Indonesian Volcanoes

Indonesia lies between the Ring of Fire along the northeastern islands adjacent to and including New Guinea and the Alpide belt along the south and west from Sumatra, Java, Bali, Flores, and Timor. The volcanoes in Indonesia are among the most active of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

One of the largest well-known eruptions was that of Krakatau in 1883. The eruption is known as “The World’s Loudest Recorded Bang.” We had hoped to visit the island of Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatau) but our itinerary was too jammed to make this extended journey across the Sunda Strait. I’ll have to return in the future and try to hike a few of these sacred peaks!

Gunung Arjuna – 3400m

One of my first clear photos of a volcano was that of the dormant volcano Gunung Arjuna from the mountain resort town of Batu. My map spells it Arjuno and says it is 3400m tall, but Lonely Planet spells it Arjuna and says it is 3339m tall. Not sure which is right! I was visiting the strawberry, apple and orange orchards of Kusuma Agrowisata and saw it peaking out of the clouds. Due to the pollution caused by the growing population, and dense humidity in the air it is very difficult to see a lot of these peaks.

Gunung Semeru – 3676m

The next morning we took a 4WD adventure across the sea of sand to admire several active volcanoes. The first one we saw was Java’s highest – Gunung Semeru – shown above releasing clouds of ash. Semeru is quite predictable, eruptions occur about every 15-30 minutes and it is one of the most active peaks in Java. This view was from a village outside of Tumpang along the route to Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park. People actually climb this billowing beast! We stopped in the town of Ranupani, the starting point for the three-day climb to Semeru. We had lunch by a lake where we met a young woman barely 30 years old enjoying the scenery with her daughter and grandson. Semeru is also known as Mahameru (Great Mountain) and is very sacred to the Hindus.

Gunung Bromo – 2392m

Bromo rises from the guts of the ancient Tengger caldera and is one of three volcanoes to have emerged. It is flanked by the peaks of Kursi (2581m) and Batok (2440m). There are many myths surrounding this “peak” and the views of the surrounding landscape are awe inspiring. We stayed at the Lava View Hotel which overlooks a never-ending sea of volcanic beauties.

Gunung Batok (2440m)

The tourist ritual here is to get up at 'o-dark-hundred' to drive out of the crater and up to the highest point on the outer crater Gunung Penanjakan (2770m) to watch the sunrise and get those "picture postcard views" of Bromo and neighboring peaks. So we were up at 3:15am and on our way through dense clouds and occasional rain showers to wait for hours at the viewpoint with a few thousand of our best friends (most smoking like chimneys). Here’s what we saw:

Yep – the clouds never cleared and all we saw was this lovely stone map telling us what we should have seen! We were pretty bummed! The day we arrived and the day we left were gorgeous mornings – we just picked the wrong one! I should have bought the postcard I reckon!

Pilgrimage to Bromo

After bargaining for a t-shirt and map we headed back down into the crater to join the throngs of tourists headed up the 253 steps to the top of Gunung Bromo. First you get to ride a horse through the dusty, steep sea of ash. Then you climb the steps and inhale the acrid smell of sulfuric acid. Whew – couldn’t stay up there very long but I managed to grab a few shots of the surrounding area. Inside the crater was a misty cloud of acid – not much to see there!

Ms. Elly at the Top of Gunung Bromo

Cloud of sulfuric acid on the edge of Bromo’s crater

We descended the stairs and searched in the crowd of people and horses for our guides. Mine had decided to take off and score another rider I guess, so I waited patiently for him to return. I didn’t take any shots while on the horse because a) I was holding on for dear life (and almost fell off on the way down) and b) it was outrageously dusty – not a good environment for digital cameras.

Waiting for his rider to return

After lots of exploring around Yogyakarta in Central Java we headed up to Kaliurang to get a closer view of Gunung Merapi (Fire Mountain). At 2911m it has a bit of a history for being very destructive. Here’s a photo of a photo from the 2006 eruption that took many peoples lives.

Gunung Merapi (2991m)

We purchased a few DVDs about the area but I haven’t had a chance to view them yet. People actually climb this mountain when it is “quiet.” The villagers were hard at work gathering fodder for their animals and wood for cooking. The woman in this photo carrying the wood is over 70 years old. A group of men were busy building a rock dam with hopes of holding back the flood waters of the rainy season.

Villagers hard at work near Merapi

We saw three more volcanoes on our journey from East to West Java. Near the Dieng Plateau the misty Gunung Sindoro was surrounded by lush fields of tobacco and tea plantations.

Gunung Sindoro – 3225m

From our hotel near Baturaden we had a great morning view of Java's 2nd highest volcano Gunung Slamet.

Gunung Slamet – 3428m

On our way from Garut to visit the only Hindu temple in West Java (Cangkuang Temple), we caught a glimpse of Gunung Guntur while riding by in our traditional mode of transport, the delman or horse and buggy!

Rice Paddies Overlooking Gunung Guntur – 2249m

We also had a lovely boat ride on the longest wooden platform boat (rakit) I’ve ever been on – all made from bamboo. We had fun watching the local fisherman trying to net a little food for their families. The fish were very small, catfish looking – incredibly ugly. I hope they tasted better than they looked!

Fishing near Garut

The final volcanic related visit was to Tangkuban Perahu, a heavily touristed area just north of Bandung. This volcano basically imploded under the weight of all the ash and the crater is now flat and elongated. I’ve never seen so many vendors, tourists, and vehicles in one place. We didn’t stay here very long!

Tangkuban Perahu – 2076m

Hope you enjoyed this visit to the Indonesian segment of the Ring of Fire!

Happy Travels!

Jan