My last 2 weeks in Jogjakarta
This is the last of my 4 weeks in Jogja and we leave for Bali on Saturday. The experience has been amazing. I’ve done some pretty cool things that I could never do in Australia and I’ve learnt to speak some Indonesian. I’ll write about Merapi Volcano and Borobudur Temple today but I will write about the Bird Market and the animals in Jogja, including Buddha the St Bernard, in a separate post.
Our days here start pretty much the same. The first call to prayer is at 4am and sometimes that wakes the roosters and us up. We get up at 7am, have breakfast then walk to Wisma Bahasa language school for 4 hours. Our classes run for 1 3/4 hours and we have a break at 9.45 for 30 minutes. Then I go to the street food stall next door and get a big plate full of food.
After language classes, dad and I like going to the Jogja Plaza Hotel for lunch and to swim in their nice pool. Mum goes to the gym. Then in the afternoon we do some interesting things. Here’s some of the things we have done in Jogja.
Merapi Volcano
Merapi is only 40 minutes drive from Jogja and it erupted in 2006 and 2010. It is still active and is expected to erupt not too long from now. Over 200 people died in 2010 and lots of animals.
We went on a jeep up the volcano on the lava trails. It was so rough. We stopped at a huge rock that had been blasted out from the volcano and even now, 4 years after the eruption it was still hot with steam coming off it.
The villages that were once there are now completely covered and destroyed by the ashes and the rocks that fell on to them from the eruption. We went to one village where there was one house still standing. You can see the photo. I also went inside a bunker that was built like a bomb shelter. It was built by the government in 2001. After the 2006 eruption it took rescuers 3 days to find the bunker but everyone was dead. Then after the 2010 eruption it took them one year to find the bunker but every one was dead again. They would have boiled to death from the heat. It was an eerie feeling standing inside thinking about what they would have gone through.
For the people who survived, they have found new ways to make money. They are getting lots of money from doing these tours and also from the mining that is now happening. They are mining the lava.
Borobudur Temple
This is the most famous temple in Indonesia and was built in 900. It is just a few km’s from the centre of Jogjakarta. It is a Buddist temple that was built for the monks to meditate in.
The walls of the temple are covered in carvings, hundreds and hundreds, that tell stories about Buddha’s life and up the top are big bell shaped structures, almost like a tiny room, big enough for 1 person to sit in.
The Pindul Caves and Waterfall
Mum and I went to some amazing caves 1 and a half hours drive from the city. We floated on a tube through the caves for an hour and then down a river to some water falls. I loved jumping off the rocks and going under the water fall. We were followed the whole time by a TV crew from Jakarta and I was interviewed for their show.
This is the last of my 4 weeks in Jogja and we leave for Bali on Saturday. The experience has been amazing. I’ve done some pretty cool things that I could never do in Australia and I’ve learnt to speak some Indonesian. I’ll write about Merapi Volcano and Borobudur Temple today but I will write about the Bird Market and the animals in Jogja, including Buddha the St Bernard, in a separate post.
Our days here start pretty much the same. The first call to prayer is at 4am and sometimes that wakes the roosters and us up. We get up at 7am, have breakfast then walk to Wisma Bahasa language school for 4 hours. Our classes run for 1 3/4 hours and we have a break at 9.45 for 30 minutes. Then I go to the street food stall next door and get a big plate full of food.
After language classes, dad and I like going to the Jogja Plaza Hotel for lunch and to swim in their nice pool. Mum goes to the gym. Then in the afternoon we do some interesting things. Here’s some of the things we have done in Jogja.
Merapi Volcano
Merapi is only 40 minutes drive from Jogja and it erupted in 2006 and 2010. It is still active and is expected to erupt not too long from now. Over 200 people died in 2010 and lots of animals.
We went on a jeep up the volcano on the lava trails. It was so rough. We stopped at a huge rock that had been blasted out from the volcano and even now, 4 years after the eruption it was still hot with steam coming off it.
The villages that were once there are now completely covered and destroyed by the ashes and the rocks that fell on to them from the eruption. We went to one village where there was one house still standing. You can see the photo. I also went inside a bunker that was built like a bomb shelter. It was built by the government in 2001. After the 2006 eruption it took rescuers 3 days to find the bunker but everyone was dead. Then after the 2010 eruption it took them one year to find the bunker but every one was dead again. They would have boiled to death from the heat. It was an eerie feeling standing inside thinking about what they would have gone through.
For the people who survived, they have found new ways to make money. They are getting lots of money from doing these tours and also from the mining that is now happening. They are mining the lava.
Borobudur Temple
This is the most famous temple in Indonesia and was built in 900. It is just a few km’s from the centre of Jogjakarta. It is a Buddist temple that was built for the monks to meditate in.
The walls of the temple are covered in carvings, hundreds and hundreds, that tell stories about Buddha’s life and up the top are big bell shaped structures, almost like a tiny room, big enough for 1 person to sit in.
The Pindul Caves and Waterfall
Mum and I went to some amazing caves 1 and a half hours drive from the city. We floated on a tube through the caves for an hour and then down a river to some water falls. I loved jumping off the rocks and going under the water fall. We were followed the whole time by a TV crew from Jakarta and I was interviewed for their show.
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