In addition to nature tourism, East Java becomes an enticing province by becoming the Spice Routes’ knot of Nusantara. Surabaya, the capital city of East Java, was a trade city that had existed for hundreds of years.

Surabaya played an important role in the spice trade period in the past, mainly with the existence of ports as the stopover for the ships in their journey from the west to the east or from the east to the central government in Batavia. The geographical location of East Java encouraged Surabaya to become a bustling trade city.

Kalimas Port became one of the traces of Spice Routes in East Java that we can see today. Surabaya’s existence as a central trade gave an impact on the neighboring towns.

Every point of Spice Routes has a different history and story, including in East Java. The story behind the spice trade, the traders’ stopover, commodity exchange, tribe, culture, and the traces they left became an interesting thing to track.

What kind of cultures and traces of Spice Routes can we see in East Java and the points around it?

Let’s track down the cultures and traces in the Spice Routes’ points in East Java by following these travel influencers Pandu Waskitha (@backpackertampan), I Wayan Wahyu (@iw.wm), dan Aqil Avviv (@aqilavviv). Watch the full story on the Jalur Rempah RI YouTube channel.