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Introducing Surabaya
There’s no denying that Surabaya is big, noisy, polluted and intimidating. As Indonesia’s second-largest city and the home of the country’s navy, Surabaya is a colossal port peppered with cranes, corporate buildings and crowded spaces. Against the calm of rural East Java, it is pandemonium writ large.
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But while Surabaya has all the trappings of a modern city, it too has its contrasts. Brightly daubed becak still cut blindly through the waves of Japanese saloon cars, and the claustrophobic streets of the city’s old town hum with the sights, sounds and smells of earlier times.
For most foreign visitors, the city is merely a place to change buses or trains for Bali. For locals, however, Surabaya is closely linked to the birth of the Indonesian nation, as it was here that the battle for independence began. To them, Surabaya is Kota Pahlawan (City of Heroes), and statues commemorating independence are scattered all over the city.
Last updated: Feb 17, 2009
