After a month in the Philippines, paradise of diving and turquoise waters, we wanted to return to the joys of travelling in Asia: temples, rice, bus ride and especially the discovery of a new culture. The last especially has missed us a little in the islands; and yes the chickens do not just roast in the sun for a year!
Indonesian discovery in Yogyakarta
The first step of this Indonesian discovery is the island of Java. But first, you have to deserve Indonesia. Indeed, it will take us no less than 30 hours to reach Yogyakarta, our first Javanese destination. Between tuk tuk, bus, tuk tuk again, ferry, taxi, 3 planes, and final taxi, we can say that we do not really help save the planet… Exhausted but delighted, we take our marks in this new atmosphere and we are already charmed by “Jogja”. Indeed, this city of 3 million inhabitants has all the appearance of a large village with small streets well maintained and a small bohemian side that gives it a certain charm.
We visit the city’s must-sees, such as the Sultan’s Palace, the underground mosque or the batik factories. But it’s strolling in these little alleys where people are all smiles that charms us the most and makes us already feel like fish in the sea in Indonesia (well yes fish-chickens).
For our second day, we decide to indulge in one of our favorite activities, the discovery of a handicraft. And it is on a leather workshop that we set our sights. Especially Audrey who is delighted to make a handbag from A to Z under the instructions of Abenk, the most Zen and patient teacher that you can imagine! So it is absolutely over the moon that we spend the day to discover this craft. We decided to renew the experiment some days later to make a strap for our camera. Little birds, music, good humor, leather (chickens love leather, not you dear reader?), All in the open air; It couldn’t be better.
Majestic temples, volcanoes and traditions
The surroundings of Yogyakarta are rich and it is by scooter, for a change, that we decide to discover the magnificent temple of Borobudur and the Dieng plateau.
Lucky, the chickens fall in during one of the biggest buddhist festivities and have the chance to participate in the ceremony of Vesak on the site of Borobudur. The anniversary of the birth, illumination and death of Buddha in the main Buddhist temple of the country, we feel pretty lucky! This celebration is also well known for its launch of lanterns (Windows wallpaper already seen by the majority of you!). A true fairy moment that we will not forget anytime soon.
After this discovery by night, it is by day and among very few tourists that we admire the temple of Borobudur, an impressive building by its beauty and size. It is indeed one of the largest Buddhist temple in the world.
In hypo-bitumen, we lauch the assault to the plateau of Dieng. This destination, not yet very popular among tourists, gives us plenty of views. Volcanoes, breathtaking terraces, smiling faces, colorful lakes, all enhanced by an omnipresent haze that brings a special atmosphere to this place. We even have the chance to witness the eruption of the Merapi volcano, located about fifty kilometers from our morning point of view. Java, what an alive island!
The accommodations are fairly basic, the region is still not touristic but the kindness of the Javanese population balance this little point. The calls for prayer emanating five times a day from the many minarets in this period of Ramadan are extreme when we book without realizing a room adjoining one of the mosques of Dieng. Lucky chickens!
Upon our return to Yogyakarta, it is within the family of Abenk and Fanny that we stay for a few days in the pleasant city of Yogyakarta. Ben does another a beautiful piece of leather. The small family welcomes us with open arms and shares their Indonesian life for a few days. On the program, visit exhibitions of the city, discover the many bohemian restaurants and visit the Prambanan temple.
This visit to one of the largest Hindu buildings in the world will be almost as majestic as the Borobudur temple. And it’s with the feeling of having really enjoyed Yogyakarta, or Jogja for the intimate ones, that we leave this city for Solo, or Surakarta, further east.
This stage of a day allows us to soak up the Javanese culture far from the tourist trails, Solo is not really a stage of traditional circuits… Our stay in one homestay is pretty disorienting, as the mistress of house organizes on our arrival day a large neighborhood meeting (with religious and charity purpose). Indeed, as soon as she arrives, Audrey is invited to hand over donations to the children of an orphanage not far away from the house accompanying other women from the neighborhood. All after a religious ceremony, you imagine us really at ease!
Solo is also an opportunity to attend a traditional Javanese perfomance. Mix of dance, theater and singing. Reagarding the dancing and singing parts we are delighted by our visit, as for the theater in Javanese, it’s more complicated as since you guess we did not study Javanese at school, we are very perplexed to listen to monologues of 15 minutes in this language. Beautiful exotic experience anyway. Our visit to Solo is also marked by the very interesting visit of the Batik Museum, a traditional craft from Java. The batiks are made by sets of wax prints and can take years to be made for the most complex pieces. We also take the opportunity to go snoop at the antique market in the city, where Audrey still shines with her negotiating skills acquired during this world tour (on your next visit to your home, you will stir your coffee with silver teaspoons!).
