May 17, 2026

May 17, 2026

We awoke on the 20th floor of our Surakarta, Indonesia hotel. I looked out to enjoy the view over the city and noticed two giant mountains looming over us. Oooh! The one on the left is the 10,000-ft Mt. Merapi (Fire Mountain). It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and it is smoking! I forgot that Indonesia is a major segment of the Ring of Fire.

After breakfast we drove an hour east up the slopes of another even taller stratovolcano, Mt. Lawu. Fortunately this one seems to be dormant. The steep ride up the slopes is a nice change of pace. It is cooler and more scenic. Our first stop is a tea plantation. Volcanic soil is incredibly fertile. The Dutch took advantage of this and introduced tea during the colonial period. After walking amongst the plants, we stop and have some local tea along with Fried Cassava and a Banana Fritter. Aimee and I are not big tea fans.

Our next stop is at Sukuh Temple. These ruins were first documented by Sir Raffles of Singapore fame. He was temporarily governor here when the British and Dutch were fighting over control of the East Indies trade. The Anglo-Dutch treaty of 1824 ended hostilities by dividing the colonies. The Brits returned these eastern islands while retaining the crucial Malay peninsula.

Sukuh is a Hindu temple from the 15th century. It was one of the last to be built before the island was conquered by Islam. Hindu temples are much more fascinating than Muslim ruins because of the abundance of figures. Based on some of the explicit depictions, this one must have been used for sex and fertility education.

Since the temple was built late in the Hindu period, it has unique elements that diverge from the older Javanese norm. After going through a gate with a Shiva Linga, we enter a courtyard with wall narratives and a pyramid at the far end.

Our last stop was at a waterfall cascading down the mountain slope. Aimee and I both thought a nearby weeping wall of water was more interesting. We have seen tall waterfalls everywhere.

We went to a local restaurant for lunch. Since this is Indonesia, Fried Banana was on the menu again. I filled up on Fried shrimp along with potatoes and vegetables. For dessert we had a Rice Coconut concoction wrapped in a Banana Leaf. We finished with some delicious fresh Mango and an odd fruit called Mangosteen. We had to pry open the husk to enjoy the garlic-shaped fruit.

On the way back down the mountain to our hotel, I noticed all the rice paddies along the road. Planting and cultivation is all manual in small plots. Java gets three harvests per year. At one stage in the growth, the paddies are flooded. It has several purposes, but the primary reason is to control weeds and pests without the need for chemicals.