Sea Creatures, Volcanos & Blue Fire

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Java
Taking the night flight bound for KL was a great idea, as hard as it is to get to sleep on planes sometimes, you at least feel like you’re not missing out on anything. We landed in KL at around 4am and had about five hours to wait until the next flight into Jogjakarta, and lucky for us the new KL airport was up and running with loads of shops to choose food from and plenty of carpet to join the hundreds of other weary travelers (I’m not kidding) for an in between flight kip. Looping our arms through our bags and falling asleep in airports is not new to Sam and I, we have done it plenty of times in the past – especially backpacking on a budget when it saves you a nights accomo!

We arrived in Jogja and were picked up by the hotel transfer straight away. It took about one and a half hours to get from the airport to the hotel, traffic was hectic and the humidity hit us pretty hard, until now we had been living in the air conditioned comfort of planes and airports. On the way we stopped in at Prambanan Hindu Temple for a couple of hours. Prambanan is a 9th-century Hindu Temple dedicated to the Trimurti, the expression of God as the Creator (Brahma), the Preserver (Vishnu) and the Destroyer (Shiva). This extraordinary temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the largest Hindu temple site in Indonesia, and one of the biggest in Southeast Asia. We wandered around taking in the 47m high main temple and all the individual temples that surround it - all covered in symbols and statues of the Hindu religion.

Driving up to the hotel we got glimpses of Borobodur Temple which lies in the background only mere steps away from where we were staying. After almost twenty-seven hours of travelling, we finally got to lay our bags down, have a shower and venture into town to see what was about. Not much in the way of restaurants so we settled on room service pretty much for our whole two night stay which we so rarely do – but the choices were fairly slim and far from hygienic. An early night was had needless to say and we had to wake by 4am to begin our sunrise tour of the largest Buddhist temple in the world. The first of many early rises in the dark for this holiday, our wake up call had us up and ready to venture over to the temple. Borobodur is 269m above sea level and surrounded by several mountains. It is an ancient temple inherited by Buddhism and was built as a place to meditate or to stand in silence (something which was lost on the Chinese tour group who accompanied us at the summit). Doing the sunrise tour was the best decision we made, all up there would have been around 50 or 60 people do the trek with us but after 6am when the sun is truly up, they open it to the public so you can forget about trying to get photos of this magnificent temple without people in it. As it was, we struggled to get clear shots of the stupas and statues. The stupas built in Borobodur Temple are in accordance with Buddhism concept which is replica of the universe, the temple itself has no spaces inside and you can merely see and admire it by walking around it which is called ‘Pradaksina’. I wanted to be the first to reach the main stupa as we set off in the dark and we were. Touching it you can feel a certain energy and calm transpire through your whole body (well at least I got that feeling).

6am rise the next morning to have a quick brekky and catch the airport shuttle back to Jogja airport bound for Surabaya. We were greeted at the other end by our tour operator who was accompanied by his own personal driver and after about six hours of travel in the back of their car we finally made it to our next stop near Mount Bromo. The hotel we stayed at was quite high up in the mountains so the fact that our room didn’t have air con was not going to be an issue and again after a long day of travels, we kicked back with some drinks and dinner and got to bed for yet another early rise was only hours away. We woke at 3am to board our own personal jeep to take us to the lookout for Mount Bromo to watch the sun come up. Mount Bromo is an active volcano and stands at At 2,329 metres - it is not the highest peak in Java, but is the most well known and is one of the most visited areas. Sam and I pushed our way through the crowd to get pole position for the sunrise and it was pretty glorious but unbeknownst to us the mountains we were looking at were not where Bromo was situated. It wasn’t until we walked back to our friendly little guide in the jeep and showed him our photos that he pointed out to another lookout where we could get a clear postcard shot of the volcano and the surrounding ones. The lookout was quite a large and expansive viewing area and there were hundreds of people, we got caught up in just being at the front to get the best possible shot of the sunrise – assuming Bromo was right in front of it…….muppets! Anyway all was not lost as we had time to breathe it all in from far away before trekking over the black sandy desert (The Sea of Sands) to walk up into the mouth of the mighty Mount Bromo.

