Since it erupted in 2010, Merapi has
become a tourist object. Many people come to see the view after Merapi's
eruption destroyed the village. But however, the village is now rising again.
The villagers took the advantage of that condition to mend their life
condition. By not giving up to the situation, they finally bounced back from
the sorrow caused by the eruption. That's why I decided to take a look at the
volcano tour. All the tourists were allowed to use four-wheeled drive vehicles
and trail bikes to traverse the volcanic trails.
***
I headed from the hotel to Merapi by
using a Jeep at 5.00. The day began with a frigid morning, with a little bit of
wind chill (yes, this is a pretty yuck drama). Then we arrived at Merapi's
slope. The sunrise was sharp at 5:15 am. And wow. The views were surreal as the
weather stayed really clear. The colors of the sun, the landscapes and the views
of the distant mountain kept me dumb struck for a long while. The clouds also seemed to rise with it making
the entire world above seem like a maze of clouds (yay! lol). And yes, I took
some photographs.
A little while after, I started my
journey to go around the village. I travelled around by renting a trail bike
with my brother and visiting the emergency bunker. Have you ever remembered
about the accident of Merapi's bunker? One more thing that interesting for the
tourist is a bunker where two of safety guards of Merapi were died. At the
beginning, the bunker, one of several dotting Merapi's slopes, was designed to
provide temporary protection from hot clouds, not from sustained exposure to
large amounts of burning volcanic debris. The 2 men were trying to enter the
bunker when the hot clouds slide down from the mountain. It's a pity that the
bunker was closed with dry lava and volcanic material, so their bodies were
burnt inside. The men were helping evacuate a village when a burst of volcanic
activity forced them to seek shelter in the bunker.
Then I took a visit to the graveyard
of Mbah Maridjan, the caretaker of Merapi. Visiting the village and still be
able to see some remains of the Merapi eruption. Countless houses and livestock
were destroyed together with farms and forest. It was indeed a surreal and
humbling experience standing on the soil blackened with fine black sand ejected
from the bowels of the earth by the forceful volcano. There are also a burned
car and a motorcycle that become a tourist attraction.
