My Breathtaking backpack trip to Java, Indonesia

[jiahao1986]

Great photos jiahao, keep them coming!!

Could you tell us more about the place you visited? How you got there, what there is to see, what tour company, etc. Tks!

Hi starfinder,

I was on a solo backpack trip, and took mostly public transport from one place to another.

The first photo is taken on Gunung Lawu in Central Java, 3265m tall. The mountain is famous and holy among Indonesian people, hence a popular climb on weekends. The trail is a well maintained, stone paved one. However, not many foreign visitors go there. According to the guard, I was the first hiker from Singapore as long as he could remember.

I reached the starting point, Cemoro Sewu, by public bus from Solo (Surakarta). It took me around 5 hours to reach the summit. I spent the night camping near the summit. The weather was very good, very photo productive. Below are a few landscape photos from this mountain.

#01 Shortly before sunset, Gunung Merapi and Merbabu poking through the haze and cloud, showing their full glory against golden sunset colours.



#02 The huge shadow cone of the mountain cast to the east. Trully a fantastic natural phenomena



#03 Shortly after sunset, some clouds below western horizon blocked part of sunlight, creating an unforgettable light and shadow show.



#04 City lights from Solo(Surakarta) shines like stars when it got dark.



#05 Most of the peaks in East Java could be viewed here during sunrise.



#06 Shadow cone again, for sunrise.



#07 Three Indonesian hikers joined me after sunrise



#08 Last shot before going downhill. With all the haze cleared, volcanos in Central Java show their full glory.



And two panos:

#09 Sunset view of Central Java volcanos



#10 Sunrise view of the same direction



#11 Sunrise view of East Java volcanos

[jiahao1986]

Then the second photo is taken on the summit of Gunung Prahu, 2598m tall. The mountain is the tallest peak in Dieng Plateau northwest of Yogyakarta. The peak is rarely visited by both locals and foreign hikers. The view, however, is awesome. Dieng Plateau could be reached from Yogyakarta by public transport (a few transfers involved) or private transport. Since the place is not a popular hike with well maintained trail, it is recommended to hire a guide from any of the homestays.

#01 Multihued lakes Telaga Warna



#02 View to the south east shortly after sunrise



#03 Smoking Gunung Merapi in the distance



#04 Rolling clouds below. The peak in the back ground is Gunung Ungaran



#05 Rippling clouds above Gunung Sindoro



#06 One of the old craters



#07 Nice place to camp~



#08 Bird's eye view of Dieng Plateau, with smoking Gunung Slamet in distance



And two panos from this mountain:

#09 Summit view



#10 Another one

[starfinder]

Absolutely fabulous photos! Thanks for all the info. Will take some time to digest it. Looks like you had a great time and were well rewarded for all your effort.

I was in East Java just this past weekend at Mt Bromo and Kawah Ijen. Java has such an amazing landscape. One volcanic cone after another running east to west across the entire fertile island.

For anyone interested in geology and earth sciences (like me), it's a dream.

And Congratulations on making it on APOD!! One feather on the cap for the Singastro community too, I should think.

[acc]

Wow!

[Airconvent]

Breathtaking shots Jiahao! Is that the same Volcano that you can see from Borobudor?

[jiahao1986]

Breathtaking shots Jiahao! Is that the same Volcano that you can see from Borobudor?

Hi Airconvent,

Those two volcanos one sees at Borobudur are Gunung Merapi and Merbabu. These two are two far away to be seen.

[Airconvent]

ok thanks! You mentioned Yogyakarta so I thought they are the same but I guess Yogyakarta is pretty big... Was at Borobudor many years back and saw the Volcano from there.

[guangwei]

AWESOME!

[Clifford60]

Jiahao, Great & Awesome pictures. It is really entertaining to see pictures taken by you. You are so skillful and artistic. Also very brave to travel alone in a foreign country. A question, the colours in all the pictures natural?

[vivid]

Nice pix. But actually more amazing is that you solo backpacked there + you are so young. You speak bahasa?

Whenever I go back to my wife's town in Indonesia, I only dare to ride motorbike about 10km radius away. LOL! Anything more than that = unfarmiliar territory and need to go in a group of 2 bikes or more. (safety)