Volcanic Activity in Java

Indonesia is huge. This country is made of 17,508 islands. If you were to go to a new island a day, it would take you 48 years to explore every one. 48 YEARS. Each one is different. I have a two month visa for Indonesia and just a few days in I was feeling overwhelmed about the fact that I won’t have enough time to see everything. There are a few places I’ll have to cut out of my plans. When this happens and I feel like I’m in somewhat of a time crunch, even if it's a two month crunch, I write a list of my top 5 experiences or places I want before I leave. Sometimes I don’t even know what these are until I arrive at a new place and get some in-person recommendations. My top five goals for Indonesia are hiking a volcano, scuba diving, visiting the Gili Islands, teaching yoga and seeing a komodo dragon and/or an orangutan. The volcanos Mt.Bromo and Mt.Ijen  on Java were calling my name before I even landed in Indonesia. But first, I needed to check out the artist city of Yogyakarta, home of the world’s largest Buddhist temple, also an UNESCO World Heritage Site. I took an hour-long flight from Bali to Yogyakarta. 

I arrived to Yogyakarta in the evening, I checked into Wonderloft Hostel, and took myself around the city to get some food. It was the evening, and it’s always strange arriving somewhere in the dark. It’s a safe city, I put in my headphones, grabbed my book and went on a local food expedition. I explored little side streets, hole in the wall restaurants, admired the detailed graffiti around the city, and watched horses galloping down the streets (common mode of transportation in Indonesia). All with my favorite, Led Zeppelin, in my ears.I wandered into a bar where the music sounded good. In Minneapolis I could never do something like this alone, even wander through my own city. Indonesia is very safe. Actually most of SE Asia is this way. 

I sat down to enjoy the reggae music playing. I was the only one alone. I don’t mind this at all anymore, but I think the band may have felt bad for me so during their intermission they got me a beer and introduced themselves. They were the most tattooed people I have ever met but also some of the kindest and most welcoming guys I’ve met on my trip. Safety is an instinctual thing and I instantly felt safe with them. The waitress was good friends with this local band and she and I became friends too. The performance finished, the bar closed but the owner kept it open as we sang along to an acoustic guitar. I looked at the time. 2 am. One of the guys asked if I’d like a tour guide around Yogyakarta tomorrow. He doesn’t work tomorrow and would be happy to show me around. I took this moment to make it clear that if he has any funny ideas I won’t be joining him. I have zero interest in dating right now and if he has different expectations I’d rather explore on my own. I watched all the smile in his face drop. He told me that wasn’t his expectation at all, I’m actually not his type, and he’s slightly offended by my assumption. Oops. Nonetheless he still took me up on this offer and I’m so glad I joined him the next day. His name is Geong, plays the double bass and was born and raised in Yogyakarta. 

Geong picked me up on his scooter and we went to visit Mount Merapi, a volcano that erupted in 2010. There were colorful villages leading up to Merapi but as soon as we made it to the base everything was gray. There were no more houses, shops, stalls or even street dogs. This volcano erupted with enough time to evacuate most people out of the village that was built on the volcano. Over 350,000 evacuated and 353 people were killed. One casualty was the shaman of the village that refused to evacuate because someone needed to continue praying during this catastrophe. Geong brought me to the location of the shaman’s home, which is now a temple/mini museum about the eruption. 

We walked closer to the volcano and Geong showed me what looked like an empty river bank but was actually the path of the lava. Afterwards we came across the most random thing: A man with two trained owls. I couldn’t resist asking him if I could let one perch on my arm as he was. It was such a beautiful creature to see close up, but I wish I could have set them free. 

On our way down the mountain it POURED rain. It was like the heavens opened. I can’t remember the last time I felt rain like this. We pulled over for me to buy a rain jacket and rain pants (?) for 50 cents. Then we stopped at a local food stall and watched the kids play in puddles. 

When the rain cleared up we made our way to the famous temple mentioned previously: Borobudur. Geong helped me get a discount on my ticket. But there’s an option to pay almost $20 more to be able to go to the top of the temple, actually walk on and up it. I said no thanks to this because a) I don't like to pay extra for things b) how can I admire a structure if I'm ON it and c) there's a legend told that the heavenly architect who built Borobudur lays a curse on anyone who dares ascend his holy shrine. 

Borobudur Temple is a magnificent 9th-century Buddhist temple located in Central Java, Indonesia, and is one of the world’s largest and most intricate Buddhist monuments. The temple is designed as a massive stone mandala, symbolizing the Buddhist path to enlightenment. It features nine stacked platforms—six square and three circular—culminating in a large central dome at the top.

The temple’s architecture represents the three levels of Buddhist cosmology:

1. Kamadhatu (World of Desires): The base layer, depicting scenes of earthly desires and karma.

   
   

2. Rupadhatu (World of Forms): The middle platforms, filled with intricate relief panels showcasing stories from Buddha’s life and teachings.

   
   

3. Arupadhatu (World of Formlessness): The upper circular platforms with 72 stupas, each housing a Buddha statue, representing the transcendence of earthly ties.

At the temple’s peak sits the main stupa, symbolizing nirvana, the ultimate goal in Buddhism. Borobudur’s design encourages visitors to move upward, mirroring the spiritual journey towards enlightenment.

