Malang is a cool, hilly city in East Java, at about 450 metres, and the altitude is the thing everyone mentions. After the heat of Surabaya, a couple of hours to the north, the evening air is a relief, and for the Dutch it was a favourite hill station, laid out in the early twentieth century with broad avenues, big trees and neat colonial villas around the central square. Some of that has survived, and the old streets near the Tugu monument still have a faded charm, though the city is now large and busy, with a university population and a lot of motorbikes.
The region has a long past. Just north of the city, at Singosari, a small stone temple, Candi Singosari, survives from the thirteenth-century kingdom of Singhasari, which was a forerunner of the great Majapahit empire. The surrounding hills are covered with orchards, and the town of Batu nearby is known for apples and strawberries, sold along the roadside in baskets. Food is a pleasure: bakso Malang, meatball soup with noodles and fried dumplings, is the city's pride, and tempeh and fried tofu are served at every stall.
Malang is also the starting point for the best-known road on the island, the way up to the Bromo Tengger Semeru national park. Mount Bromo, a smoking cone in a huge sandy caldera, is a few hours away, and the road from Tumpang climbs through villages and vegetable terraces to the crater rim, where jeeps carry people at three in the morning to catch the sunrise. Mount Semeru, the highest peak on Java, sometimes erupts in the distance. The road is steep and twisty, with tight hairpins, mist and sometimes rough patches, and the cold at dawn is serious, so dress in layers.
Traffic in town is dense, with scooters filling every gap, so allow extra time and keep your speed gentle. Fuel stations are everywhere, in a city of over seven hundred thousand people, and you will find plenty of small warung for rice, noodles and strong, sweet coffee. Many guesthouses have space for bikes, and parking attendants will guard your machine for a small tip. Leave early and you will be rewarded with the best of the day.