Yogyakarta (pronounced Jogjakarta) is considered to be Java's cultural and interlectual soul. If Jakarta is Thailand's Bangkok, then Yogyakarta is Thailand's Chaing Mai. It is the home of the Batik art, of Java puppet shows (Wayang) and is the educational homeland of the island. It is still run by the Sultan whose home, the Kraton can be visited, displaying an interesting set of colourful buildings.
There are many other museums and historic or cultural attractions to keep you amused and it is no-where near the chaos of Jakarta - it is infact quite a peacful town. Unfortunately my view of Yogya was tainted somewhat by the Batik Mafia. You cannot walk down the street with someone trying to be your best friend only to find out that all they want is your money for over-priced Batik items. They become incredibly irritating and will happily waste hours of your time if you let them.
Most people in Indonesia are delighted to talk to you - just to practice their English, without any other motives. Some Indonesians are excellent at English, but the rest only know two words - 'hey" and "mister", generally used in that order but there's no guarantee. Out of all the countries in Se Asia, it is the Indonesian's who are most up for a chat and love to hand out their phone numbers (especially the kids) in the hope that you will give them a call. I just found it here, in Yogya howerver, that there was always some other agenda to their conversations - mainly involving me parting with my cash.
Outside Yogyakarta are some incredible attractions. Borobudur is considered a wonder of the world, ranking up there with Angkor Wat in Cambodia. While, for me, it wasn't quite up to the heights of Angkor, it was still extremely impressive. It is a huge Buddhist temple, built in the 9th Century and consists of many large stupas, 1500 narrative panels and over 500 Buddha images. The temple is surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, including the recently visited Gunung Merapi - which can be seen in the distance.
It was here, for the first time in my life, that I suddenly felt like a celebrity. Large groups of kids would come up and ask for you to be in a picture with them. And once you have said yes to one - well the doors are open and in they all flood. Matt tried to escape, but couldn't and together we must have been on every Indonesian camera in the whole complex. The kids would ask quietly and politely, the parents would just grab your arm, put you in place then add and adjust their kids in the right position for the picture. It felt like they may even ask me for a photograph at one point. A bizar experience.
Also a short distance from Yogyakarta is the equally impressive Hindu temple, Prambanan. Actually it is a complex of over 50 temples but there are 3 main ones, all lined up next to each other, one for each of the gods - Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu. The Shiva temple is the largest and most detailed, towering at 47m.
My time in Yogya had been an enjoyable cultural experience. It was however time for me to leave and in fact - I would have to leave Java and Indonesia very soon, but before I did - I just had to fit in one more volcano........
Saturday, 7 June 2008
Yogyakarta And Around
Gunung Merapi (Java)
Gunung Merapi in Central Java, is today considered one of, if not the most active volcano on Earth. It is a conical Volcano, erupting regularly since 1548. Merapi has been in the top 15, list of the world's most active volcanoes for quite some time (making it a Decade Volcano) and has been placed in the number 1 spot for the last nine years by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior.
Merapi is the youngest of a group of volcanoes in Southern Java. It is situated at a subduction zone, where the Indo-Australian plate is sliding beneath the Eurasian Plate. It is the most active of 129 lively volcanoes in Indonesia, forming part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Smoke can be seen emerging from the crater roughly 300 days a year but several recent eruptions have caused fatalities. In 1994, an eruption sent pyroclastic flows down it's flanks, causing 69 fatalities. Eruptions in 1997, 2001 and 2006 have also caused some deaths. The main hazards are pyroclastics and lahars (volcanic mudflows), probably the two most deadly and devastating volcanic hazards.
The volcano lies just 30km from the large town of Yogyakarta and there are dozens of small towns around it's flanks. As such, there are now five observation posts around the mountain and there are extensive warning systems and evacuation procedures put into place.
I stayed in the small and quiet, cool mountain town of Kaliurang, which sits on the slope of Merapi. Life here is slow bordering on stationary. It has a monitoring station in the town and I went straight there to find out what was going on. The volcanologists there were pleased to talk to me, showing me the seismomgram they use to monitor the volcanoes current state and the seismographs of previous eruptions. They explained their work, how all the stations collabarate their findings, and they showed me pictures of other volcanoes in Java as well as Merapi's past eruptions, and volcano victim's bodies (terrible). Beacuse the volcano erupts so regularly (a big one every 5-6 years and smaller ones every 2 years), they have a warning system if signs suggest trouble. For me all the work they were doing was highly interesting. I also went up to their look-out tower but it was too cloudy that day.
