Lunar Landscapes and Lunacy
Jun. 30th, 2009 10:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeYou don't really need to make it up but it's a genuine story headline on the BBC News website. So if anyone fancies a swine flu party, let me know and I'll get the drinks in.
Today, I headed out into the countryside to become acquainted with the volcanic landscape outside of the city. Our first port of call was the Dieng Plateau - a plateau hidden amongst the volcanoes at over 2,000 feet in sea level. In places it is like another world, with temples dotting a lunar landscape carved through years of volcanic activity. In fact, it is the collapsed remains of an ancient crater and the terrain is one of terraces and scorched grey rock. The change in pressure also forced our packets of crisps to expand due to the sealed air having less air to push against.
The Dieng Plateau is four hours drive from Yogyakarta and that's using a short cut that takes narrow country roads through the countryside. The distances aren't far and the roads are of good quality but here bikes and motorcycles take priority and this slows down progress considerably. You may think that Indonesian village life would show the poverty of this nation but the reality was quite different. Nearly all of the houses we saw were modest, concrete affairs and some even had cars on their driveways (although the motorbike is still king here). Each town had a bustling little market and all of the shops were stocked, even in the tiniest villages.
There were aspects of traditional life we saw though, particularly in relation to farming. There were many people sewing and harvesting rice, standing in sodden paddy fields bare-ankled whilst wearing the traditional pointed straw hat to protect themselves from the blistering sun. The intricate irrigation system enabled them to get the most out of their land and the rows upon rows of man-made rice terraces showed the awesome power man often has on his environment. Young boys herded goats whilst men dug the earth with the most basic of tools. Men carried large bamboo canes on the back of their bicycles as they valiantly cycled against a steep incline in the noon day sun. The inclines here are remarkable, up to 40% in places. We also saw tea, coffee and tobacco plantations, as well as banana, papaya and coconut trees. Chilli plants grew alongside nut crops and it was easy to see how this nation of 225 million people is self-sufficient.
As we winded our way up towards the plateau, we saw the impressive and distinctive shapes of volcanoes grow ever closer. This was most clear as we crossed a rickety road bridge over a spectacular ravine. Up above the volcanoes stood and below lay two towns - both with sumptuously ornate mosques dominating below them. These volcanoes are very much active, as we were to find out at Kawah Sikidang later in the day, and that one scene demonstrated nature's unique power on the human sphere.
Kawah Sikidang is effectively a volcanic crater which contains a sea of frantically bubbling black water. From it, there eminates sulphurous clouds that envelop the landscape. As safety isn't a watchword here, we could walk up to the crater and peer straight in. It was indeed very lunar. One poor duck had tried to swim in it but he was burned alive, poor thing. The earth around the craters (there were five of them) was scorched - it resembling a grey-green barren wasteland of volcanic minerals. There is also a geothermal power station on site.
We decided to forgo caution and ate a lot of roadside food today. We tried coconut bread, which was most heavenly, it melted in the mouth perfectly. I also tried a rice donut and some of the nicest chips I have ever had in my life, all made from local potatoes and fried right in front of us. Served with chili sauce, they were delicious. We also tried some local crisps, again as fresh and again as tasty. Afterwards, we got to sample the delights of a squat toilet too, for the princely sum of Rp1000 (9c). Observing the local way of life was interesting - it was definitely a more conservative and traditional area, with most women wearing the hijab and where there were many mosques, some of which being spectacularly ornate. My wolf T-shirt also attracted a lot of attention, with old women with no teeth howling after me. It made a good conversation starter. Indeed, at one point, an old woman just grabbed my hand to shake it. It was most fantastic.
The Dieng Plateau is also known for its Hindu and Buddhist temples (they were often converted as Buddhism swept through Java) at the Arjuna Complex. This was nice as it was free of tourists apart from the American family I befriended on the plane over here three days ago. It was nice to share travelling notes with them. The temples at the Complex aren't particularly impressive - they are made of grey stone and are small - but there are some nice carvings on the walls and we were allowed to go in them, which was great. The Museum attached to it was pretty rubbish too in all honesty as all of the artefacts had been taken away from in situ and just plonked randomly in a room. Still, there were a few animal masks and things of a furry interest so it was worth my Rp2000. On the way back down from the plateau, we briefly stopped off at Telaga Warna (the coloured lake), which was a pristine aquamarine colour, catching the Sun and glistening amidst the dense forest and mountains above. It was very romantic and an old toilet woman took a shine to me.
