In every turn of the road, a friendly Javanese is waving at you when it's possible to take the turn, the road is narrow and winding, and of course you don't want to get stuck in the turn with a big bus or truck. And of course they all expect a few rupiah for their sometimes joyful antics. On the way back we bought a pair of beautiful orchids, which are just taken from the jungle if you want a special one.
Because I had not so much to do, and sometimes I smoke a good cigar, I went to a tobacco plantation/factory, the Nusantara Plantation Company number 10. Jember is one of the best tobacco-producing areas in the world. Cigar aficionados know that cigars from Cuba and the USA are expensive and stylish. Jember is one of the suppliers for those cigars, in particular the Besuki tobacco. Besuki tobacco is used as a wrapper for the world's most expensive cigars.
Indonesian cigars that are of good quality are Dkanger Bali, Bali Legong, Bali Pura and Cadenza Long Premium. The Nusantara Plantation Corporation 10 lies eight kilometers north of Jember. The cigars are exported to Europe, America and Australia. It also produces Indonesian cigars for domestic consumption. Visitors can see the process of growing seedlings, picking, drying tobacco leaves as well as manually creating cigars. Dutch visitors can especially enjoy the nostalgia on site. The first people who lived on the plantation and introduced the process of tobacco in Java were Dutch. Jember became known to Europeans as the "Tobacco city". To reach the Nusantara Plantation you can take public transportation from the city of Jember. And of course buy a big box cheap Indonesian "Cohiba's".