10/6 Jogja: Mt Merapi Jeep Tour & Batik Plentong

Today’s day trip that we’d arranged with Jundi was to drive to Mt Merapi, the most active volcano in the world, he said, and located about 90 minutes but only 25km away. Once there, we’d take a jeep tour to see the devastation wrought by the mountain’s fury when it erupted almost exactly 5 years ago.

Jundi arrived to pick us up at 8:15 carrying a ‘bouquet’ of rice stalks, with rice visible at the top, he’d cut for me that morning as he had remembered our search for them on our earlier day trip with him. How sweet and thoughtful was that.

Common to see in Jogja  newspaper vendors going car door to car door 
at major intersections during the long red lights.

Surprised that Jundi needed to stop at the gas station normally twice every time he took us out for the day but for only a minute or two each time. We learned that he only puts a few liters of gas in each time and never fills the tank up. That way he doesn’t have to fork the money up front when he doesn’t actually need the gas til later. 

Photos of Mt Merapi:

Jundi explained that Mt Merapi (above and below), which translates to Mountain of Fire, last erupted almost exactly 5 years ago and that everyone living within 25 kms of the mountain had to be evacuated. The government had been monitoring the situation for days preceding the eruption. As we’ve heard elsewhere, you always need to watch the animals for changes in their behavior prior to an eruption as they are harbingers of what’s to happen.

The departure point for all jeep tours at Mt Merapi is Kaliadem which translates to Old River. 

Jundi, our driver, had recommended we hire the previous company we had stopped at because of their better and more comfortable cars and 'insurance' (although we didn't know what insurance they would provide!). Our concern though was that the staff we spoke to didn't speak enough English. We were happy we chose Grinata Adventures and their medium length tour.

Once in the ancient jeep, we knew we would be in for a bone jarring ride for the next couple of hours as the seats had virtually no padding and the jeep’s suspension had seen its best days decades ago. Oh, and did I mention that we’d be driving over ruts in the jungle?! I positively swear I will NEVER complain about a road’s condition again after being in the jeep for two plus hours!

You can just see the smoke escaping from the flattened top of Mt Merapi, We were so lucky to see it as often the mountain is totally shrouded in clouds.

When the volcano erupted, the lava jumped over this swath of land, our driver explained. 
They now call this the Lava River.

Our ride for a few hours. I stood up in the back seat holding onto the rollbar for dear life for as much of the trip as I could. That way I could see better that way!

Photos of ‘frozen’ village:

Stopped at what has now become a small museum to view homes that had been frozen in time when the volcano erupted. The driver said that the former residents of the village and surrounding area were relocated by the government to new homes.

When time stood still.

Golf balls; there’s a golf course nearby but I wonder why anyone would want
to endure traveling these roads to get there!

Honey made for sale from beehive below.

There were lots of jeep companies taking customers out with each stopping at the same place. The driver stated that there are mostly just Indonesian tourists here at Mt. Merapi now. Don’t know if he meant specifically then that day or time frame OR generally only Indonesians visit Mt Merapi.

Jogja's terrible pollution had been affecting Steven for days and the non stop dust kicked up by the jeep didn't help matters.

Clouds beginning to roll in so smoke more difficult to see.

The road may look smooth enough here but it sure didn't feel it!

Stop nearest volcano: 

Before and after photos of the bunker where 2 government personnel monitoring the eruption had taken refuge from the ashes but were killed when the lava entered.

Only 4kms from the top here which is the nearest you can get by jeep.

We walked down into the bunker and could only imagine the terror the men must have felt here.

He pointed out the edelweiss flowers growing near the bunker. 

Before the eruption, you had to climb way up the mountain to view them.

Incredibly rocky terrain here. Glad we didn't have to drive over it!

All the vegetation within a couple of feet on either side of the road
was drab and dingy from the dust flying up.

Our driver said there's a huge mining operation that sprang up after the mountain erupted. He told us that the good quality lava sand being mined is perfect for construction. It is still unstable to use machines to dig so all must be shoveled out by hand.

The horn in this 50 year old jeep was the center switch  here!

Stop at Alien Rock:

Do you notice the head with the eyes, nose and the mouth just to our left?

