Housemates

From R to L: Bang Javen - finished his Masters in Aeronautical Engineering at ITB, now working as a research assistant there, wanting to pursue his Ph.D. in another country, one of the smartest people I know (by the way, "Bang" is a term meaning "older brother" that should be used in the front of the name of someone who is close to your age but older);

Gideon - junior at UPI where he is studying visual arts, likes to ride his bike to college (considered totally not cool), one of the best artists I've met in my life;

Rudy (in back) - graduate in Mining from ITB early this year, just moved out to work a job in the mining industry, an amazing guitar player and singer;

Murdiono - spent a year in Bandung doing a college prep course, had almost given up all hope that he could pass the test to get into college, his dad had already bought extra land so Murdi could become a rice farmer when he came home, but he passed the test, moved out, and is now studying law at a university in Central Java;

Jos - graduated high school but failed the test to get into college, so is taking a year of college prep courses to see if he can make it in next year, my running partner in the mornings;

Eko - a sophomore studying Law at UNPAR, likes to debate with me about anything and everything, love punk rock music and singing in the shower as loud as he can.

Reading the daily newspaper together, just like Indonesians do most things.

Excuses

I've been a bad blogger. I have to admit it. The past few months I've posted very little. Time and time again you've opened my blog with the expectation of new pics and new stories, but instead are sadly disappointed. You feel let down, even betrayed, but decide you'll check back in another week. The next week is the same: no new posts, and this disappointment grows. You vow to never open my blog again, deeming it another waste of time, right along with reading last month's newspaper or watching re-runs of ABC News. But within a few weeks curiosity causes you to break your vow, and you open my website again, only to have your hopes crushed again.... Sorry. But there is good reason. I have my excuses. I've been very busy. So I thought that in addition to a fresh commitment to more frequent posting, I would give a few of the excuses of why I haven't been blogging. These are listed in no particular order.

I haven't been blogging because I've been... ... riding little, cute, pink motorcycles.

...riding wild, drooling elephants.

... working on my Tarzan skills.


...feeding small children candy.

...hanging out with strangers on the side of the road.

...showering in waterfalls.

...working on my chopstick and noodle-slurping skills.

...watching out for wily strangers.

...staying in luxury accommodations.

...going overboard.

...pondering life on the edge.

...standing guard.

...trying to walk on water.

...crying out for help.

...hanging on for dear life.

Wedding for a Potato Farmer

R to L: The older brother of the groom who is one of 18 children in their family; Pak Firdaus, the director of BALITSA (Indonesian National Vegetable Research Center) and a former Kansas State University Grad (1985-89) where he received his Ph.D. in Agronomy; Ibi Egi, the wife of Pak Firdaus; the bride; the groom, who in cooperation with his brother owns one of the largest potato farms in West Java; some random woman, maybe she was the first guy's wife; the big tall white guy.

When we arrived at this wedding, Pak Firdaus and wife and I were given the "seat of honor." I told Pak Firdaus that he must be a pretty important man to get to sit there. His response, "It helps to bring a white guy along."

