Surviving Mt. Merapi, Jogya

Did you know that Yogyakarta is the most visited city in Indonesia, after Bali? It is located at Central Java which is also the center for Indonesian Higher Education. Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 235 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanoes as it sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped string of faults that lines the Pacific Ocean. Of all the volcanoes in Indonesia, Mount Merapi is the most active.

Gunung Merapi (Mountain of Fire) is located about 30 km from Yogyakarta, a city of 400,000 citizens. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. The volcano last erupted in October 2010. Evacuation zone at a 20 km radius from the crater caused many locals to leave their homes and flee to neighbouring cities. Schools, universities and airports were closed due to poor visibility and the potential health hazards posed by the volcanic eruptions.

The natural disaster has put Jogya in the limelight as it made the world headlines in most major newspaper/TV for the past few weeks. My family and I was staying in a hotel located some 30 km from the mountain. While we were there, Mount Merapi continued to erupt, spewing hot ashes a few km into the sky, blanketing the whole city. It shot clouds of gas and debris up in the air and pyroclastic flows poured down the mountain slopes, killing more than 100 people to-date.

Besides the latest news about the notorious Mount Merapi, most people remember Yogyakarta for its two UNESCO World Heritage sites, the Borobudur and Prambanan temples. Both monuments were built when the ruling dynasties embraced Buddhism and Hinduism respectively in ancient Java.

After touching down at the Adisucipto International Airport, we wasted no time and went to the Borobudur Park. It is situated in the Kedu basin near Magelang city in Central Java. Borobudur is a Buddhist monument which comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with thousands of relief panels and 504 Buddha statues.

The main dome, located at the center of the top platform is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues housed inside perforated stupas. The relief panels on the walls depict interesting stories associated with actions and consequences (good deeds = good karma and vice versa). Today the monument remains one of the most visited in Indonesia and once a year, Buddhists will congregate at Borobudur to celebrate Vesak Day.

After Borobudur, we visited the Prambanan temple. The temple is the largest Hindu temple of ancient Java. The temple was built to honour Shiva (the center temple), flanked by two more temples designated for Brahma and Vishnu. In front of each of this temple, a smaller temple is built to house the vehicle statues for Shiva (nandi – the divine bull), Brahma (angsa – the swan) and Vishnu (garuda - eagle). The reliefs that are found in the Prambanan archaeological park depict the love story of Rama and Sita and interestingly, you may also find relief panels of Kama sutra. At night, you can watch the Ramayana Ballet which showcases the love story with the Prambanan temple as the backdrop.

Yogyakarta is also known for its silver work, pottery, leather puppets used for shadow plays (wayang kulit), and batik. You can witness the locals painstakingly create these beautiful masterpieces which are then sold at affordable prices in the local shops at popular shopping streets such as Malioboro. You can also visit the factories and see these skilled locals at work. Apart from that, you may also visit the Parangritis beach for a leisurely walk or pay a few rupiah for a horse ride along the shoreline.

Food is aplenty in this fertile land. Thus, finding good local food is not difficult, provided you know where to look.

Gudeg is a traditional food from Yogyakarta which is made from young Nangka (jack fruit) boiled for several hours with palm sugar, coconut milk and some spices. Gudeg is usually served with white rice, chicken, hard-boiled egg, tempeh, and sambal. The locals love it but I have to say it is an acquired taste as the dish itself is rather sweet than savoury. Other well-known local dishes include Mee Java, Mee Soto, Bakso, Bebek goreng (duck) and Nasi Goreng. Famous local pastry is the Bakpia (a small round-shaped Indonesian pastry, usually stuffed with mung beans), which you can sample and buy fresh from the factory where they are produced.

Avocado juice (jus alpukat) with a squirt of chocolate syrup and condensed milk is a must try in Jogya. Another sweet dessert that you should not miss is the Ronde. You can find push-cart traders selling ronde by the street for a mere 4000 rupiah per bowl. The ronde seller normally opens after sunset as this drink suits the evening when the temperature cools down.

Ronde is a sweet dessert, particularly popular in Central Java. This dessert may have originated from the Chinese dessert, Tang Yuen. Red ginger is added in the syrup for a stronger taste. Besides the glutinous rice balls filled with peanut paste and the ginger, you may find fruits, square-cut toasted bread and roasted peanuts used in this Javanese version.

There's also the famous sambal that goes with almost anything edible here. There are a variety of sambals with different degrees of heat and sweetness. Warung SS is the place to go for sambal lovers. For the beer drinkers, local production such as Bintang and Anker are popular choices.

If you are a coffee lover, you should try Indonesia’s famed Kopi Luwak. At USD 8 for a sachet that makes only a cup, it is indeed the most expensive coffee in the world. Luwak coffee comes from the Indonesian island of Sumatra, an area well-known for its excellent coffee.

Also native to the area is a small civet-like animal which the locals call Luwak. One of their favourite foods is the red, ripe coffee cherry. Unable to digest the coffee beans, the luwak graciously deposits them on the jungle floor where they are eagerly collected by the locals. The stomach acids and enzymatic actions involved in this unique fermentation process resulted in the rarest coffee beans in the world. Due to the strange method of collection, there isn't much Kopi Luwak produced in the world, hence the outrageous price. Well, I guess you are paying for the 'experience' as it tasted just like any strong coffee to me (anyway, I would not be able to tell the difference if it was arabica beans or otherwise).

Perhaps the fondest memory that stays with me from the trip is the friendliness of the Jogya people. I was surprised by their hospitality and soft-natured demeanor. We detoured to Surabaya by bus (8 hours ride) on the last day to catch our flight back to Kuala Lumpur as the Jogya airport was still closed. With the help of the local guide and friendly people in the bus, we managed to arrive at Surabaya airport on time.

We were also fortunate to be able to visit many places (bright sunny day) but right after we were done (especially the last day), these places were closed to public...phew...close call.