Mount Merapi

Guy cooking up our vegetable treats
see all photos »

With Vinnie, Tans, Niall and I all in the taxi we hit the road for Mount Merapi. It didn't take long to get there and find Vogel hostel which came recommended in our guide books for organizing treks. We were actually the only guests staying there the first night and choose the balcony bungalow between us for our two nights there.

Outside the hostel there was a little stall that the owners brother ran, frying up vegetable type snacks every evening - they were to die for! We pigged out on those both evenings we were there!

Hanging with some local boys
see all photos »

Kaliurang village itself is really quiet with not a lot going on so after dinner both evenings it was back to our bungalow for a few beers & games of shithead! Walking around Kaliurang itself didn't take long - there really isn't much to see apart from a museum which we didn't even make it to!

Niall and I made the effort to get up at 3am for the hike up to the viewpoint to see the sunrise by Mount Merapi as we had enjoyed the hike at Mount Bromo so much. It was tough getting up and setting off in the cold but it didn't take us long to get into the swing of things.

Mount Merapi on our early morning hike up
see all photos »

This hike was actually a lot easier that Mount Bromo so we were up in no time with lots of time to spare. It wasn't near as impressive as Mount Bromo as we couldn't get as near the volcano due to warnings that have been issued about activity in the area. Our guide (who happened to be the same man who cookked up the vegetable snacks) spoke in the most monotonous tone and it was painful listening to him go on and on about old stories and the history of the area - he could have summed it up in a fraction of the time that he did! All the same it was still good to do it but we were glad to get back some 5 hours later for our breakfast and a kip before hitting the road again to get back to Yogjakarta.

Posing in front of Mount Merapi
see all photos »

On the climb down I had noticed my left foot was really sore and I couldn't walk on it properly. Once back in Yogja I paid a visit to the hospital and it turns out I was bitten by some insect - a few anti-biotics and pain killers later and I was as good as new again!

We stopped two nights in Yogjakarta again  (Vinnie and Tans left us after one) so I could rest up my weary foot and then caught a flight to Jakarta. The airline we flew with, Adam Air, was questionable, as they have a really bad safety record but we decided to chance it anyway in order to save ourselves a painful night bus journey. Luckily we landed in Jakarta safely but that didn't stop me from biting my nails as the plane took off!