Mt. Semeru - The Top of Java

I conquered Java - or at least I was successful in climbing to the top of it. Actually climbing to the top of an active volcano makes you realize how powerless you are as a human. Mt. Semeru, near the East Javanese city of Malang, tops the map at 3676 meters (12,060 ft.). Here's my story of climbing to its peak.The trip began with a nearly two-hour ride standing up in the back of jeep with our gear piled on top.We arrived at the village of Ranu Pani, the highest village in Java. The temperature was already much cooler, and many of the locals used sarongs - which are usually worn around the waist and legs - as scarfs.The hike began through some local vegetable fields.It continue on through some jungle-like forested areas, tall grass on both sides of the trail.We hiked for nearly 5 hours through fog and some misty rain before the clouds broke on this gorgeous lake.We camped the night in tents at this lake called Ranu Kumbolo.I woke up shivering at 5:30 in the morning, got up the courage to climb out of my sleeping bag, unzipped my tent, and was greeted by this fabulous sunrise. These two panorama shots were taken at the same time and same place, only with different exposures.The sunrise was accentuated by the steam rising off the lake.
My friend Mike and I slept well in this two-person tent. Around 10am our group of 8 packed up and took off hiking again. The climb out of our campsite was steep and breath-taking... literally.The trail leveled out and cut across a dry lake-bed.As we hiked through a sparely covered forest area, we came across some of our first great views of Mt. Semuru looming above us. It erupted irregularly - sometimes only a few minutes between eruptions, sometimes up to 45 minutes. Each eruption sent billowing smoke rising into the sky in the shape of a mushroom cloud, eventually being carried away by the wind.After about 2 1/2 hours of hiking we arrived at our next campsite early in the afternoon. We replenished our water supply at a natural spring about 20 minutes away, and then settled in to rest. Clouds obscured the mountain above most of the afternoon, breaking just before sunset to give us this amazing view.We started hiking at 12:20am that night, leaving most of our gear behind and taking only the essentials. A little over an hour of steep, winding trails brought us to the tree-line. From there it was straight up. For four plus hours we drudged our way up through sand and gravel. Each step up was followed by half a step of sliding back down the 45 degree slope. As some consolation, we were able to enjoy some incredible views of the landscape below and the eruptions above in the moonlight. The picture above came about 5:00am, just a few minutes before we reached the peak.Within a few minutes of our arrival at the top, the sun peak over the low-lying clouds.Our group of 4 Americans and 4 Indonesian friends were among close to 30 people at the peak.We landed on the moon! The rounded peak had the appearance of something from a NASA photo book.The crater lies an estimated 300-400 yards from the peak where we stood. Eruptions often begin with a big boom or sharp cracking sound, throwing ash, sand, gravel, and boulders up into the air. The mushroom cloud of ash rises 300-800 meters into the sky. It's vital to climb to the peak when the winds are blowing the ash and poisonous gases away from you.
After about and hour and half on the peak, two larger eruptions in a span of 5 minutes sent us scurrying back down the mountain. Our guide, along with the mushroom cloud of ash towering straight over top of us (winds had changed a little), quickly convinced me it was time to get going.
The section of mountain that had taken 4 hours to get up took less than an hour to get back down. We more or less skied down through the loose gravel and sand.
Our fearless guide Adi. Another volcano, Mt. Bromo, smokes in the distant background.
After leaving the peak at 6:45am, we hiked down to our second campsite, packed up our gear and rested for an hour, and then hiked two hours down to our first night's campsite. There we rested an hour and half, with several friends taking a swim to wash off the volcanic dust and ash.
From there we took off again, hiking all afternoon and finally arriving at the base camp around 6pm in the evening as it was growing dark. The views, obscured on the hike up by the fog, were amazing.

Going Shopping

Making Gravel

Road construction projects utilize Indonesia's ample labor force for a very important task - making gravel. That's right, in Indonesia they don't just haul in gravel. They make gravel. Large rocks are hauled in (in background) and then guys with hammers do the rest, pounding for hour upon hour to make huge stones become large stones, large stones become medium-sized stones, medium-sized stones become small stones, and small stones become gravel. For this service the gravel-makers are paid less than $2 per day.

Indonesian Luge

On a recent trip an mountainous area of East Java, while traversing a rocky, forest path, I discovered a new mode of transportation . It's called the Indonesian mountain luge - at least that's what I called it. But this is no sport, no attempt to add a new event to the 2008 Summer Olympics. Instead this is matter of survival. Poor families without jobs hike up into the government-owned, mountain forest areas to gather sticks and small logs to sell as firewood, necessary for cooking when you're too poor to buy propane or other kinds of gas. Lawfully, only already fallen sticks and fallen logs can be gathered, although when people are desperate to make a living, sometimes they "help" the sticks and logs fall. To bring this wood into the small city below, low-tech luge-carts are hand-built, complete with hand-breaks. The ride down-hill is exhilarating, but not so smooth. Rocky paths, a wood seat, and the absence of suspension systems make the ride a tail-bone-buster.