From Kaliurang, you can't climb to the top of Merapi - it's too dangerous. But you can climb to a good view-point about 1km from the peak at 1900m asl. of course you have to see it at sunrise so I was up at 3:00 am. It was me, my guide and a guy from England called Matt. It's an easy stroll to the view-point where we did get some great views of the smoking Merapi before it became covered in cloud.
We also passed some old lava flows from 1994 and 1997, material still clearly visible. Our guide explaining how pyroclastics swept down the area on which we were standing, sailed down two valleys and then re-met where together they surged over into a small town, killing many. People were killed - like those of Pompei - bodies appearing frozen in position.
The government offered to move those who live on it's flanks but no-one left, partly because the slopes have fertile soils, but mainly because it is their home. Merapi is seen as a spiritual place. The towns people climb Merapi and provide gifts to it once a year. This is done by all religions here (they all come together to do it). The people here believe that there is a king who guards over Merapi, protecting the them. As the volcano grows in size (from volcanic activity) the King is believed to be rebuilding his kingdom. When it erupts, the King is angry. Relatives and family members who have been killed by Merapi's destruction are not said to have died but have instead followed the King up to Merapi to stay forever. While volcanoes are more likely seen as a fiery menace that would probably be suited to hell, here Merapi is seen more as an afterlife - heaven. Looking up at it, it is certainly tall enough to reach the lofty peaks, high above the clouds. For these reasons alone - no-body is going anywhere. Unfortuntaely though - I was - but not far - just 30km south - to Yogyakarta......
Jakarta (Java - Indonesia)
It was a short bus ride to the ferry point and then it takes about three hours to get over the Sunda Straight to Java from Sumatra by boat. Finally a further bus of about three hours and finally i made it to the capital city of Indonesia - Jakarta. While Sumatra is errily quiet, Java and especially Jakarta is packed, cramed full of people. I went straight for the backpackers area of town but still expected to see no tourists as I hadn't seen any for so long. I was wrong. It was like a mini Khoa San Road, with backpackers everywhere.
Jakarta is huge (sprawling 25km), it's noisy, hot, smoggy and like many large Asian cities - is highly chaotic. The short time I was here I ventured mainly around the Merdeka Square region. At the centre of the square is the Monas - the national Monument. It's tall and kind of impressive but very slightly tacky. I took the lift to the top for great views over Jakarta and below the monument is a great museum about Indonesia's troubled past. The square is a quiet spot and a good place to get away from the crazyness, reminding me very much of a Vietnamese city like Hanoi.
I also visited some key landmarks: the Mesjid Istiqlal (largest mosque in SE Asia), the presidential palace and the interesting national museum (costing just 800 Rp to get in - thats about 5p).
It was a bit of a whistle-stop tour, and I didn't really touch the surface of Jakarta. I had heard some worrying stories of the city - it's meant to be the most dangerous in Indonesia and they have had bomb issues. But I only saw it as a fun city with a good, lively atmosphere and actually I wished I had stayed here longer. I didn't though - I was off to more volcanoes......
Krakatau And Anak Krakatau
You would think, after the 36 hour bus journey I had recently experienced, that I would never get in another large four wheeled vehicle again. Wrong. Mainly because I am a poor backpacker and also the fact that I had to get from the centre of Sumatra all the way down south to the islands tip, I would have to endure another outrageously long trip. If everything went to plan - it was scheduled to take 36 hours. If we had an earthquake on this journey - I don't think I would ever leave Sumatra!!! Luckily, the journey was fairly uneventful. Yes, the journey took 39 hours (my longest yet), someone kept being sick in the back and they had packed the bus so full that there were people sitting in the isle on small plastic chairs, the sort that I remember sitting on at nursery. It meant that I had to fight for my own arm-rest with a man who had decided that it was his pillow. But apart from that - it was fairly straight forward. I arrived in a small town called Kalianda and prepared for the next days volcanic fun!!!
