Teach. Eat. Travel.
  • Home
  • The Blog
  • The Places
    • Myanmar
    • Asia
  • The Updates
  • Photography
    • Myanmar Photography
    • Weddings & Portraits
  • About Alisa & Kim

A Surprise Color Village in Indonesia

4/4/2017

2 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
Picture
​I wasn’t meant to visit Malang at all; yet on my third day in Indonesia I found myself on a train pulling up to the small, mostly overlooked city. My expectations were low for this quick, one-night stop over between the temples of Borobudur in the culture town on Yogyakarta and Mt. Bromo, the active volcano I would be climbing the next day. Unfortunately all of the direct trains had been sold out between the two stops, which left me overnighting it in Malang. Little did I know it would end up being my favorite serendipitous find in perhaps all of my travels. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
​The first glimpse I had of the Color Village took my breath away with surprise. I had just been picked up by Fauzia, a couch surfing friend who had spent some time at my place in Yangon a year before, and she was driving my wife and me to her family’s guest house on the outskirts of town. We were chatting away about Indonesian pancakes when we began crossing a bridge over a valley. Spread below it looked as if millions of paint cans had been dumped into the valley. I leaned across Gia to get a better look as hundreds of roofs came into view, each covered in multiple vibrant colors. I spotted people milling about, popping in and out of view as they disappeared between the sheets of color. Before I knew it we were engulfed by the city on the other side of the bridge and I craned my neck to catch any last bit of color. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
​Fauzia filled me in that night on the purpose of the Color Village, Kampung Warna Warni in Jodipan, or Warna-Warni (Colorful Village) as the locals refer to it. The project originated from eight college students of Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang as an assignment from their Event Management class.  The purpose was to clean up the area (known as a slum) and bring beautification to the town. The added benefit being the tourists draw that was soon to follow. The students received a grant to make the project possible and finished the painting just days before my arrival. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
​The next day I spent the entire morning walking through the narrow spaces between the houses of Warna-Warni. To my continued surprise there was street art displayed throughout the whole village. Students, villagers, and volunteers alike had all worked on the project for the past few months. As I wandered through the pathways I caught glimpses into people’s homes as meals were prepared and children were playing. Every inch of the village was doused in color, there was a bicycle leaning against a fence that was layered with multiple colors, clothing of every hue were hung along balconies, each individual brick in a brick wall had it’s own unique pigment. There were patterns, designs, artwork, colors, and paintings everywhere. I couldn’t get enough.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
​I walked through the Color Village for hours. At one point I stopped to grab a drink from a little stall and began chatting with a woman who sold me a cold water. She was enthusiastic about the project and was very happy to have it finished. Soon, she hoped, lots of people would be visiting their village and she would be able to provide them with drinks. The woman explained how proud she was to live there now that it was “clean and beautiful,” especially for her children to be growing up there as well. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
​It was all of my favorite things rolled into one; a surprise find, meandering through narrow walkways, street art, and color! As my time came to make my way to the bus station, I enjoyed a few minutes of sketching in my traveling journal to serve as a reminder of this spectacular place, not that I could ever forget it. 
Picture
Picture
How to visit:
This stop needs to be on your Indonesian itinerary! Malang is a small town but at a perfect location if you are coming from Yogakarta headed to Mt. Bromo or visa versa. In either of these towns you can make arrangements to take a train or bus to Malang. It is about an 8 hour train ride from Yogakarta and soooooo worth it!

Full Photo Gallery:

2 Comments
Pat Brown
4/27/2017 11:23:48 pm

Amazing! What a treat! At first, I thought you had enhanced the colors using something like Photoshop, but I didn't think that was like you. Then I read the text. It was wonderful seeing the colorful city through the eyes of an artist.

Reply
LynnK
6/26/2022 02:39:56 am

What an awesome discovery! Thank you for sharing. I hope Malang gets loads of visitors (as they deserve) and their wonderful colors are appreciated by people around the world. Makes me want to go back to Indonesia.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Alisa & Kim

    Two expats living, teaching, and eating their way across this beautiful world

    Picture

    Archives

    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    July 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    December 2017
    November 2017
    August 2017
    April 2017
    December 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    Categories

    All
    About Us
    Amusement Park
    Animals
    Anniversary
    Around Town
    Art
    Art Gallery
    Artists
    Art Teacher
    Artwork
    Athens
    Bali
    Beach
    Birthday
    Buddha
    Burma
    Bus
    Camping
    Cat
    Cave
    Celebrations
    Chinese New Year
    Circular Train
    Color Village
    Couchsurfing
    Culture Class
    Date Night
    Digital Art
    Doctor
    Dog
    Downtown
    Eat
    Ellie
    Entertainment
    Expat
    Family
    Farewell
    Festival
    Fire Balloons
    Flying
    Food
    France
    Freediving
    Greece
    Ho Chi Minh City
    Holi
    Holiday
    Honeymoon
    Hong Kong
    India
    Indonesia
    Inle Lake
    International Teaching
    Isreal
    Istanbul
    Kim's Cooking
    Lion Dance
    Living Abroad
    Local Transit
    Maine
    Malaysia
    Medical
    Mexico
    Monks
    Morocco
    Moving
    Myanmar
    Myanmar Food
    Night Life
    Outside Yangon
    Packing
    Pagoda
    Pandemic
    Paris
    Paya
    Pearl Condo
    Pets
    Philipines
    Photography
    Quarantine
    Reflections
    Resources
    Road Trip
    Saigon
    Shopping
    Shwedagon
    Smoothee Foodee
    Snacks
    Street Eats
    Students
    Teach
    Teaching
    Teaching Abroad
    Thailand
    Traditions
    Travel
    Turkey
    Vietnam
    Walking Tour
    Wedding
    Weekend Getaway
    Weekly Updates
    Wet Market
    Yangon
    Yoga
    Zoo

    RSS Feed