Batu

Batu is a pleasantly cool and verdant hill station on the slopes of Mount Welirang (Gunung Welirang) in East Java. Batu, Selecta and the surrounding villages are a charming area worth a couple of days to explore, and more importantly to relax.

Batu is a very common Indonesian place-name element - Batu Gajah, Batu Ampar, etc. Sometimes these get informally shortened to “Batu”, but this place is Batu full stop. The word means “rock” or “boulder”, and is often applied to landing places, but in this instance it may indicate a royal retreat in a pleasant upland climate. In ancient times only the ruling elite could take themselves away in...