Krakatau (spelt more generally as Krakatoa) is a volcanic island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra. The name is used for the island group, the main island (also called Rakata), and the volcano as a whole. It has erupted repeatedly, massively, and with disastrous consequences throughout recorded history.
The most well known eruption occurred on August 26th-27th 1883, 125 years ago and exactly one century before I was born, almost to the day. It culminated in a series of massive explosions which was among the most violent volcanic events in modern times. It had a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 6, the equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT - about 13,000 times the yield of the Hiroshima bomb.
The 1883 eruption ejected more than 25 cubic kilometres of rock, ash, and pumice and generated the loudest sound ever recorded in history: being heard as far away as Perth in Australia approx. 1,930 miles (3,110 km), and the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius approx. 3,000 miles (5,000 km). Near Krakatoa, according to official records, 165 villages and towns were destroyed and 132 seriously damaged. At least 36,417 people died, and many thousands injured, mostly from the tsunami that followed the explosion which flowed up the Sunda Strait towards the town of Bandar Lampung.
The eruption destroyed two-thirds of the island of Krakatoa leaving just a few island's scattered around the once, centre of the volcanic region. However, in 1927 volcanic activity continued in the centre of the complex and a new volcanic island was born - Anak Krakatau (child of Krakatoa). The island has a radius of roughly 2 kilometers and a high point around 200 meters above sea level.
Indonesia doesn't see the numbers of tourists that other SE Asian countries see, especially Sumatra. There were times when you wouldn't see another tourist for days. It's fun though just being with the locals. As such, there was no-one else going to see Krakatau that day, so it ended up being just me, my guide Yudi and our pilot who you could tell from the look of him - knew exactly what he was doing.
We clambered into a tiny, thin boat, and sailed. We reached two islands on the way and stopped, partly to take a break from sailing which was slow, and partly so we could do some snorkelling. After a relaxing cool down, we continued. After a good hour, suddenly Krakatau came into view. It was amazing. Three large island reminants are scatterered in a rough triangular shape (the old Krakatau) and right in the centre is the small but smoking Anak Krakatau. We first sailed right around the child of Krakatau. It smokes every few minutes and unlike Merapi, many are accompanied by thunderous bangs that sent sound waves right through the water beneath us, shaking our boat.
You can't get too near to the volcano, especially as we sailed round to the south-western side which is the direction the crater is orientated, because volcanic debris (lava bombs) and some finer material is ejected out some distance, while the rest cascades down the volcanoes flanks. The volcano is small, with a ridge leading up to a perfectly shaped cone. Trees mark the lower section of the volcano although abruptly stop at the north eastern side, changing into solely volcanic terrain, which occur because an eruption in 1994 added fresh material here - (the volcano is getting larger all the time and quickly).
After, we parked up and the pilot started fishing, with suprising ease. Actually, he later tells me that the fisherman here are happy that the volcano is now active as it appears that fishing yields increase (fish seem to be affected by the activity bringing more to the surrounding waters)!!! It was interesting watching the many fishing boats around Krakatau, as there were many out that day in 1883 when the volcano blew itself apart and they had to ride the waves.
He caught a variety of fish and then we headed to Rakarta, the main island of what was once Krakatau. The beach here is not like any ordinary beach, it has deep black volcanic sand and small white pumice rocks. The pumice is as light as a feather because it is filled with air holes, where gas would have once filled. It is the gas that makes volcanoes erupt explosively (like taking the lid of a shaken can of coke) and thus volcanic material that is light and full of air holes is a usual indication of an eruption that was highly explosive.
From the island you get a perfect view of Anak Krakatau and it's exploding crater. Loud bangs echoing in the mountains around us each time it blew. We were staying the night on Krakatau, so pilot pitched up a tent, he cooked the freshly caught fish which we had with rice for dinner. Yes I did eat the fish. Of all the odd things I have eaten on my trip so far I still hadn't eaten fish because of my hate and dread of it. That was up until now. I wouldn't say I enjoyed it but it was ok. It will certainly be the freshest fish I will ever eat - caught just 20 minutes before.
