Mount Merapi

As Mt. Merapi erupts I wanted to take a moment to flashback to this volcano's more peaceful days. My friends in Yogyakarta are evacuating because of the ash and pebbles raining down.  My thoughts are with them. 

Here are some photos from two years ago when I climbed Mount Merapi.

Sunrise from the top

Exploring

Yes, my main picture is of Merapi

One of our guides. We had really great conversations.

Laura and me 

Climbing back down 

We started hiking around 11 pm armed with headlamps and snacks. Often needing to use our hands, we literally climbed for seven hours. We reached the top in perfect time to watch the sunrise. Our guides made us hot chocolate and nasi goreng (fried rice). Climbing down took even longer and was surprisingly more frightening. The darkness had made me blissfully ignorant of the drop offs that surrounded us.

Aku kembali ke Indonesia--I am returning

I will be returning to Indonesia this week. I had my first taste in 2008 in Yogyakarta where I studied Indonesian for 2 1/2 months. Yes, "Indonesian" is the national language of Indonesia. Some people refer to it as "Bahasa" though "Bahasa" really just means "language." Bahasa Indonesia=Language of Indonesia or for example Bahasa Belanda=Language of the Netherlands (Dutch). Whatever you choose to call it, I love it and I hope to introduce more of the language to all of you as well. I will try to introduce Indonesian words in italics.

The banner above was taken in 2008 atop Mt. Merapi (Gunung Merapi). Gunung Merapi is an active volcano that last went off in 2006. I hiked this volcano with a group of friends and three guides. We began around 11 pm and hiked to the top in time to witness the most magnificent sunrise I have ever seen. Our guides prepared us Nasi Goreng, fried rice--in this case with egg on it. Here are a few more pictures I took during that adventure: