Monday morning and we are scheduled to go to Yogyakarta for a couple of nights so we can visit the Borabadur temple. However, the news is that Yogyakarta is considered too close to the Mt Marapi exclusion zone and we will be staying in Solo which is further away.
On the way we pick up Andi, a local volcanologist. His enthusiasm for volcanoes and excitement at the activity is contagious. Indonesia has more than 500 volcanoes, of which 127 are considered active and 11 are at Level 2 or higher (there are only 4 levels). Mt Merapi is now at level 3 having had several eruptions since the initial one on Oct 26th. There is no lava, only ash as this is a pyroclastic flow (don’t I sound like the expert!). We travel through Yogyakarta on our way to Solo, but there is nothing to see here. Then we can spot it in the distance. A thin plume of smoke billowing out of the top. We pull over to take pictures and ask more questions. It’s enthralling to be soo close, yet we are more than 35kms away.
Next morning a few of us have elected to get up at the crack of dawn to try and get better photos of Marapi and attempt to get into Borobadur, which has been closed for cleaning after the ash fall. We will also try to visit the Sultan’s Palace.
Objective number one is a disappointment as the morning is overcast and the view very limited so we are not able to photograph the volcano again. The Sultan’s Palace is closed for a public holiday so objective numbr two is also missed. We have already been some time on the road and have to make a decision on whether to cut our losses and return to Solo or make a try for Borobadur which may also still be closed. We are the Ozbussers and will not be defeated. On we go passing through grey town after grey town as we approach. The remains of the ash are very visible and we pass by makeshift camps and lodgings for the evacuees. A huge clear up operation is underway by locals as the ash itself is considered a valuable resource for fertiliser and also for construction.
Whilst we are travelling, Andi has contacted a friend who is a guide and asked if we can get special dispensation to enter the grounds which are still closed to tourists.
As we arrive, his friend comes to meet us and let us in. We feel so privileged to be there, although we will not be able to climb the monument as it is still being cleaned. Hidden from the world until Raffles rediscovered it in the mid 19th century, it has since been rebuilt. As we gaze at all the buddhas in their tower to the sky, it’s hard to imagine it was lost to the jungle for so many years before.
Back in Solo, we are out on the nightly forage for food and my objective is set on sate ayam, which we had failed to find the night before. We decide to take a pedicab but these are not designed for the western beam and 2 people cannot fit in the seat. There is only one solution. One of us will have to ride the bike and the pedicab driver will have to sit in the seat. Stu decides he is the man for the job and the cab driver is game. As the pedicab hurtles up the street, locals look on in amused amazement and oncoming traffic hurtles to either side of the road in the face of a mad Englishman swerving from side to side in a pedicab.
Later, we look for the local dish of Nasi Lemit and find it in a street stall opposite our hotel. It is delicious and we are lucky enough to get chatting to a family in Solo for the celebration of Eids Al Adha.
On the way we pick up Andi, a local volcanologist. His enthusiasm for volcanoes and excitement at the activity is contagious. Indonesia has more than 500 volcanoes, of which 127 are considered active and 11 are at Level 2 or higher (there are only 4 levels). Mt Merapi is now at level 3 having had several eruptions since the initial one on Oct 26th. There is no lava, only ash as this is a pyroclastic flow (don’t I sound like the expert!). We travel through Yogyakarta on our way to Solo, but there is nothing to see here. Then we can spot it in the distance. A thin plume of smoke billowing out of the top. We pull over to take pictures and ask more questions. It’s enthralling to be soo close, yet we are more than 35kms away.
Next morning a few of us have elected to get up at the crack of dawn to try and get better photos of Marapi and attempt to get into Borobadur, which has been closed for cleaning after the ash fall. We will also try to visit the Sultan’s Palace.
Objective number one is a disappointment as the morning is overcast and the view very limited so we are not able to photograph the volcano again. The Sultan’s Palace is closed for a public holiday so objective numbr two is also missed. We have already been some time on the road and have to make a decision on whether to cut our losses and return to Solo or make a try for Borobadur which may also still be closed. We are the Ozbussers and will not be defeated. On we go passing through grey town after grey town as we approach. The remains of the ash are very visible and we pass by makeshift camps and lodgings for the evacuees. A huge clear up operation is underway by locals as the ash itself is considered a valuable resource for fertiliser and also for construction.
Whilst we are travelling, Andi has contacted a friend who is a guide and asked if we can get special dispensation to enter the grounds which are still closed to tourists.
As we arrive, his friend comes to meet us and let us in. We feel so privileged to be there, although we will not be able to climb the monument as it is still being cleaned. Hidden from the world until Raffles rediscovered it in the mid 19th century, it has since been rebuilt. As we gaze at all the buddhas in their tower to the sky, it’s hard to imagine it was lost to the jungle for so many years before.
Back in Solo, we are out on the nightly forage for food and my objective is set on sate ayam, which we had failed to find the night before. We decide to take a pedicab but these are not designed for the western beam and 2 people cannot fit in the seat. There is only one solution. One of us will have to ride the bike and the pedicab driver will have to sit in the seat. Stu decides he is the man for the job and the cab driver is game. As the pedicab hurtles up the street, locals look on in amused amazement and oncoming traffic hurtles to either side of the road in the face of a mad Englishman swerving from side to side in a pedicab.
Later, we look for the local dish of Nasi Lemit and find it in a street stall opposite our hotel. It is delicious and we are lucky enough to get chatting to a family in Solo for the celebration of Eids Al Adha.
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