That night we camped out under the stars and I watched Anak Krakatau for 6 hours straight. As it turns dark, suddenly each explosion is followed by glowing, red hot lava bombs, ejected ballistically from the crater (which you don't see when it is day-time). You then wait about 4 or 5 seconds for the sound to reach you and suddenly the ground shakes (sound is slow when you think of it). Watching the glowing lava being ejected was incredible and it would do it every 15 minutes. I didn't get much sleep, partly because I wanted to watch and partly because the volcano was so loud. It was also amazing to know that I was sleeping on one of the most famous volcanoes ever to erupt - Krakatoa.
The next day we got up early and back on the boat. Pilot had caught a whole bagful of crabs during the night - is there nothing this man can't do!!! We sailed over to Anak Krakatau and I was allowed to climb it - well some of it. Your allowed to go as far as the ridge - about 20m before the cone starts. You also have to climb it from the eastern side (away from the crater). The climb is not too hard and you soon reach the spot where you have to stop - which is actually where they have placed a seismometer for monitoring. Around the devise is a damaged gate - where volcanic rocks had smashed into it. Yudi also told me that flying lava bombs and hit and damaged the seismometer not long ago - so why I was standing right next to the thing - clearly in range of debris - I have no idea - but I wasn't complaining.
When it blows while your standing up there - you are nearly knocked off your feet. Rocks flying in all directions including mine. One lava bomb (about the size of my head) landed right at the edge of the cone just 20m away. Smaller peices flew much closer but seemed to disperse just to the left of where I was standing. Plumes of smoke and ash were impressive, pouring out with each bang. It was immense, powerful and yet on the scale of volcanic activity was still small. I can't imagine what the old Krakatau must have been like when it blew.
On the way back, high swells and no protection from the boat meant that I got completely soaked. My Krakatau adventure was by far one of the best experiences of my trip so far. I wanted to see more volcanoes but first I was leaving Sumatra and entering another of Indonesia's Islands and my first port of call was the countries capital city......Jakarta.
Gunung Merapi (Sumatra)
Gunung Merapi, not to be confused with the better-known Merapi volcano in Java, is Sumatra's most active volcano. It is a massive complex Stratovolcano whose summit contains multiple partially overlapping craters constructed within the caldera. Volcanism generally migrates westwards and since the 18th Century has been recorded as displaying 50 eruptions, typically of small to moderate explosive activity.
According to legend, the mountain is the site first settled by the Minangkabau people after their ship landed on the mountain when it was the size of an egg and surrounded by water. There are now a large number of upright burial stones in the region which are oriented in the direction of the mountain, indicating it's cultural significance. Such spirtual and cultural importance is not an uncommon feature associated with volcanoes in Indonesia and in other parts of the world.
The volcano which literally translates to - 'mountain of fire' towers at an elevation of 2,891.3 m (9,485.9 ft) above sea level, and I was going to climb to it's smoking summit.
I hired a guide - his name was Andri and we set out at 10:00 pm. It's not far to reach the volcano base from Bukittinggi and we started our climb by 11:00 pm. It would take all night to trek to the top - so we could reach it's peak at sunrise. The climb starts off gentle, mainly through jungle at the base. It later becomes more difficult as the mountain steepens. We clambered up for 5 hours in the dark - only torch lighting our way. We had many breaks throughout, mainly because you don't want to reach the top too early as it is seriously cold at such altitudes.
Eventually the jungle disappears and it is instead replaced by volcanic rocky terrain which above all else is very crumbly and particularly slippery. The climb overall is quite difficult but luckily I been trained in the art of climbing mountains, when a few months before coming away - I had trekked up the UK's second highest peak - Mt. Snowden, with family and friends. Before the last hour of the climb - you reach a small valley. It was here that we slept for an hour before the final climb to the top. I can see why we were taking our time getting here. I got about 30 minutes sleep before waking up frozen to the bones.
The last part is the steepest but it's not too far to the top and when you reach it - all that climbing is worth it. At the summit - it's like a moon landscape, stretching out flat and barren. Quite eerie. The crater can be seen from a distance - smoking away every few seconds, accompanied with a strong smell of rotten eggs (sulphur) - reminded me of my trip to Iceland where you have a refreshing sulphur shower and come out smelling worse than you went in. For safety reasons you can't get too close to the crater.
