Quote:
Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey
Don't know if you've been back to Malang recently Detlef, but all that area has changed a lot in recent years. Used to be a nice little town, a bit elite, quiet, cool, a bit classy with echoes of the late colonial era --- like Toko Oen.
And the old market before some idiot thought it was a good idea to knock the old market down and build a modern edifice that the old traditional sellers could not afford to trade in.
Kamikaze becaks flying down Jln. Semeru, I used to get off at the top of the hill, they scared me sh*tless.
Anyway, all that oldtime stuff has gone, these days its wall to wall traffic jams. They've built an enormous mesjid there and since then the whole character of the place has disappeared.
I still need to visit from time to time, but I escape ASAP.
Even 1992 it was still OK, but the further back you go, the nicer it was. I was there first in about 1970 & frequently from about 1974. I loved the place. But no more.
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No Alan, my visit there in 1992 was the only one. I have a very good memory of Malang, I felt very well there.
But do you know places where Indonesia has not changed a lot? At my first visit to Halmahera it was clean from plastic waste, two years later it was visible everywhere.
Best regards,
Detlef