Stop Thirteen, Solo, Java, Indonesia – 6/07/2015 to 8/07/2015
(Written by Her)
(Written by Her)
After visiting Prambanan temple complex, our taxi driver dropped us to Solo (aka Surakarta), famed for being the least Westernised city in Java. We planned to stay in Solo for two nights and hire a driver to explore the city and surrounding areas. Hiring drivers is significantly more expensive in Java compared with Bali. There seems to be a bit of a cartel going as each driver has a set printout of prices to nearby tourist sites and cities. |
No taxi driver will use a meter if you want to visit a tourist attraction – instead, you are offered the set price which is significantly more! It cost us almost 2 million rupiah on three days of driving.
Fawlty Towers left Torquay!
Our hotel in Solo was mid-range but as it was low season it was almost empty. Once we checked in, the Fawlty Towers comedy routine began! The hotel boast 24hr room service but the phone receiver in our room was broken so we could never order. Breakfast was advertised as 6am to 10am but actually started at 5am. We booked the hotel driver with reception one evening but he never showed the next morning and according to reception they don’t have any hotel drivers. We were asked to pay a deposit upon check-in for room service but weren’t allowed to charge anything to the room. They told us they had a heated swimming pool which wasn’t heated. We ordered fish and chips from the bar which came out as just fish (they didn’t realize that fish n' chips includes french fries!). We ordered drinks one day from a ‘barman’ who disappeared for 40 minutes and came back with the wrong order. From start to finish the place was hilariously head wrecking.
Javanese Tea Plantation
On our first day of sightseeing in Solo we asked our driver to bring us up the slopes of mount Lawu (10,712ft) to the Kemuning Tea Plantation. I had read that visitors should arrive between 6am and 8am in order to see the tea picking process so we left the hotel at 5:30am. The tea plantation is located a little more than half way up the slopes of the fertile dormant volcano. Mount Lawu has only one eruption on record (1885) but earthquakes are common in the area. | |
We drove up and up narrow winding roads until we started to see green rolling hills of tea. Tea planted everywhere, as far as the eye could see. Miles and miles of tea trees. Our driver dropped us at the top of the mountain where we could get the best views of the plantation stretching across the valley. He encouraged us to climb up the slopes and into the tea trees where we would find pickers, and we did. After a few minutes of climbing we came across dozens of female tea pickers scaling the slopes for the best leaves.
The women were aged anywhere between 30 and 65 and walked for miles up and down the slopes picking. We walked amongst them, talking to them (although they had no English), and taking photos. They smiled and laughed at us, some posing very seriously for pictures but they didn’t stop their work for one second the entire time we were there. Each woman wore a pair of wellingtons to protect them from the snakes and spiders living at the base of the trees. They carried a wicker basket on their backs, picking the tea leaves by hand and filling the baskets. Once baskets were full, the contents were tipped onto a square of tarpaulin which would eventually hold ten times the amount of tea leaves. As we climbed the narrow footways through the tea trees beside the women, we spotted some baskets and bundles sitting on the ground waiting to be carried down the mountain. I tried to lift the bundle and in all honestly it nearly broke my back. It weighed about twice my 15kg backpack. The women, 50/60 were lifting these bundles from the ground to above their shoulders and placing them on their heads to carry down the slippery path. The women laughed at me as I watched in awe at the strength they had in their arms and legs.
Kitsch as it may be - a word to anyone who drinks tea – appreciate every cup! The human effort that goes into growing and harvesting is like nothing you would ever see in Ireland. The work and the conditions are so backbreaking - picking the leaves, spraying the trees with fertilizer and weed killer (we saw some young girls doing this), then carrying the leaves down the slopes in 20kg+ bundles, driving them from the side of a volcano down a narrow road to a local village where the tea leaves are dried, shrinking to a quarter of their size before being sold for little or nothing. We went to a tiny house in the village close to the plantation and bought 3 packets of tea costing just $0.80 in total. The owners were chuffed that we had stopped to buy locally but we felt like we felt guilty for basically robbing them. The next time I buy tea it will be Fair Trade and I won't be leaving half cups all over the house (the bain of his life apparently!).
Candi Sukuh, Almost... After Kemuning we drove down the volcano a little to visit Candi Sukuh (Candi meaning temple), a temple that looks more like an Inca ruin than a Hindu temple. Unfortunately, when we arrived the entire temple was under construction – bamboo scaffolding surrounded the temple and visitors couldn’t see anything at all (of course they still tried to sell us a ticket – that was a laugh). |
On our way out we bumped into a couple of Spanish girls who had walked 20km up the mountain to get to the temple – you can imagine their disappointment. They had no map and no idea what else was in the area to see and clearly no means of transport so we offered them a lift to the next attraction – Jumog waterfall. It turns out they were hitching around Java – it had taken them 6 days to get from Jakarta to Yogyakarta and now they had made their way to Solo, brave ladies.
