Jember

Jember is a city and regency district in East Java.

Understand
This is East Java's third largest city after Surabaya and Malang. Whilst not the most attractive or interesting of cities, it does have decent facilities for visitors and makes a good base for exploring the southern part of the East Java region. Reaching the remote Sukamade turtle conservation area is often tackled from here.

Jember is a big commercial centre and is almost invariably congested and crowded.

Tourism Information Offices

 * Jember Tourism Office, Jl Gajah Mada No 325, Jember. Tel +62 331 425471.
 * Meru Betiri National Park Office: Jl Sriwijaya 53, Jember 68121, East Java, Tel/Fax: +62 331 321530, E-mail: meru@telkom.net. Excellent first stop for information about visiting the turtle conservation facility at Sukamade and other parts of the national park.

By train
Jember is on the main East Java line and there are many services linking it with other cities in the region and in Central Java. Longer distance rail access from Jakarta involves a change in Jogjakarta or Surabaya. Check the PT Kereta Api (Persero) website for detailed schedules. The name of the station is Stasiun Jember (Jember Station). It takes 4 hours to travel from Surabaya.

By bus
The main long distance bus terminal is called and is about 5 km west of the city centre. This is served by buses from Banyuwangi (about 2 hours), Surabaya (about 5 hours), Malang (about 5 hours), and many other smaller towns in East Java.

Get around
The main taxi company in Jember is called Argo and they have a telephone booking service: +62 331 424242.

Local buses and bemos are everywhere.

All of the local hotels will offer tours or help you with booking independent transport for seeing the key local sights (almost all of which are very rural and involve a lot of travelling).

Within Meru Betiri National Park

 * Go to Sukamade to visit the turtle conservation facility. The full details of this are covered in the article. Whilst in Jember, a visit to the national park office to obtain some advance information and purchase permits is not a bad idea.

Buy
Once you visit Jember, something that you cannot miss is buying gifts. There are various gifts from Jember. One of them is a traditional food made from fermented tapioca called Tape. It has a sweet and sour flavor and often gives a warm feel to your body. The other thing is Suwar Suwir. It is basically also made from fermented tapioca, but slightly modified to other shapes and can be grouped as sweets. It has a sweet flavor as well. A lot of shops sell that food. One popular shop is "Primadona", next to Pasar Tanjung. Here, you can also find Brownies Tape. It is brownies cake as you usually know, with the flavor of tape. You can also go to Hardys supermarket, located in Jl. Raya Sultan Agung or Matahari Department store.

Eat
As always in Indonesian cities, there is an enormous number of street vendors and simple restaurants to choose from. Follow the local crowds is always the best advice.



Drink
Try a local drink named wedang cor, a mixture of tape ketan (fermented sticky rice), water, condensed milk, and ginger.

Sleep
Most of the hotels in Jember city are aimed at local business travellers. This tends to mean that they are efficient and clean but not the most interesting of places. The more rural options may appeal more to overseas visitors.



Connect
The telephone area code for Jember is 0331 and 0336.

Go next

 * Banyuwangi for ferries to Bali.
 * Amazing volcanoes and scenery at the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park via Probolinggo.
 * Jogjakarta and the wonders of Borobudur and Prambanan.