Yesterday evening after our return from the Borobudur trip, Ng and myself popped into Sosro travel agency's office to inquire about any interesting tourist places our group could sign up for tomorrow. The travel agent suggested that we visit the Dieng Plateau (2,000m), Arjuna Temple, Skidang crater tourist area. Dieng is located at the north of Yogyakarta and west of Borobudur and is a valley riched in volcanic activity.
However, we were keen to see Mt Bromo & Ijen Lake but we need at least 3 days to complete this visit. So we have to disregard the Mt Bromo visit due to time constraints and instead we signed up the Dieng Plateau day tour. For 5 people, our group hired a Toyota jeep and paid 450,000rp=Rm140 for this 10hr day trip to Dieng. Lee & Lam were happy that we had chosen this particular tour .
However, we were keen to see Mt Bromo & Ijen Lake but we need at least 3 days to complete this visit. So we have to disregard the Mt Bromo visit due to time constraints and instead we signed up the Dieng Plateau day tour. For 5 people, our group hired a Toyota jeep and paid 450,000rp=Rm140 for this 10hr day trip to Dieng. Lee & Lam were happy that we had chosen this particular tour .
As this was a long day (3 hrs by car from Yogya to Dieng Plateau) , our driver came to our hostel to pick us up at 7.45am. We had our morning breakfast at the hostel around 7.15am and also waited for Gan to show up as he was staying in Delta Hotel, 3km from Malioboro area.
After a two hour drive, our driver stopped at a small country town for a short rest and also took us to a restaurant in the town centre. We bought a kilo of rambutan (10,000rp=Rm3,10) from a nearby fruit stall. The smaller green rambutan was sweet but the bigger red ones were a bit sour. We saw a Bakso stall and our group ended up ordering some local deep fried food , fish, fried chicken, prawn crackers, Bakso to whet our appetite. We paid 163,000rp (Rm50) for this early lunch.
1) Dieng Plateau - This place is like the cool Cameron Highland of Malaysia. The entry fee to the Plateau costs 2,000rp per car. In addition, we had to pay 20,000rp (Rm6) each for entry to the Arjuna Temple and Sikidang Crater tourist area. We enjoyed the ride here as the place was very green , scenic and charming. It was drizzling and the rain got heavier when we were walking around the Dieng garden towards the Arujuna Temple area.
2) Arjuna Temple - The remains of 4 Hindu temples from an old civilisation in Java.
3) Sikidang Crater Tourist Area - The area around the crater lake has vast tracts of sulphur and as we walked closer, the sulphurous fumes filled the air around the lake. The sulphurous smell was very pungent and irritating to our nose. As it was raining quite heavily, each of us rented an umbrella (5,000rp=Rm1.50) from a food stall nearby. Despite the use of umbrellas , the lower part of our shirts and trousers were all wet to skin. Some part of the crater lake has been fenced up as it was dangerous to walk near the edges due to the intense heat and boiling temperature of the water forming bubbles turning into steam !
Just looked at a picture my friend had taken on me and Ng ( both standing carrying an umbrella) near the crater lake. Imagined we were overshadowed by thick fumes that our face and body were hardly visible !
My first encounter with a volcanic crater lake - What I saw was a natural phenomenon in an volcanic area !
My first encounter with a volcanic crater lake - What I saw was a natural phenomenon in an volcanic area !
4) Warna Lake - We paid 7,000rp=Rm2.20 each for admission to the Warna (Color) lake. As it was raining, we had to rent some umbrellas otherwise our bodies would be totally wet. I felt the cold as our group explored this Warna Lake. There are a few small caves with Hindu god statutes at each of the front entrance. Unfortunately, it was not a sunny day, otherwise the minerals in the lake could have shown 2-3 unnatrural colours making the color lake more scenic to look at.
Indonesia has a magnificient Three Color lake ( Kelimutu Lake) located in Lombok island, East Nusa Tenggara / Papua border and this lake has been gazetted as a natural wonder of the world. I understand the minerals from the mountain cause this strange unnatural color in the lake. This lake is a great place for photography ! I hope I could visit the Kelimutu lake one day !
After the Dieng Lake visit , we headed back to Yogya. Along the way , our vehicle had to stop a few times as the vehicle's water pump had malfunctioned and the water in the radiator had heated up after a short travel !
At one of the stops, we came across a durian stall by the road side. Guessed what, our group bought 5-6 durians and it was my first tasting of Indonesian durian. We paid 46,000rp=Rm14 for this durian feast - overall it was not that tasty compared with the our D-24 durian back home - maybe we patronised the wrong stall !
As tomorrow was the last day for Lee , Lam and Gan in Yogya, we negotiated with the travel agency for a 5-6 hour day tour to Solo plus ferrying the three to the airport at around 2.00pm. We paid 260,000rp=Rm81 for this half day trip.
As it was raining the whole afternoon and evening , we decided to have our dinner at the usual Bakso stall near our hostel. We ordered a la carte meal ( rice, vegetables, beef and fish balls, fried sotong and drinks ) and paid 130,000rp=Rm40 for a dinner for 5 .
After the dinner, Ng, Gan and myself spent our time shopping around in Jalan Malioboro. I ended up spending 310,000rp (Rm100) and bought two leather wallets (200,000rp=Rm63) , two leather belts (60,000rp=Rm19) & two sandals (50,000rp=Rm16). Enough of shopping for me by now !
" Fruit Glorious Fruit ! Rambutan, durian, banana, snake fruit, jack fruit, tangerine, coconut, papaya - if you are a fruit lover, come to Yogya, plentiful and cheap "
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