Jumog Waterfall When we arrived at Jumog, the girls paid our 10k rupiah entry fee as a thank you and we explored the waterfall together. Like in Bali (GitGit waterfall), we walked down steps and footpaths from the road above to the bottom of the valley beneath the waterfall. However, this time the waterfall was amazing and completely worth the effort. The speed at which the water was flowing down the 30ft drop meant the spray soaked anyone within a 20ft radius. We climbed as close as possible, clothes & hair completely soaked taking photos and laughing at each other. Feeling totally refreshed by the hazy waterfall in the sticky Javanese weather, we even waded into the cold water of the river. Other than some tiny crabs and a few fish we had the waterfall completely to ourselves. |
Solo Kraton
After our jaunt around mount Lawu, we headed back to Solo to see their Kraton. It was much quieter than Jogja’s Palace and a larger proportion was cordoned off for the Royal family. We walked around the large gravel courtyard taking pictures of the blue wooden structures, remnants of the city’s Dutch colonial past. Outside Becak drivers lay sleeping in their carriages, Andong horses ate their midday snack from a hanging bucket and vendors sold street food from portable wooden food stalls. Walking around the city, we felt that Solo was certainly upholding its authentic cultural history and staunchly resisting western influence.
Ketep Pass
The Sunda Arc is a volcanic arc which forms the spine of Java and Sumatra. When flying into Yogyakarta, the three volcanoes which form the spine of central Java were visible from the plane (see photos). The Sunda arc marks the boundary between the East Eurasian and Australian tectonic plates. The arc houses some of the most dangerous and most active volcanoes in the world with an average eruption rate of once every 4-5 years. Fun fact: the loudest noise ever recorded in history resulted from an eruption of Krakatoa in the 1880s, the eruption was heard 5,000kms away. |
The map above highlights two of the volcanos we visited - Mount Lawu and Mount Merapi, we also visited mount Merbabu. In Solo, we searched long and hard for a driver to take us from to Ketep Pass and on to Borobudur. Ketep Pass is located between two of the most active volcanos in Java – Mount Merapi and Mount Merbabu. Mount Merapi (translation ‘mountain of fire’ in Javanese), is an active volcano which has erupted regularly since 1548. In November 2010, Merapi erupted violently killing 30 people and displacing 100,000. After the eruption, a visitors centre was built at Ketep Pass to remind people of the devastation and to educate people about Volcanology.
| The pass is located about 4,000ft above sea level and take some seriously skillful driving to reach the visitor centre. Sitting in the back of the taxi we drove up and over the mountains. In all honesty, we probably needed a four wheel drive for safety. Our driver really struggled at times. When we started nearing the top of the mountain the roads became very steep and had just a dirt surface in places. Dust and sand billowed from the trucks driving ahead of us almost entirely obscuring our view. |
A sheer drop bordered the road at one side and there were road works meaning traffic was redirected to the very edge of the road. At one point we turned a corner and were faced with a really steep incline causing the car to skid and roll backwards. The driver looking panicked pulled up the hand break while trucks began to overtake us. |
The only way to get up the hill was to turn the wheel directly towards the cliff edge and put his foot down, hoping that (a) the wheels would catch and we’d make it up the hill and (b) he would be quick enough to turn the wheels away from the edge before we went over! I must admit we were all holding our breaths. Thankfully he did it, we were so relieved we actually gave him a clap. Talk about hairy moments!
It took us three hours to get from Solo to Ketep Pass even though the distance is just 60km - giving you some idea of the road conditions! The visitor centre was empty, the receptionist said it’s always very quiet up there. I’m guessing it’s too difficult to reach for the average tourist. However, when we said we were from Ireland, the guy at the ticket booth started shouting 'Oh Robbie Keane', 'Roy Keane'....'Yes, yes, Irlandia'. |
The visitor centre has a viewing platform where you can see Mount Merapi as clear as day. You are so high that the clouds surround you. Mount Merapi erupted in 2010 causing devastation to the land and villages surrounding. We watched a short film in the onsite theatre which detailed the tragedy showing smoke, ash, lava billowing from the mountain causing bridges to collapse, animals to be suffocated and lives to be lost. Still to this day 100,000+ people live in the 'forbidden-zone', approx. 10km from the summit.
Imagine, here are all these people whom we see everyday, our driver, our receptionist, the lady in the shop who always has a smile for us. These people must have been terrified when the volcano exploded. Ash being sent miles into the air and covering houses, land, faces. People fleeing their homes with just a handful of priceless belongings. Then imagine that these people, who had so little to begin with, rebuilt their lives, homes, schools, farms in just five short years. It shows incredible resilience and something the Javanese should be proud of. Eerily, at the same time as we were standing looking at Mount Merapi in Central Java, a volcano in the East of Java erupted, grounding all flights between Java and Bali. We missed it by just days.
All this talk of Volcanoes...
I couldn’t help but wonder what I would do if I witnessed an eruption. Or if there was an earthquake. On the back of every hotel booklet there are special printed instructions in the case of an earthquake – in particular the triangle of life. Apparently if you are in your hotel room during an earthquake and you can’t get to an open space outdoors, the best advice is to crouch beside a large piece of furniture or lie down at the base of your bed to prevent loose debris falling on you. One night in Solo, I was convinced there would be an earthquake. Luckily it was not a sixth sense and we slept soundly for our entire stay. |
Central Java
On our jaunt around Central Java we really enjoyed the scenery. Like Bali, there was rice harvesting and rice terraces a plenty. The fertile volcanic soil means a lot of people work the land. We also found ourselves trekking in a small hilly village with shelters made from sheets of zinc and a small farmyard with a cow, cat and goat - himself befriended the cow! We took some nice photos - check them out. Next stop Borobudur!