As the sun comes up - you realsie your position and surroundings. At this altitude we were literally above the clouds and you can see for miles. The sun rising up with blazing colours gives the place an atmospheric feel. Then the clouds came over and covered us in mist.
The earthquake a few days ago had two main implications. The first was that I had lost time and so had to lose one volcanic site which I had intended to see. The second was that I had to climb Merapi on this night. Originally (no earthquake present) I would have climbed it one night previous and I would have had THIS night free. But no - the earthquake did happen and I had no choice but to climb the volcano on the night of the 21st / 22nd May 2008 which (because of time differences) just happened to be during the Champions League Final (Chelsea Vs Manchester United) which I thus ended up missing. Oddly - we got the final result on Andri's mobile phone while we watched the smoking crater, 3000m asl, at the very top of the most active volcano in sumatra (Indonesia)!!!
We were at the top for about an hour and a half before making our way down, now able to see what we had climbed up all night. Great views spread before us. it was quick and easy to get back down - arriving back at my bed by 10:00 am, where I proceded to sleep for the rest of the day.
So in 24 hours I had done three fairly incredible things - I had seen the world's largest flower, I had stood on the spot which splits the world into it's northern and southern hemispheres and I had climbed to the top of an active volcano. If you can beat that in 24 hours - then please write in with photo's.
I left Bukittinggi for another volcano. It would turn out to be the best of the bunch, and by a good mile. It is the site of one of the most famous volcanoes in the world and yet only peices of it remain today. It now has a child though, an active volcano of immense power. The region lies within the Sunda Strait in the very south of Sumatra - and the volcano goes by the name - of Krakatau......
Friday, 6 June 2008
Bukittinggi And Around
So I eventually reach the small town of Bukittinggi, one day late but at least in one peice - even if it was one very tired peice. There was no time for sleep though - I had things to explore. Actually, while I was here I did three amazing things in just 24 hours, and none of then were actually in Bukittinggi itself.
First i checked out the town of course. Bukittinggi is 930m above sea level and thus climate is quite cool at night but still hot in the day-time. It lies in the shadow of three volcanoes - Gunung Merapi, Gunung Singgalang and the distant Gunung Sago. The town is quiet and relaxing but lacks any real interesting features (apart from the volcano views of course). There is a clock tower in the centre of town which the locals think looks like Big Ben - I suppose it does if you squint. There is also a Dutch fort (Fort de Kock) but to me was pretty uninteresting. The park (Panorama Park) has some good views of the Sianok Canyon and Singgalang in the distance though.
The first amazing thing I did was take a 30 minute bus ride to a man standing on the side of the road (don't worry - this was intentional and was not the amazing thing). We then trekked through incredible scenery and then deep into jungle - where it proceded to pour down with rain on us. Eventually we made it. Through wind and rain and clambering over many a slippery slope - there it was. The Rafflesia Flower. I had come all this way to see it - it's the largest flower in the world!!! It is found mainly in Malaysia, the Philippines and some parts of Indonesia and it is not easy to find one. It takes months for one to bloom and when it does it only lasts for 7 days. I just happened to be here on it's 6th day of life - to catch a glimpse. This one was about 60-70cm in diameter (they can grow to a meter) and for a flower - it was impressive.
Afterwards I headed further away from Bukittinggi to the small town of Bonjol. Just south of this town is a line. Not just any line - it's an invisible line but it is a very important invisible line. It is situated on a latitude of 0 degrees and it divides the Earth in two. It runs through Equador, passes across Kenya, travels Brazil and it also flows right across Bonjol in Sumatra - it is of course - the equator. They have put up a statue here and drawn a line so people like me can take a photo with one foot on each hemisphere. I had now been there, done it and sad to say - I have bought the T-shirt.
The final amazing thing I did in just 24 hours, was at a great height, far above the clouds and where smoke rises from it's fiery crater.........
The Day The Earth Shook
So this is it, the bus journey of all bus journeys. I mean, i'v had some travelling transportation tales along my adventure through Asia, some uncomfortable trips, some long rides - but nothing could have prepared me for this one!!!
