Arriving in Surabaya, I was quite disappointed with that huge city. Very tourist unfriendly. Transportation nearly impossible around town due to traffic unless you download one of the Indonesian ride sharing apps.

I took the bus to Malang as it’s the jumping off point for Bromo Volcano tours.

Bromo was fantastic. It made Malang a very worthwhile stop.

On arrival at the Malang bus station, there were no taxis. No bus. No way to get to my hostel. Weird.

It seems very few use taxis here. Everyone does ride-sharing. I finally downloaded the local Grab app and got logged in.

Finally one of the staff found a guy who was happy to overcharge me for a gypsy cab ride.

BEST thing about my hostel was proximity to Rainbow Village and the train station.

Three days in Malang, I finally started getting skilled in crossing impossibly dangerous looking busy streets. Just go. The drivers will probably miss you. 😀

According to INRIX, Malang is one of the most congested cities in the world.

I found some nice parks. They love birds. Tolerate cats. But I only saw 1 dog over 3 days.

Beautiful tropical trees.

Of course the mosques are impressive.

I visited the Bird and Animal market. Rabbits for food or pets!

I stopped by one of the universities. Looked great.

I learned that some of the small side streets where people live are quiet and clean. At night kids run free and everybody sits outside to chat.

I learned that you get up before the traffic IF you want to exercise. This photo was taken at 6am.

Foodwise … I’m still eating mostly at McDonalds or western style malls. They have menus in English. And I trust more the hygiene.

Also, HOW can you beat the McSpecial of CAD $2.31 for fried chicken with a side of spaghetti. AND coffee.

I departed via an inexpensive Executive train car. Excellent!

I’ll take train over bus from now on.

The Malang train station (built 2022) had 2 information kiosks and were super helpful with tourists. (Tickets are paid only by cash, not cards.)