Surabaya

Surabaya is Java's second city and Indonesia's busiest port after Jakarta. The cruise terminal has a cultural welcome area with local crafts and jewellery on display. A taxi from the port reaches the old Arab Quarter (Ampel District) in about 15 minutes, where the Ampel Mosque and surrounding lanes are filled with spice and fabric shops. The Heroes Monument (Tugu Pahlawan) and the adjacent 10 November Museum document the 1945 Battle of Surabaya, a key moment in Indonesia's independence war. The Monkasel, a decommissioned Soviet submarine beached near the river, is open as a museum and easy to visit on a short stop. The House of Sampoerna is a colonial building that now houses a cigarette factory and museum showing the hand-rolling of kretek (clove cigarettes), with a café upstairs. Rujak Cingur, a local salad with beef snout in a tamarind-peanut sauce, is Surabaya's signature dish. The currency is the Indonesian rupiah, and Grab taxis are the easiest way to get around.