After my night up on the ridge in the middle of the island Samosir, which was in the middle of the volcanic lake of Toba, I took an incredible motorbike trip down the other side of the island, with great views of the vast lake and passing rice-fields and countryside along the way!!! I then took the boat back to the mainland - and the town of Parapat where I would get my bus trip onwards.
Sumatra is big. It's the 6th largest island in the world and I believe - the largest in SE Asia. So when they said that it was going to be 15 hours from where I was - to Bukittinggi (located at the western but central part of the island) I thought that sounded reasonable enough. That was however, if there were no delays on the way....there turned out to be many delays. This is exactlly how it happened;
We set off - travelling south. About 4 hours down, we reach a crappy food hole (restaurant) - their version of a service stop. As I finished my food - the man collecting my bill starts asking me the usual questions - where I come from, what football team I support etc. etc. He then asked me what I do - I told him I had just finished studying natural disasters and then reeled off each one knowing he probably wouldn't have a clue what I was talking about but doing it anyway. When I reached - Earthquake - he stopped me - "ahhh earthquakes" he said - the only word he seemed to understand. I get back on the bus, waiting for everyone else to get on - so we can get on.
As I sit down the bus jerks forward a few feet. Weird. Then it jolts back a few feet. Very weird. Then forward and back again. The bus being shaken all over the place like a toy. I quickly realised it was an earthquake. No-one said anything - we all started getting off the bus as we notice it edging towards the restaurant building. As we step off it stops. Shaking lasted about 5-6 seconds, only horizontal in movement but felt quite strong. I asked a German couple (the only other westerners on the bus) what it was like being on the ground - they said "like walking on jelly". No-one was hurt, a dog was barking and a few children were crying but thats about it. The power did get knocked out in the restaurant though.
We continued on our bus journey, passing small towns along the way. Every town had had their power taken out too. People were huddled around fires they had set up outside their houses. We saw one power-line had crashed to the floor and there was other minor damage too. We also drove by one man who was clearly unconscious. It was interesting to see their response though - no-one was panicking, everyone was calm - natural disasters is something you have to live with if your home is Sumatra.
We continue for an hour or two and then we stop. We get news that further up the road a bridge had collapsed. This was not good. The Trans-Sumatran Highway (TSH) was now out of order, or at least for this stretch of the road. Let me explain to you about the roads in sumatra - they don't really have any. To connect the entire island from north to south - there is one main road - the TSH. It's not like a motorway or even a big, wide road -it's just a normal one lane road that you would find anywhere - except of course that this one is full of potholes. However, if this road becomes unusable - you can't just turn back and find a quick side road to re-direct you. So for us it meant having to go back the way we came, heading further north than Parapat, then looping round to the other side of the island and finally stretching back south to rejoin the TSH. Consequently and most bizarly, at the time that we were meant to be at our destination, we were actually further away from it, than where we started from!!!
I will tell you - it added an extra 21 hours to my journey, ultimately meaning I was confined to a bus for 36 hours in total. I had essentially lost an entire day of my travels. This had two major implications. Because I was travelling through Indonesia on a tight timescale and had planned to go to 6 volcanic regions along the way, this loss of a day made my trip too tight for time and so I cut one of my volcano locations out. I had basically lost the opportunity to see one natural hazard because another one got in the way. I had unwillingly traded in a volcano for an earthquake. I would take the swap this time but I didn't want any more diversions to my trip. The second implication of the earthquake only became clear to me a few days later......
The earthquake wasn't the only obstacle which extended the journey time by such ridiculous proportions. We broke down - twice, and we were also very nearly involved in an accident when a car almost miss-timed it's overtaking manouver of a lorry and thus nearly became the filling of a bus-lorry sandwhich.
While we were travelling, I wondered how big the earthquake was, how many injured and if this was the main earthquake or could we expect another one to follow. I later found out all these answers on the USGS website. It was a 6.0 magnitude earthquake, with a shallow focus of 10km and it's epicentre was almost on top of where we were (perhaps slightly south of our location at the time). It was recorded at a time of 21:26:45 (local Indonesian time) on Monday 19th May, 2008 - and it had caused me a whole lot of grief!!!