We were in a rush because we wanted to catch the sun setting from the ancient Hindu/Buddhist temple at Borobudur. Along with Bagan and Angkor Wat, it is considered to be one of Asia's finest temples and it is the biggest Buddhist structure to exist outside India. It is made up of six square-shaped levels on which Buddhist stories are carved into both walls. The idea is that you walk around the first level and then up to the second, walking around that. You then move on to the third, fourth, fifth and sixth and as you do so, you head to a higher state of Enlightenment. 1500 narrative panels make up this procedure. At the top, there are three circular levels in which 72 separate statues of a meditating Buddha are placed within intricately designed cones made out of stone. You are urged to reach through the gaps in the stone to touch the Buddha and make a wish. I am not telling you what I wished for :P 432 Buddhas decorate the square sections of the temple like battlements. It was built in the ninth century, but abandoned early on. It was rediscovered in 1814 and is now an UNSECO World Heritage site.
Sitting amidst palm tree groves and below the mountains, it is a remarkable testament to human achievement, particularly when belief is involved and being there and watching the sunset was nothing short of magical. The vibrant pinks and golds mixed perfectly with the grey sandstone and although there were quite a few tourists there, it didn't really detract from the heavy yet jovial atmosphere that pervaded the place. Indeed, nearly all of the tourists there were locals (who paid a lower price no doubt as there was an International Tourist booth and we were charged the equivalent of $12) and strangely, many wanted to take their picture with me. Indeed, five groups did and another three groups requested but I pretended to ignore them. Now, I know Buddhists like fat white men as they consider them lucky. But Indonesia is now predominantly Muslim. My friend suggested that it's because they don't often see many white people and they were curious. Either way, I was flattered and I was glad I made them happy.
Sadly, the Sun wasn't fully down by the time we were forced to leave but it had almost dipped below the horizon. Being near to the Equator the sun rises and falls at a very quick pace. It also gets dark at 6pm which is odd coming from England, as I am currently used to 10:30pm. Upon leaving, we were sent through a massive market where locals sold a vast array of what can only be described as tat. Here, we were mobbed by up to 12 vendors at one time, all desperate for us to depart with our money. I bought two books about the local temples but decided to leave it at that - the problem being that the prices were still high because they were offering tourist rates.
Dinner was unremarkable and the day was tiring as a whole - we were up at 6:15am and as I had nightmares about snakes all night, I hardly slept. I couldn't keep my mind off them. Thanks to the world's worst cycle taxi guy, I was dropped off 15 minutes walk from my hotel after we had been dropped off in town for dinner. I got back at 9:40pm.
Before this, we had sat in car for the best part of eight hours and although our driver, Andy, did his best to drive as quickly as he could down the narrow country roads (which are almost as good as our potholed ones in England), it is still a long time to sit in a car. Still, we saw a lot of country life and many new interesting things. Days like today is why I travel.
Today, I headed out into the countryside to become acquainted with the volcanic landscape outside of the city. Our first port of call was the Dieng Plateau - a plateau hidden amongst the volcanoes at over 2,000 feet in sea level. In places it is like another world, with temples dotting a lunar landscape carved through years of volcanic activity. In fact, it is the collapsed remains of an ancient crater and the terrain is one of terraces and scorched grey rock. The change in pressure also forced our packets of crisps to expand due to the sealed air having less air to push against.
The Dieng Plateau is four hours drive from Yogyakarta and that's using a short cut that takes narrow country roads through the countryside. The distances aren't far and the roads are of good quality but here bikes and motorcycles take priority and this slows down progress considerably. You may think that Indonesian village life would show the poverty of this nation but the reality was quite different. Nearly all of the houses we saw were modest, concrete affairs and some even had cars on their driveways (although the motorbike is still king here). Each town had a bustling little market and all of the shops were stocked, even in the tiniest villages.
There were aspects of traditional life we saw though, particularly in relation to farming. There were many people sewing and harvesting rice, standing in sodden paddy fields bare-ankled whilst wearing the traditional pointed straw hat to protect themselves from the blistering sun. The intricate irrigation system enabled them to get the most out of their land and the rows upon rows of man-made rice terraces showed the awesome power man often has on his environment. Young boys herded goats whilst men dug the earth with the most basic of tools. Men carried large bamboo canes on the back of their bicycles as they valiantly cycled against a steep incline in the noon day sun. The inclines here are remarkable, up to 40% in places. We also saw tea, coffee and tobacco plantations, as well as banana, papaya and coconut trees. Chilli plants grew alongside nut crops and it was easy to see how this nation of 225 million people is self-sufficient.
As we winded our way up towards the plateau, we saw the impressive and distinctive shapes of volcanoes grow ever closer. This was most clear as we crossed a rickety road bridge over a spectacular ravine. Up above the volcanoes stood and below lay two towns - both with sumptuously ornate mosques dominating below them. These volcanoes are very much active, as we were to find out at Kawah Sikidang later in the day, and that one scene demonstrated nature's unique power on the human sphere.