The lunar atmosphere of the Bromo volcano
One of our main goal in coming to Java was to discover its volcanoes. Their numbers are impressive and many of them are still very active.
Indeed, after our cultural immersion in the city of Solo, it is towards Cemoro Lawang, village bordering the emblematic Bromo volcano that we are heading. We reach the region by train and minibus and it is to our surprise an almost empty village that we discover. Indeed, we are still in the midst of holidays related to Ramadan, and the Indonesian tourists, normally extremely numerous in Bromo, are in family. So it’s almost alone, together with Dorida and Markus, a couple of experienced Dutch hikers, that we hike in the heart of the caldera volcano to discover our first volcanic crater.
The approach of the crater is easily done via a path crossing the nicknamed “sea of sand”. An expanse of black sand from which emerges the volcano and which we discover as soon as we arrive, at the end of the street. The panorama is breathtaking, between lunar landscape and smoke emanating from the crater. We are absolutely thrilled to explore the surroundings, with the feeling of being alone in this totally unknown setting.
The Bromo volcano is also well known for its sunrise. It is therefore at 3:30 bright (the chickens still waking up before the rooster crowing!) that we leave for a small night hike to reach our viewpoint located not far from there (1h30 steep walk with headlight!). The reward is impressive. The show proposed by Mother Nature is dazzling. Once again, and to our astonishment, it is in the company of a dozen people maximum that we take advantage of this privileged moment perched on our rock, a broad smile on the lips.
Meet the sulfur deposits of the Ijen volcano
After so much beauty, and officially becoming big fans of volcanic panoramas, we go back on a train to reach the city of Banyuwangi, starting point to discover the volcano Ijen.
Frida, our charming host, welcomes us with open arms in her guest house, and spoils us more than reason. It really confirms the superb welcome that the Javanese have given us during this fortnight.
The ascent of the Ijen is done at night, for a change. Even earlier, we left at 23:30 (we left squarely the day before!) this time for one hour drive to reach the starting point of the night ride to climb the volcano Ijen. Arrived on the ridge of the crater, our guide makes us descend to the bottom of it so we can observe the famous blue flames. It is also from the bottom of the crater that we admire the sunrise, revealing the electric blue of the acid lake a few tens of meters from us.
“Volcanoes for dummies” explanation for the scientists: the blue flames that are observable at night in the heart of the Ijen volcano are in fact the manifestation of the burning of sulfur gases in the air, which creates a set of blue flames that Thousands of tourists hasten to visit for years. Everyone is armed with his camera (not really useful in the dark but especially his gas mask, essential to descend without suffering toxic fumes escaping from the crater (our mothers must adore this passage, we have no doubt it).
Our families and friends will say that yes, travelling around the world changes a chicken forever. Audrey is now hiking steep road by noght without grumbling and with a smile. The chickens will be in the lead pack of the group all along, we will have seen everything!
What we can confess, however, is that the hike clearly worth it, not for the observation of the phenomenon of flames which has a sympathetic interest, but especially for the discovery of the landscape at dawn where the volcano get to be discovered under a veil of mist. Another magical panorama that will remain anchored in our memories, volcanoes certainly having the ability to bring something intoxicating in you, making you forget in the second the small suffering it takes to reach them!
It should be known that the volcano Ijen in particular, has something special in its beauty but also in its atmosphere. The show is as touching in its beauty as in the fate of the sufferers who work there. Indeed, day and night, it is 350 carriers who rush to the heart of the crater to extract (in favor of a Chinese company) the sulfur released from the volcano. Then they bring back baskets that can sometimes weigh nearly 80 kilos at arm’s length for several kilometers. These hard workers are unfortunately affected by a mortality rate significantly higher than elsewhere on Java. They work obviously without gas masks and in deplorable security conditions. We must therefore separate the beauty of the place from what is happening at the bottom of this crater, which is not easy, and hope that the situation evolves very soon for these exploited workers.
This last volcanic discovery thus closed our Javanese stage. We just loved this island harboring many traditions and beautiful scenery. Our second Indonesian step is Bali, or maybe Sulawesi, who knows… but that’s for an upcoming chickens article!
See you soon,
Audrey & Ben