With Kris & Lianne to Banyu Biru ~ Internment Camp where Nick had lived as a child during the Japanese Occupation

Kris & Lian wanted to see the Interment Camp that Nick had stayed at as a young boy with his mother & sister.  So we took them there to show it to them.  Kris is a elementary school teacher in Holland and when he finishes the work he was called to do here in Indonesia for a year - he & Lian will return back to Holland and return back into the classroom there.  He wanted to bring back some "Dutch History" to share with the kids.  Kris & Lian have had some instruction in school about the Dutch colonial days but it is so far removed for them....but being here in Indonesia and seeing still so much of these days gone by...they were especially interested to know more.  

So off we went
to the now Police Academy in Banya Biru which is just a 30 min ride from Salatiga.  We entered onto the grounds and drove to the post gate and was welcomed by many officers there.  We received a warm welcome with many kind handshakes!  One of the officers remembered Nick & I when we had come the previous time about 2 months ago.  They were willing & able to take us through to share it with our friends...but could we please come back at 3:30 pm?  Oh yes we sure can!  Lianne has learned to speak fluently in the year she has been here.  Everyday she went out with her church friends into the villages to help and so she spoke so well...and was definitely our translator!  Way to go Lianne!  The officers were ever so pleased to have this Dutchie speak so well...and we were proud too and thankful!

So yes...we will be back in a few hours then!  Let's go to Bandungan and we will show the restaurant there we have enjoyed a few times?  Kris & Lianne said "yes" and so off we went for a good 40 min ride up the mountain..into Bandungan.  Oh how I love to drive these small towns...and this time I joined Nick on the bike and took pictures along the way.  Lianne too rode with Kris.

We climbed higher in elevation and then came to the restaurant...it was almost 2 pm by this time ...so it was very quiet there...we were the only customers...!  
 

This voice started talking to us and we looked around....

We enjoyed sitting on the terrace and had a nice lunch. We so enjoy their company and had a great time just chatting about this and that - 



when lunch was over it was time to head down the mountain again back to 

Banya Biru!  

We arrived there close to 4 pm and the guards were ready and willing to give us a tour...and we GOT ONE!!!!  A GRAND tour! The officers brought us to the buildings that were from the

  Dutch era. 
 






 
 
 

Here is a video clip we found on YouTube about this very camp in  Banyu Biru click on this link ~  A Video Clip of the Same Camp Told by a Canadian-Dutch family member

Kris and Lian appreciated the walk around.   We were escorted by 3 friendly officers. 

 The building Nick & his family was in was #10 -

 

 
 Kris was asking  questions and Nick was sharing as we walked through the grounds~
Of course Nick was very young when he lived those years with his mom, sister and also his older sister and 2 kids - but he told Kris a bit about how it all came about & what took place after the war and how the women & children were taken into Salatiga to a hotel called Berg en Dal and then were brought to Solo for 6 months, and then was brought to Semarang and then to Jakarta by boat to Holland...well it was interesting for Kris & Lianne to hear about it especially from someone who had actually experienced it!


 
 I said to Kris...now go in there behind the bars...your classroom will get a kick out of their teacher behind bars!














 
 It was good for Nick & I to see it again...and to be able to share it with our Dutch friends!  Beppie could not join us for her daughter has just arrived home from Holland! 

The Academy was preparing for the arrival of 400 new female cadets ~

On the way to the restaurant while riding  through Ambarawa - we turned off to show them the old Train Station and Dutch Locomotive museum - but it was still closed and the sign  said "renovasi" in Dutch...renovation! 

 The old trains from days gone by...so much history...can you imagine these big trains being brought by boat??????

 Such a beautiful ride...how I love these sights!

 We always get such friendly smiles along the way! When waiting at stop lights you are standing right next to the people and they always give a friendly greeting and say "mister mister"

"Selamat Siang - Mari!"

Oh Yes one final thing to share....Kris & Lian gave Nick a gift...it was the very hotel we had been looking for in Solo (Surakarta) a town about an hour from here...but now we find out it was actually here in Salatiga!  It goes like this:  when the war had ended all the women & children were taken out of the camps by the Red Cross and brought to a place which Nick remembers to be a hotel..."BERG en DAL" (meaning mountain and valley) he actually thought this hotel (again he thought it was the next town Solo!) ..but it turns out this very "Hotel Berg & Dal" was right here in Salatiga!  In the center of town is a big department store called  Ramayana and that is the very location where this hotel had been!  

The family had been brought there for a few weeks and THEN they were taken to a larger building in Solo before being brought to Semarang and then by train to Jakarta and then boarded a ship called "Slooterdijk" to Holland.  

When our friends, Kris & Lian came over our house - they gave Nick a t-shirt....and Nick was shocked to see the name...on it!  What? Berg en Dal???  Kristian & Lianne told us their friends gave them both a going away gift and when they went to Kawan Kitchen one evening Beppie saw their new t-shirts and said  "That is the very hotel Nick has been trying to find!!"   

Kris and Lian didn't know that...but they quickly went to the store and purchased one for Nick...how sweet is that!  Oh we are so loved and blessed!

Wow...so' the mystery is solved!  Just 3 weeks before we leave Salatiga....Hotel Berg & Dal was right here in Salatiga and this was the hotel the family was brought to after being released from the camps in Banyu Biru!  How special that all these things have come be for us!  
Tempo-doeloe BERG EN DAL

Again ~ we stand astounded how the Lord has directed our steps: we have traveled & seen & done many things and came to settle here in Salatiga where Nick lived as a little boy and his mother had a bakery at home ~  and of all places we came to settle here for the last 8 months...in a kampung....getting to know the people around us and receiving their kindnesses and friendship....it has been ever so' special to us both!  

We have been blessed with many special neighbors and many friends - it has been a wonderful time of  "reconnecting" and also planting new roots as well here in Indonesia!  

 

Our hearts are full of love & thanksgiving for the country of our parents ~

GOD Bless Indonesia!