Kaliurang

Volcanoes are one of the interesting attractions for some people, especially for me and my friend from Austria. There are a lot of mountains in Austria, but none is a volcano. On our trip to Jogjakarta or Yogya, I want to show my friend Merapi a volcano in central Java. We have to go to the volcano observation post in the Kaliurang highlands.

Someonw in Jogjakarta must know where Kaliurang is. Kaliurang itself is a name of a long street in the north of Jogjakarta. UGM (university) is one of landmarks on Kaliurang. To reach the volcano observation post in Kaliurang, go north and take Kaliurang until the street is finished. There are quite informative sign boards along the street.

Reaching Kaliuarang national park, you will see a waterfall that, some people believe, has a healing power. Last time I visited Kaliurang, the waterfall was dry and had only a few drops of water falling from the cliff. Although a bit disappointed, a guy selling soft drinks told me that there was a more interesting place to see on the peak of the cliff. From the peak we could see the Merapi volcano from afar and see evidence of its explosion in 2003.

We had to climb the cliff, following a slippery and steep small path. For a lazy person like me, who rarely works out, it was really exhausting. We finally reached the peak and unfortunately could not even see the Merapi peak, since the mist was surrounding it. However, I could see the traces of the magma and hot clouds of the volcano explosion from the dead trees in the forest surrounding the Kaliurang peak. The soft drink guy also showed me some pictures of when the Merapi exploded.
Although I was quite disappointed of the trip, the journey to the Kaliurang itself is really beautiful. Later on, I was informed that the more interesting place to see five mountains, three of them volcanoes, is from Ketep Pass.

So, if you have a chance to visit Yogya and are interested in seeing the beautiful nature of central java, you could visit Ketep Pass.