Easy to see the path the lava flow took.

A motorbike club left its logo on one of the trees.

Stop at small cemetery:

 Graves of the 21 people who perished from the lava smoke.There had been 130 people in the village prior to the volcano’s wrath.

Directly beside their graves was the cemetery for people who died before and after the eruption.

Walking through these brittle leaves which made so much noise
made me feel like I was disturbing the dead.

One of the few signs of color we saw on the 2.5 hour jeep tour;
 it seemed everything else was a drab gray.

The driver asked us if we wanted to go through the water course here. We of course said yes and even though I’d be the first to admit it was a ‘canned’ experience, it was a hoot going at a pretty fast clip through the rocks and boulders with water spraying up around us.

Photos from our water tour:

I stood up most of the time holding onto the rollbar for dear life as the jeep was jostled from side to side. More exciting (and much better pictures!) that way I thought but Steven preferred sitting down.

Steven and I were surprised there were no historical markers or memorials at Mt Merapi to mark what had transpired or the loss of life when the volcano erupted.

Hard to see the top of Mt Merapi now. Thank goodness we had had an early start.

Normally the medium length tour doesn’t include a stop by a small waterfall where the bridge was mostly washed out but we were very lucky that our driver told us he would be glad to take us there.

Photos from waterfall stop:

We had to be careful where we walked here. The driver explained that after the eruption, trees tumbled down the mountain and broke the barrier.

It was unusual for me seeing this one patch of dead trees caused by fires during the volcano’s eruption as the trees so close by were lush and looked full grown although I knew after just 5 years, they couldn’t be.

I've never been off roading before and don't imagine I will again so this was a great once in a lifetime experience. Something to add to the memory bank!

A new sight for us on the drive back to Jogja: This truck had 6 tires across the rear; my camera battery died right then so I couldn't take another photo to show all the tires.

Interesting and disquieting too that so many English words have made their way into the Indonesian language and way of life. Jundi commented that he and his friends generally use hello and goodbye when talking to each other and not the Javanese words for example.

Since we hadn’t been able to go to the batik museum in Solo on our long day trip  a few days ago, Jundi suggested we tour Batik Plentong on our way back especially since it was only a few minutes away from the guesthouse.

 Photos from our visit/tour to Batik Plentong:

It takes one person a day to trace 2 meters of fabric. The batik pattern or design is hand stamped or drawn by hand with wax which dries immediately.

This was stamped, not done free form.

Some paraffin wax.

Every time a new color is added, a new layer of wax is applied. 

The man is applying color here: the orange will end up being green, the yellow to brown and white will become blue when chemicals are used to set the colors. This 2 meter long piece of fabric will end up costing 2 million rupiah, about $140.

The cost of the final product is dependent on the colors used, the complexity of the pattern and the quality of the fabric itself, i.e. silk, cotton, etc the guide told us.

She showed us designs that the company has used since starting up 50 years ago; some of them are unique of course to their company. Traditional batik patterns were quite dark and their colors came from trees and plants, our guide explained. Bright colors were introduced in the 19^th C. 

We watched as a man scraped off some of the center dots of wax. It takes him 1 full day to do that on both sides of the 2 meter long fabric. I wonder how long his eyes can take doing such painstaking, repetitive work especially while standing the entire time.

The wax is removed by boiling the fabric in large vats of water for 20-30 minutes and is then recycled after rising to the top.

A batik map of Indonesia.

The only way you can tell if a batik item is original is if it’s reversible, the guide says. At the end of the free tour, we certainly had a new appreciation for batik and especially a far greater understanding why handmade batik products are so costly.

Back at the guesthouse by mid afternoon after a really fun morning offroading and then learning the is and outs of batik making. 

The bouquet of rice Jundi had presented me this morning.

Interesting tap here as you could turn the handle either way to get the water on; but to turn the water off, you had to find the exact sweet spot!

Surprisingly, one of the strongest showers we've had all trip. I have never had such boiling hot water in any shower before and came close to severely scalding myself a few times. The shower curtain rod was almost always covered with our 'washed' clothes waiting to dry.

Delicious dinner at Via Via Restaurant which also has locations in South America: