Home » Indonesia » INDONESIA

Jakarta to Dieng Plateau Central Java
Dieng plateau on Central Java to Bali

INDONESIA

Mar
2004-09-14 16:42:50

Displayed times (last time: )

chain, whatever size, wouldn’t fit until Raymond changes the rings, which are rare to find in Indonesia. One relieve is that he can still cycle on his middle chain ring, which isn’t light enough to climb very steep slopes of a volcanic landscape. “What an excuse”, we say to each other. We have no alternatives this time, standing still at the slopes of the Dieng Plateau, and return from where we started.
A couple of hours later, after we dropped the bicycles in an economy room, we are on a bus to Dieng village and arrange a five-hour walk to the several highlights of the Ding Plateau. The next morning we are woken up at 4.30 after our guide checked the weather for clouds that would cover our sunrise from a spectacular viewpoint. We walk through the potato fields and get our shoes and pants wet from the morning dew. Unfortunately we forgot our torchlight and we have a hard time finding the muddy footpath and avoiding the rocks.

A village near to Dieng has gotten rich because of their high quality potatoes that can grow in this cool and wet area. The inhabitants donated a part of their income for building the biggest mosque we have seen for such a small village. The walk is really worth it; we reach our viewpoint exactly at dusk and watch the spectacular view of the volcanoes in Central Java. After a breakfast of cookies we walk to a whole in the earth that bubbles and sizzles and sends a fume of damp in the air up to 50 meters high. We get as close as if we were to jump in a swimming pool, just an example of Indonesian safety regulations. Muddy explosions

Near to Purwodadi, somewhere between Semarang and Surabaya, my map indicates “Active Mud Volcano” in red letters, indicating a highlight of Java. That’s where we’re heading to, I would like to catch a mud bubble and bring it back home to my large collection of mud bubbles. This time it is not on the slopes or on the top of a mountain, the active mud volcano is just ...