawa's mountainous spine. There's good snorkelling here too. Both of these beaches are relatively devoid of plastic trash, which inundates the island's other beaches, thanks to the local villagers who keep it clean.
Park rangers can help you organise a hike up Pulau Karimunjawa’s 600m peak, Gunung Gendero. Ask about it at your guesthouse. In the far north of the island there's a network of walkways and platforms that allow you to explore the extensive mangroves that fringe Pulau Karimunjawa and neighbouring Pulau Kemujan.
Boat trips to other islands are an excellent day out; chartering a boat costs 400,000Rp to 500,000Rp per day, or hotel owners can often hook you up with tour groups to save costs. The uninhabited islands of Menjangan Besar and Menjangan Kecil both have sweeping white sands and decent snorkelling, and are within easy reach of Karimunjawa town.
Further out, Pulau Menyawakan is the site of Karimunjawa’s only major resort. Pulau Nyamuk, Pulau Parang, Pulau Bengkoang and Pulau Genting are all home to small, traditional communities. The reefs around many of these islands offer decent snorkelling, and if the wind is still, the visibility clarifies and offers decent diving – though experienced divers will note that it's slightly pricier here than elsewhere in Indonesia. Coconut Dive (%0813 9267 8888; satu-dunia.com; Jl Sutomo; two tanks 900,000Rp) is the best outfit in town. Its most popular dive site centres on a 100-year-old Norwegian wreck that plunges to 25m. You'll pay a surcharge if you are the only diver of the day.
As a marine park, many parts of Karimunjawa – including Pulau Burung and Pulau Geleang, home to nesting sea eagles – are officially off limits (though this protected status is unfortunately not always strictly enforced).
The isl
ands can experience violent weather between December and February, and winds can kick up a fuss and the seas at anytime. If they do, flights and boat trips can be disrupted, though flights tend to function on schedule most of the time. Bottom line, if you are concerned about being stranded, it's better to fly.
THE PLASTIC PROBLEM
The idyllic island of Karimunjawa, 90km from Java and set in the middle of tempestuous seas, is blessed with spectacular, empty beaches and offshore islets that were once the absolute archetype of wild tropical beauty. They would be still if not for all the plastic refuse that washes up day and night from the open ocean. But Karimunjawa is by no means the only Java destination with a massive plastic garbage problem.
You can wander every street, gang and path in all of Java and rarely be far from a piece of plastic discarded thoughtlessly. Most of it is the single-use variety: water bottles (less recyclable than you think), plastic bags, thin plastic packaging and straws. But what makes Karimunjawa's plastic issue more troubling is that it isn't self-generated. Almost all of the litter is coming from Java's cities, directed here by the prevailing winds and tides. Thanks largely to inadequate waste management and lack of individual awareness, the plastic keeps coming and coming. Worse, the stuff that washes up onshore and ruins otherwise perfect beaches (and selfies) is actually a blessing. If it stays in the ocean, it accumulates an array of toxins and breaks down into microscopic, plankton-like bits, which get nibbled by fish, which get gobbled by other fish, which are eaten by people. That's how single-use plastic enters the food chain. The plastic that doesn't get digested will never disappear. It sinks to the bottom of the sea, or gets carried by depth currents around the world. This is why plastic has been found in deep sea sediment all over the world, including Arctic ice cores. In a world ensnared by a thousand and one ecological and social issues, single-use plastic is arguably our biggest plague.
Lonely Planet Indonesia Page 28