In Reply to: Java posted by winnie on Tuesday, 25. April 2006 at 07:02 Bali Time:
Apart from the stirring within Gunung Merapi my experiences of having been in Java twice over the last six months has not led me to any safety concerns.
People in Java are more conservative, as has already been noted, so it is a good idea to be in polite and gentle mode.
Remember the people in Java have been doing it tough since the monetary crisis in 1997, followed by the political turmoil in the transition from authoritarian militaristic rule to democracy and more recently the lifting of petrol subsidies. Yet acceptance,resilience and communal helpfullness still hold sway.
Javanese people don't have the kind support of foreign benefactors whose kindness has helped the Balinese in financial quieter times. But this also has its advantages for the visitor as it has led to the people not expecting too much from foreigners,who are still called and treated as tamu (guests) and not tourists.It has been a long time that someone south of Denpasar has chased me to give back forgotten or intentionally left rp500 change.
Don't get me wrong I prefer to live in Bali due to ties going back to my childhood, it is through these ties that led me to Java in the first place on expeditions/family pilgrimages to Gunung Semeru.
A visit to Java will help you to understand Balinese people more by understanding their heritage.
It will enhance your understanding of Indonesia and it's people by experiencing real life away from the Disneyland/Fun Park that Bali is becoming.
The scenery is wonderful, the people smiling and genuinely friendly the Indonesian food is a lot cheaper than in Bali and is great and the prices of goods in the department stores such as Matahari and Ramayana are generally 15%-20% lower than what they are in Bali's overheated economy.
If you could be more precise in where you would like to go I could try to give some suggestions.
My apologies for the length of this and the away from Bali nature of the topic however a proper answer to the query needed a couple of paragraphs.