Wandering Fractal

Merdeka Square Jakarta hasn't much to offer, apart from a few museums, shopping malls and the slowly decaying old Dutch center. But still, it was interesting to witness the contrast of this city. Luxurious skyscraper right next to slums. Beware, the city is extremely polluted. The smog from the thousands of cars and scooters covers the streets like a thick mist. The rivers looks more like a mix between a sewer and a garbage dump. No need to stay too long in Jakarta, one or two days will be more than enough. Fancy buildings. And people living next to open sewers. Shopping mall with hundreds of small shops.

Borobudur temple. The city of Yogyakarta in the center of Java was an interesting stop on my way west. It's famous for it's two ancient temples: Borobudur (Buddhist) and Prambanan (Hinduism). They are located outside of the city, but can be easily reached by local bus. They are quite fare apart, so using a day for each is less stressful. In the city itself there are a few interesting spot like the Kraton, the sultan's palace. One think to be careful is the Batik sellers. You will most likely meet a really friendly local, who will chat with you, advises you on what to see, sometimes telling you they have a brother/sister living in your country (they know a few words in many languages). In the end they will always take you to the "only original" Batik art gallery of the city. It's just a shop where they will try to sell you Batik art. They never were too pushy with me, so I could easily say that I wasn't interested and walk off, even when I was ...

Mount Bromo on the left and mount Batok in the front. They are all contained inside the huge caldera of  the ancient Tengger volcano. Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park on east Java offer an astonishing view over volcanoes. There you can hike a sea of black sand, peak at the mouth of an active volcano and experience life in a mountain village. When I was there most people rushed the visit in one day. They went before sunrise to a view point, crossed the sea of sand, got to the rim of the Bromo and finally left around 9 to 10 am. I would advise to go to the village of Cemoro Lawang by yourself and stay there 2 nights. This will give you plenty of time to enjoy the place and avoid the crowd. Everybody rush to the Bromo between 7 to 9 am, so if you go latter in the morning it will be less crowded. What I did was: Wake up at 3am to leave the village of Cemoro Lawang and start hiking to the King Kong viewpoint. You just need a torchlight and warm clothes. To go there you fir...

Miner reaching the rim of the crater with baskets full of sulfur. The Ijen volcano is famous for being the last place where the sulfur is mined manually inside a volcano. Workers climb the Ijen and then go down the crater to collect chunks of solidified sulfur then have to carry back up to 90 Kg on their shoulders. They do this while being enveloped by toxic fumes. No need to say that it's a dangerous and painful work, but the pay is worth the risk for them. Our guide explained that the Indonesian government is now helping the miners learn English in order to become guides, a less dangerous and better payed job. Along with the miners, the Ijen sees tourists attracted by its turquoise lac and blue flames. The hike to the rim of the crater is an easy 1-2 hours walk. If you want to go down the crater you will need a gas mask, a head torchlight and a guide. Other guides will try to stop you if you try to go down without a local guide. While the first part is easy the path do...