Welcome Family & Friends

Beautiful Bali

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 12:35:08 +0700

Thanks Steve, Amie, Dan, Amanda, Rob, and Lisa for a great time in Bali!

Stand Off at 4am

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:08:43 +0700

While waiting in Jakarta for our flight to Bali I received an e-mail of the possible plans of our friends Steve and Amie whom we were trying to meet somewhere on the island of Bali. With only the information that they were hoping to go to Batur to hike the volcano we set out from the airport hoping that some how we would be able to find them. Hiring a Bemo (small van with two side way benches) we headed to Batur not really realizing that Batur was a town overlooking the volcano but that there was also multiple towns surrounding the base of the volcano. Making a calculated guess at which town they might be in and an answer to prayer ended us at the exact hotel that they were at.

We went to Batur wanting to see the spectacular views of one of the world's most impressive calderas. Within the caldera is Batur volcano and a lake which makes for an amazing view. The Lonely Planet talks about the hike being an easy 2-3 hr hike so, having hiked many of those before we were determined to do it on our own. The LP did however warn us about the intimidation tactics that some guides will try to use so that you do hire them. After avoiding them for the afternoon before we planned to get up early and go on our own, but we were met by three guides waiting outside our hotel at 4am. We attempted to walk towards the trail entrance, but as we walked more of these guides who were part of a guiding association encircled us telling us that we needed guides. At some points we were grabbed and even physically threatened. They told us that the hike was very dangerous and that a Swede was killed only 2 weeks ago. Things continued to escalate since one of the guides of intoxicated and even brought out a mop that he threatened to use on us. Worried about what these guides would do if we tried to go further and not wanting to reward these men for their tactics that they might use again on others, we turned back to our hotel. After much debate on what to do another guide that was not part of the earlier situation appeared at our guesthouse and after talking with him we decided that we couldn’t come all this way not to hike this volcano. So we hired the two guides to take us up. Fortunately, the delay in our start wasn’t that long and we were able to get most of the way up and see an amazing sunrise. In the end the hike was super easy and you did not need a guide.

Once at the top we cooked eggs over the steam vents from the volcano and had egg sandwiches. We also cooked bananas with Tim Tam inside.

~ryan

Krakatau

Thu, 8 Apr 2010 19:59:21 +0700

After arriving in the big city of Jakarta we were quick to get out and head to the coast. Catching a 4hr bus for $3 sounded good, so we headed to Carita, a small beach town popular to both Indonesians and travelers hoping to get a glimpse of Krakatau’s eruptions.

Krakatau made a name for itself when it blew itself apart in 1883 with the loudest bang ever recorded on earth, heard as far away as Australia. Krakatau had been dormant for 200 years before it started waking from it’s sleep in the spring of 1883, but by August it was raging. On August 27, 1883, Krakatau erupted so explosively that it sent up a ash into the air 80 Km high and threw up 20 cubic kilometers of rock. Ash came down on ships as far as 6000 Km away. But most devastating for this area, was the tsunami caused by the collapsing of the volcano after eruption. The tsunami, more then 40 km high, swept over and devastated the shores of Java and Sumatra; 165 villages were destroyed and more then 36 000 people were killed. It was said that there were measurable waves felt as far away as the English Channel. Not a single plant was found on Krakatau a few months after the eruption, but the amazing return of life to the islands have been studied ever since. Now, over 100 years after the eruption, it almost seems like the plants and trees were never disturbed. Krakatau actually consists of multiple islands in the immediate area, and the island volcano most commonly known as Krakatau was actually born after the blast. The lava continued to pour out under the water for almost two more years, and this is what gave birth to Anak Krakatau about 80 years ago. Anak Krakatau has an uncertain temperament which sends out showers of rock, smoke and ash. Sadly, during our visit, we only were able to see the smoke coming from the top as well as many areas covering the volcano. We could feel the heat from the outer cone that we were able to hike to up to. We tried to go a little further, against recommendation from our guide, but the heat and smell of sulfur was too great. The area was really beautiful, the water was incredibly blue and the ocean and black sand was HOT. We spent some time snorkeling in the area, and we amazed by the amount of coral that was still alive, compared to other reefs we have seen around the world.

I remember studying the famed Krakatau in Mr. Koop’s grade 6 science class so it was exciting to have the chance to actually hike it.