Kawah Sikidang is effectively a volcanic crater which contains a sea of frantically bubbling black water. From it, there eminates sulphurous clouds that envelop the landscape. As safety isn't a watchword here, we could walk up to the crater and peer straight in. It was indeed very lunar. One poor duck had tried to swim in it but he was burned alive, poor thing. The earth around the craters (there were five of them) was scorched - it resembling a grey-green barren wasteland of volcanic minerals. There is also a geothermal power station on site.
We decided to forgo caution and ate a lot of roadside food today. We tried coconut bread, which was most heavenly, it melted in the mouth perfectly. I also tried a rice donut and some of the nicest chips I have ever had in my life, all made from local potatoes and fried right in front of us. Served with chili sauce, they were delicious. We also tried some local crisps, again as fresh and again as tasty. Afterwards, we got to sample the delights of a squat toilet too, for the princely sum of Rp1000 (9c). Observing the local way of life was interesting - it was definitely a more conservative and traditional area, with most women wearing the hijab and where there were many mosques, some of which being spectacularly ornate. My wolf T-shirt also attracted a lot of attention, with old women with no teeth howling after me. It made a good conversation starter. Indeed, at one point, an old woman just grabbed my hand to shake it. It was most fantastic.
The Dieng Plateau is also known for its Hindu and Buddhist temples (they were often converted as Buddhism swept through Java) at the Arjuna Complex. This was nice as it was free of tourists apart from the American family I befriended on the plane over here three days ago. It was nice to share travelling notes with them. The temples at the Complex aren't particularly impressive - they are made of grey stone and are small - but there are some nice carvings on the walls and we were allowed to go in them, which was great. The Museum attached to it was pretty rubbish too in all honesty as all of the artefacts had been taken away from in situ and just plonked randomly in a room. Still, there were a few animal masks and things of a furry interest so it was worth my Rp2000. On the way back down from the plateau, we briefly stopped off at Telaga Warna (the coloured lake), which was a pristine aquamarine colour, catching the Sun and glistening amidst the dense forest and mountains above. It was very romantic and an old toilet woman took a shine to me.
We were in a rush because we wanted to catch the sun setting from the ancient Hindu/Buddhist temple at Borobudur. Along with Bagan and Angkor Wat, it is considered to be one of Asia's finest temples and it is the biggest Buddhist structure to exist outside India. It is made up of six square-shaped levels on which Buddhist stories are carved into both walls. The idea is that you walk around the first level and then up to the second, walking around that. You then move on to the third, fourth, fifth and sixth and as you do so, you head to a higher state of Enlightenment. 1500 narrative panels make up this procedure. At the top, there are three circular levels in which 72 separate statues of a meditating Buddha are placed within intricately designed cones made out of stone. You are urged to reach through the gaps in the stone to touch the Buddha and make a wish. I am not telling you what I wished for :P 432 Buddhas decorate the square sections of the temple like battlements. It was built in the ninth century, but abandoned early on. It was rediscovered in 1814 and is now an UNSECO World Heritage site.
Sitting amidst palm tree groves and below the mountains, it is a remarkable testament to human achievement, particularly when belief is involved and being there and watching the sunset was nothing short of magical. The vibrant pinks and golds mixed perfectly with the grey sandstone and although there were quite a few tourists there, it didn't really detract from the heavy yet jovial atmosphere that pervaded the place. Indeed, nearly all of the tourists there were locals (who paid a lower price no doubt as there was an International Tourist booth and we were charged the equivalent of $12) and strangely, many wanted to take their picture with me. Indeed, five groups did and another three groups requested but I pretended to ignore them. Now, I know Buddhists like fat white men as they consider them lucky. But Indonesia is now predominantly Muslim. My friend suggested that it's because they don't often see many white people and they were curious. Either way, I was flattered and I was glad I made them happy.
Sadly, the Sun wasn't fully down by the time we were forced to leave but it had almost dipped below the horizon. Being near to the Equator the sun rises and falls at a very quick pace. It also gets dark at 6pm which is odd coming from England, as I am currently used to 10:30pm. Upon leaving, we were sent through a massive market where locals sold a vast array of what can only be described as tat. Here, we were mobbed by up to 12 vendors at one time, all desperate for us to depart with our money. I bought two books about the local temples but decided to leave it at that - the problem being that the prices were still high because they were offering tourist rates.
Dinner was unremarkable and the day was tiring as a whole - we were up at 6:15am and as I had nightmares about snakes all night, I hardly slept. I couldn't keep my mind off them. Thanks to the world's worst cycle taxi guy, I was dropped off 15 minutes walk from my hotel after we had been dropped off in town for dinner. I got back at 9:40pm.
Before this, we had sat in car for the best part of eight hours and although our driver, Andy, did his best to drive as quickly as he could down the narrow country roads (which are almost as good as our potholed ones in England), it is still a long time to sit in a car. Still, we saw a lot of country life and many new interesting things. Days like today is why I travel.