The desert was humming with the sound of jeeps and bikes and the dust storms as a result of this were hectic, windows up that’s for sure! Once we got to the point where you start the walk to the summit, many people were opting to pay for a horse ride to make the journey. The Indonesian ponies were small and some were not looked after very well which was evident from visible rib and hip bones. On top of that it is so upsetting to see people big enough to swing a leg over the horse from a standing position riding these poor little things. We definitely opted out of this for the animal’s sake and walked the track ourselves. Going up I couldn’t shake the story that broke of the volcano in Japan Mount Ontake, a few weeks prior to our trip where fifty-seven people lost their lives trekking up to and sitting at the summit. Regardless of whether there is 24 hr monitoring by seismologists, when mother nature decides she is going to let loose there isn’t much anyone can do about it and all you can do is hope that today will not be the day she decides to.

It was a pretty intense feeling standing on the rim looking down into the crater – something we probably wont get to do again (unless we make it over to Hawaii someday to trek some of those bad boys). The locals also made and sold different creations made from a local flower, these were bought as offerings to throw down into the volcano, we never bothered to do this as when you stand up there, the actual crater is a fair way away and not in throwing distance at all. We have also heard that sometimes the locals will actually walk down into the volcano and pick up the offerings that didn’t quite make it for resale! Heading back to the hotel it was about 9am by this time – what you can pack into a morning! Back in the car after brekky for yet another six hour car ride to Catimore, our next stop to visit Ijen Crater, home of the blue fire. We broke up the journey a little by stopping at yet another very old Buddhist temple and an Indonesian museum in our tour guides home town of Probolinggo. Not much happening in Catimore apart from a Java coffee factory. The homestay was pretty average but there wasn’t much choice in accommodation in the area and for only one night it didn’t matter, tomorrow was going to be our last early rise adventure.

1am was the wake up call this time, it took fourty minutes to get to the base of Ijen Crater. Ijen Crater is a one kilometre wide turquoise colored acid crater lake. The blue fire is ignited sulphuric gas, which emerges from cracks with temperatures up to 600 degrees and there are only two places in the world you can see this phenomena - Alaska being the other. We walked about 3km all up and at about half way the air begins to sour with the pungent smell of sulphur and your lungs start to burn – gas masks out. We were lucky to have a local guide whom took us down into the actual crater, most tour companies don’t allow you to do this and you are bombarded with ‘Danger’ signs and ‘Do Not Enter’ lucky for us we got to go right down into the crater because at the top we could barely see the blue fire at all let a lone snap a shot of it. On the way down we passed a few sulphur miners and you are instantly humbled watching these men who carry more than their own body weight in sulphur up out of the crater then a further grueling 3kms. They get paid per weight of the load they carry and one load is on average about $8 AUD, they work in four hour shifts only and in this time gather two loads. They are the highest unskilled paid workers in Indonesia and also probably the shortest life expectancy of fourty-five due to the poor work conditions and on top of that they all seem to smoke as well! Conditions have to be just right for the fire to be visible and we lucked out on this morning, the closer we got the clearer it was but when the wind changed it took your breath away literally and the pain in your eyes was indescribable. Our filtered gas masks from Bunnings were working pretty well until you got right into the firing line of the burning sulphur and there were peeps around us (including the miners) with no protection on at all. As the sun came up we stood at the top of the crater and took in the beautiful jewelled lake of Ijen Crater and it was unbelievably cold so the locals built us a little fire to stand around. On the 3km trek back we stopped at one of the weighing stations and Sam had a crack at lifting 90kgs of Sulphur, he made one step and had to put it down – much respect to these little fellas that seem to literally carry the weight of the world on their backs to feed their families.

We were then off to Bengawangi Harbour to catch the ferry from Java over to Bali. There were about twenty-five of us travelers that pre-purchased a ticket on the Java side to transport us from there all the way to Denpesar bus station in an air conditioned private bus but when we got the the harbour in Bali, we were asked for an extra 5,000 IDR (about 50c) each to get on a bus. Sure this is a scam that happens all the time and there is nothing you can do but pay the extra which isn't much but it's more the principle of it all. After a couple of our European friends kicked off about it to no avail, we had no choice but to pay and board a lovely no air conditioned public bus with the locals. I got crammed up the very back with no leg room and Sam managed to get up the front - it was up there with one of the worst travel experiences we have had (even if only for three and a half hours) and I was thankful that I diligently go to Bikram yoga every week to stay flexible – it came in handy that day.