After the temple we cruised back to our now beloved Reggae Rock Cafe for my last hoorah with this band of locals. This time they gave me the microphone and made me perform a song of my choice (although I begged not to). I chose ‘What’s Up’ by Four Non Blondes and gave it my all. My Hannah Montana moment in Yogyakarta. Again, we stayed past bar close requesting songs and sharing stories. Meeting locals has been and will always be the only way to out a needle to the tourist bubble and I always feel so lucky when it happens. I promised a return to Yogyakarta before I depart to New Zealand early December. 

I’m usually not one for “organized fun” but it seemed way too difficult for me to see the sunrise over Mt. Bromo and hike to the top of Mt. Ijen without some guidance. It requires a lot of organization as these volcanoes are not easy to get to. They’ve also become so popular in Indonesia that it’s almost impossible to go without a guide. My hostel recommended a group to join, it’s around $150 for two nights and three days to check out the volcanos AND see the incredible 350ft tall Tumpak waterfall. The tour includes all meals, accommodation, park fees and transport on a ferry back to Bali along with a shared taxi to your next destination. It seemed like a no-brainer. I didn’t expect this tour to make me nocturnal and that I’d learn many, many Dutch swear words. 

I joined a random group. This is always a gamble with solo travel but also gives an opportunity to meet some really cool people I may have not met otherwise. Turns out I unknowingly booked a tour with over 20 Dutch people. They spoke in English for me most of the time and included me the best they could. The only issue we ran into was that Dutch people are always 10 minutes early and Hannah people are always 10 minutes late. 

We started at the stunning Tumpak waterfall, which involved a steep hike down bamboo ladders and rocky paths. The view was stunning and our guide insisted on taking a photo in front of the waterfall, which I’m glad he did. 

Then we headed to a home stay near Mt. Bromo and were instructed to go to bed at 7pm. We would be getting up at midnight to make our way to the Bromo viewpoint to see the sunrise. I had a tough time falling asleep so early and ended up getting only two hours of sleep before they loaded us up into jeeps and took us up the mountain to the view point. This is the first time I’ve been cold since Kilimanjaro. I had to rent a winter jacket. It made me slightly homesick for Minnesota. We waited and waited in the dark, looking out at what seemed like nothing and then when the red ball of fire began to rise you could suddenly start to make out shapes and colors, a few minutes later my jaw dropped. 

Standing at about 7,641 feet, Mount Bromo is an active volcano, with regular smoke and ash emissions.  Mount Bromo holds cultural importance for the local Tenggerese people, who are of Hindu origin. Every year, they hold the Yadnya Kasada festival, during which they make offerings of food, flowers, and even livestock to the volcano, believed to be the dwelling place of gods. One look at Bromo during sunrise and I understand why they believe this.

After Bromo we got back into the jeeps and they brought us into the desert below, where we walked through the black sand and climbed up to the crater of Bromo. The smell of sulfur was so strong I could only stay up there for a few minutes. Horses and jeeps everywhere transporting Bromo’s spectators, although I refuse to let a poorly treated horse carry my ass when I can easily walk. 

They brought us about two hours in the van to our next accommodation which was at a pretty decent hotel and we went straight to bed for another midnight wake up to climb to the top of Mt. Ijen. I was excited for this one because I’ve been craving a climb since Kilimanjaro. They brought us to a little tea stall for coffee, tea and fried banana before we began the hike. It took us about two hours to make it to the top of the famous crater in the pitch black but we were guided by headlamps and stars. There was an option to sit in a cart and have a local man literally drag you up the mountain for $100. This gave me such a bad feeling. Some people describe it as modern day slavery, even though there is money involved. There are hundreds of local men begging to carry people up the mountain even though it is extremely difficult and dangerous, there are deaths every week. But the pay is good for the locals and if you’re someone who can’t see why this is wrong you might agree to risk someone’s life as you lounge in a wooden cart, kicking your feet up as an Indonesian man carries you up a mountain that really shouldn’t be peaked if you can’t do it yourself. 

I thought about this a lot as we marched up the mountain and as soon as the first sunlight came out at 4am I was overtaken by the BLUE. The Ijen Crater is home to one of the world’s largest highly acidic crater lakes, a stunning turquoise-colored body of water. It only got brighter, and brighter and the clouds lifted with the sun. We got very lucky, most mornings this time of year are foggy. I didn’t think the view of Bromo could be beat until I met Ijen. We brought sulfur masks up with us this time, which helped with the smell and made us look pretty cool. 

We spent some time up here, I was thankful for that. Sometimes these tours are rushed. We trotted down and I bought the best mango of my life from a village we passed through. We enjoyed a sunny breakfast and then got on a ferry back to Bali. I was the longest rider on our shared taxi across Bali, made my way past Canggu and Ubud, all the way to the port on the south east tip of Bali for my next adventure off the coast to the magical island Nusa Penida. I had a nice surprise at this hostel I stayed at near the port: a sweet 50 year old Turkish man named Savaş. Savaş is deaf. I signed to him that I know ASL and we shared travel stories. He was overjoyed to have someone to sign to and I was even happier to have someone to share my experience on Bromo and Ijen to. He helped me arrange the lowest cost motorbike to the port where I made it just in time for the ferry to my next destination.