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Yogyakarta Part 4: Mount Merapi & Ullen Sentalu Museum
September 04, 2018
One of the days that we woke up the earliest during this Yogyakarta trip was for the sunrise at Mount Merapi. I have no idea how I woke up at 4am, washed my hair with icy cold tap water while squatting at the corner of the bathroom, and got myself up the van towards our destination.
Upon arriving at the jeep station at the foot of Mount Merapi, I was very fortunate to have my wind breaker on and covered myself from head to toe because it was FREAKING cold and windy. I pity my guy friends who were in their shorts and slippers. If you are ever visiting Mount Merapi, please wear a jacket and long pants with covered shoes because it's a volcano we are talking about. I mean worst case scenario, if anything happens, I can run faster on a rocky road than someone with some Flippers on.
Before we knew it, we were on a ride up the slopes with cold wind blasting our faces. Mind you that the jeeps are roofless and the road very, very rocky. Some part of the roads were covered with rocks that were the size of a human head which is why we could only access this place with a jeep.
After the sunrise and a few group jumping shots that ached our feet (the terrain is very rocky there), we joined the tour where our jeep driver brought us to a bunker that used to be a safehouse if ever there would be an eruption. It was quite eerie in that small room as the tour guide showed us two spots where two badly burnt bodies were found after the 2010 eruption. One right in front of the door, and the other in the bathroom where he was found in a crouching position in the water tub thinking that he could escape but didn't thought that the lava would have risen the temperature of the water and boiled him to death.
We also visited a home that was entirely burnt and now turned to a museum, Sisa Hartaku Mini Museum. It was amazing and chilly to see what time the melted clock stopped at-it was the time the lava melted everything in the house. There were other home appliances that were all in odd shapes and sizes suffering a post-meltdown. There were some very beautiful plants and flowers there too:
Around Mount Merapi, there are a lot of other places to visit and usually visitors don't stop by for the sunrise only. After our melted museum tour, we headed to another beautiful museum, Ullen Sentalu Museum. It's a private museum which houses a lot of royal paintings and items that introduces Jogja and Solo. We were very fortunate to have gotten such a great tour guide, Sarah, who was not only fluent in English which made understanding easier, she was a beauty, and most importantly had patience for the boys who were in the gang cracking up jokes and what not. One more thing, no photography is allowed in the tour venues so for RP60,000, I made sure I paid my utmost attention and absorbed everything Sarah told us throughout the tour.
Do I recommend the Ullen Sentalu Museum to anyone visiting Yogyakarta? Yes, of course! It is very peaceful and calm there and the environment really brings you into the history of Jogja, Solo, and the Javanese culture. Plus, the traditional drinks served during the intermission was really nice too. Also, this beautiful museum is one of the best museums in Indonesia, more the reason to stop by!
This slab of concrete is a large scale replica of a relief found at Borbudur and is located at the very last stop of the Ullen Sentalu museum tour and also can be photographed (like finally). The tilting of this art piece is to show how the culture and history in the country are slowly fading away as the younger generations are no longer paying attention or taking the effort to preserve the stories of their forefathers. I'm really glad that young people like our tour guide Sarah are working at the museum and showing everyone around hoping that we too can make a difference. It's a very lovely place with a lot of lovely people. Highly recommended!
Of course, the next stop would be for food. One more historical stop and I think everyone would be brain dead in the next second. We stopped by for Sate Ayam at Sate Ratu but unfortunately the husband and wife team were a short of hands and the place was quite stuffy. However, I would say these grilled chicken skewers were absolutely juicy and delicious which kinda make up for all the not-so-nice part. I was too hungry and the sates were good hence the only picture I took on my film camera (below) which I regret so much now that I did not take a shot of the food part. Anyway, don't miss it!
If you've missed other parts of this amazing Yogyakarta trip, you can still read more on my first night at Alun-Alun Kidul, or my meltdown at Kali Suci, or the beautiful Timang Beach.
xx
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