East Java, Volume 1 is out: 128 pages, 22 chapters

Volume 1: East Java (Tom 1: Jawa Wschodnia) went on sale today, 7 September 2026. One thing first, so nobody buys the wrong book: it's written in Polish. An English edition is in preparation; until it's out, the English-language thing I can hand you is the free 5-day Java plan in English, 23 pages, same layout, same hand. If you read Polish, or travel with someone who does, read on.

The book is a PDF: 128 pages, 22 chapters, two ready routes (7 and 15 days), prices in IDR and in Polish złoty next to every ticket, bed and ride. It costs 69 zł ($17); until 30.09.2026 the code PREMIERA takes 10 zł off. Below is what I'd want to know before buying a book like this, including one piece of bad news about Ijen.

What's inside

22 chapters, in this order (titles translated; the book itself is in Polish):

1. Why East Java
2. Flights and a sample budget
3. When to go
4. Apps and tools that save your life
5. Health and safety
6. Visa, vaccinations, insurance
7. Internet, SIM, money
8. What to pack (and what NOT to bring)
9. Transport on Java – the complete guide
10. What to eat on Java
11. How not to be a rude tourist
12. Yogyakarta and around
13. Solo (Surakarta)
14. Dieng Plateau – coloured lakes and temples
15. Karimunjawa – an archipelago, coral, paradise away from the crowds
16. Bromo and Ijen – the iconic volcanoes
17. East Java deeper – Banyuwangi, Tumpak Sewu, Malang, Surabaya
18. The 7-day plan – two versions
19. The 15-day plan – the full experience
20. A ready-made Google Maps list
21. Budget mode: Java for under 100 zł a day
22. East Java and what next

Chapters 1–11 are preparation: flights and budget, visa, health, SIM, packing, transport, food and how not to be a rude tourist. Chapters 12–17 are the places, from Yogyakarta to Banyuwangi. Then two day-by-day plans: chapter 18 has two versions of a week (the classic Yogyakarta, Tumpak Sewu, Bromo and Ijen, or Yogya, Dieng and Karimunjawa), chapter 19 the full 15 days with a budget for the whole route. Chapter 20 is a Google Maps list to load onto your phone, 21 works out Java for under 100 zł a day, and 22 says what to do when the island runs out at Banyuwangi.

Every day of the plan has transport with a price, entries with a price and one thing not to do. The Bromo and Ijen chapter gives you the choice of base, jeep prices, four sunrise viewpoints with their drawbacks, the 255,000 IDR ticket and the Ijen night timeline hour by hour. It isn't a photo album; there are photos, but the price tables take up more room.

Who it's for

Someone going to Java for the first time, alone, by train and bus, who wants to know before leaving what the Borobudur ticket costs, what time the Ijen gate opens and how not to get stung on a jeep at 3 am. The budget it's built on: 65–135 zł a day for everything on the ground.

It's not for someone looking for Bali (Bali appears only as the ferry from Ketapang), not for a resort-and-hotel-tours trip, and not for anyone with three Java trips behind them, because they already know most of this. And, said once more: not yet for readers who need it in English.

Ijen: the bad news you should know before buying

Kawah Ijen has been closed since 4 September 2026, until further notice, by decision of BBKSDA Jawa Timur, because a wildfire reached the ascent trail. Nobody has given a reopening date. Ijen appears in 12 chapters of this book; in the 7-day Plan A it's day seven, in the 15-day plan day thirteen.

I'm not pulling the launch and I'm not pretending the problem isn't there. Chapter 16 opens with a status box dated 7 September 2026: Ijen closed until further notice since 4.09, Bromo open but with no promise of the crater rim, and where to check the status. The current state of Ijen, dated and sourced, lives in a separate post: Ijen closed since 4 Sept 2026: what to do now. Buyers get PDF updates for 12 months on the same link, so when the park reopens or the rules change, you get the new version at no extra cost. Bromo has been open since 20.08.2026, with caveats; those are in Bromo after the 2026 fire: what you'll see and won't.

Price and the PREMIERA code

• Volume 1: East Java: 69 zł ($17). The code PREMIERA entered in the cart takes 10 zł off, so you pay 59 zł (in a USD checkout the discount is converted at checkout). The code works until 30.09.2026. Lowest price in the 30 days before this discount: 69 zł ($17). Buy Volume 1.
• Volume 2: West Java: 59 zł, pre-order; the file ships later, and I'm not giving a release date because there isn't one yet. The PREMIERA code works. Lowest price in the 30 days before this discount: 59 zł. Volume 2 in the shop.
• Complete Java bundle (Volume 1 + Volume 2): 99 zł. The PREMIERA code works. Lowest price in the 30 days before this discount: 99 zł. Complete Java bundle.

How buying works

You pay by BLIK, Przelewy24 or card; the PDF link arrives by email right after payment. When something changes, you get the new version of the file on the same link. The refund rules are on their own page: if the file didn't arrive, won't open or doesn't match the description, you write within 14 days of receiving it and get your money back (refund rules, 14 days). The product page has a free sample: the contents page and the opening page of chapter one, no email and no strings. If the style isn't for you, just don't buy.

Not yet? Start with the starter

If you're not sure Java is for you at all, take the free 5-day Java plan in English first: 23 pages in PDF, a route from Yogyakarta with prices. It's written by the same hand and in the same layout as Volume 1, so afterwards you know what to expect.