After arriving in Denpesar bus station we took a cab to the ever delightful area of Kuta or ‘Aussie’s abroad.’ Sam and I have never had the desire to ever see this side of Bali (or even go to Bali at all) but due to the fact that we had to catch a boat out to the Gili Islands the next day it was the easiest place to make the transition so we had to suck it up. What an absolute shit hole this place is, I get the appeal with the cheap shopping and nightlife but that wouldn't be enough for us to stay there and for the locals, they are making a good living from all the tourists so we appreciate that’s the way life is here but I couldn’t shake the sad feeling that once upon a time this place had so much more to offer and that the culture had truly been lost here. The pivitol moment was seeing a local fella on the footpath selling Australian newspapers, much like they do with the British abroad some of the European islands – each to their own I guess, just not for us. We crashed out pretty early far away from the bright lights and debauchery in our hotel room far back from the main drag anticipating our first sleep in of the holiday – bliss! Next morning we wandered into town to get some brekky - did a Bintang singlet count of passers by while eating eggs and bacon then a quick bit of shopping which consisted of Sam stocking up on sunnies and boardies. Getting back to the hotel we realised we were still on Java time which was an hour behind Bali, luckily we hadn’t missed our lift to the harbour to catch the boat over to the Gilies, had just enough time to pack and get out of there!

Gili Trewangan
It took about an hour to get to the harbour, and then a further two hour wait for the boat to arrive, fill up with fuel and get us finally to our first island destination Gili Trewangan. Gili T, as it is known by locals and travelers, is a pumping little island that consists of one main very long street full of pubs, shops, spas and diving companies. You want for nothing here the whole place is like it is on crack – really popular with backpackers and pretty fast paced. There are no cars on the island, the only mode of transport is by horse and cart called Chidomo. Hard workers these ponies, the same breed as we saw on the way to Bromo and they all seemed to be stallions, strong and hardy to endure the humidity and heavy loads. We opted to stay off the main drag away from the main mosque in town but little did we know there is no escaping prayer time anywhere on Gili T and lucky us we happen to have construction going on right next door to our bungalow as well – oh well, that’s travelling! We had four nights in total on Gili T and our good friends from back home, Cookie & Kylie, happened to be holidaying just over the water in a resort by the beach in Lombok so we caught up with them for a day of relaxing, drinking and eating – what else to do on an island? Oh yeah the diving.

We managed to get under the water four times with Manta Dive. Having explored the underwater jewel of Sippadan in Borneo on our last holiday, we didn’t have our hopes up too much for diving here but there are still a few little creatures we want to tick off the list and our first dive we spotted a sea snake which made it all worth while. The Gilies is mainly a muck diving sanctuary (loads of little stuff) and on one of our dives we missed out unfortunately on seeing a seahorse. This one dive we went on had a sandy bottom and for some reason the dive company thought it would be fine to bring learners down to do skills. Learner divers + sandy bottom = no visibility. Our group was supposed to stick with a local DM and his group but due to the poor vis, we got separated and when we got back to the boat he showed us a photo of a seahorse they found, gutted. We did get to see some Ornate Ghost Pipefish which are relatives of the seahorse and just as beautiful.

Gili Air
After four nights on Gili T, we got a transfer boat over to the smaller of the Gili Islands, Gili Air. A lot more chilled and laid back and our room was only steps from the beach on the main drag (and we could barely hear the mosque at prayer time, winning!) We set off straight away to book our first dive with Manta Dive again on this island the following day, we wanted to go back to Seahorse Bay for a second chance to find something special but they wouldn’t take us there. We had a few dives with Manta but we then decided feck it – it’s our holiday, we want to go back to the bay. On the third day we walked into another dive centre just down the road and they were more than happy to take us, and within an hour they organised a boat and a few other DM’s joined us too for an afternoon in the search of little stuff. Unfortunately we didn’t spot our little friend the seahorse so the search continues but we were so thankful to have the second chance. Being the more chilled island of the two, it was nice to be finishing off the trip just relaxing by the water and diving at our leisure. The last night we walked up to the north of the island and found a couple of bean bags to kick back on and watch the sunset at this trendy little Mexican bar drinking cocktails, not a bad way to end the day and prepare for the twenty-four hour trip home, ick!

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Comments

[Philip Procter]

Next hols
hey kids nice blog, place looks amazing, was looking for something to follow on from Cambodia and I reckon this could be the right path - stoked you guys are still getting about. px