THE HIGH LAND OF DIENG, Middle Java Indonesia.

THE HIGH LAND OF DIENG

Photo and Text by Barry Kusuma

Dieng is one of the high land plain tourist spot in central Java. One thing that makes this place unique from the other places is that this place is so sloppy and very steep, but it is planted by different kind of trees and vegetables. For a long time a go this place which is located in Wonosobo regency, is famous for its heterogenic trees and vegetables. Despite of its heterogenic trees and vegetables it’s also famous for its weather which is fresh in the morning and we can’t tell exactly when the cloud will be coming that can arouse the mystical atmosphere.

The exotic view of this place is no longer doubtful because there are a lot of landscape objects to be visit, like Telaga warna is one of the best places to visit by the tourist. Over here we can see there are 3 kinds of lake that have different colors which are blue, green, and brown. Further more there are another lake like Merdada Lake, Sumurup Lake and Pengilan Lake.

Despite of its beautiful scenery and colorful lake, we can visit the historical architecture object. Here we can see the site of the historical ruins of Hindustan temple. This temple was built at the same era with the build of Borobudur temple; it was around the 8^th century. It was the center of Hindustan religion development in central java. The Archaeologies believed that the Hindustan community in this place was the beginning of syailendra dynasty. They built the monumental temple in history. Despite of the temple, we can find the ruins of a kingdom that exist in the past. One thing that makes the temples in this area special is that they were named after the 5 famous figures from the Javanese puppets representative. The part of the temple divided into 4 groups. Which are east Dwarawati, Setyaki, Ontorejo, Petruk, Nala Gareng, Nakula Sadewa, Arjuna Semar, Sembodo, Puntha Dewa and Srikandi. Each group of the templelocated on 2.000 metre height from the sea surface and it had been discovered in 1800.

The volcanoes on this high land of Dieng are still active, because they still produce hot sulphur and some are toxin. If you are interested in visiting some of these volcanoes, despite of its amazing scenery they could be dangerous to visit, so it is better that you asked the local people. You should ask them which volcanoes are save enough to be visit. One of the famous volcanos is Candradimuka, which named after the famous Javanese puppets character of “Gatot Kaca” that being melted in this volcano. The way to get to this place is very steep and winding.

There is only one entrance access to get to this place, which is from Wonosobo. If you are from Yogyakarta direction it is better that from Magelang you go directly to Wonosobo. Prepare yourselves to be amaze by the charming and exotic view of Dieng.

Tips and trick:

1. It is better that if you reach this place before the sun rise, because it has a unique weather. Despite of enjoying the sun rise from behind the high land of the mountain, the weather here can change rapidly, might be because of the mountain climate. The fog often goes down in sudden.
2. The weather here is very convenient especially from 6 o’clock until 9 in the morning, so prepared yourselves to go places to tourist spots in 3 hours.
3. The exotic scenery, so you will need a wide angle lenses such as 12-24 mm, 18-70 mm etc. There will be a lot of stunning scenery here.
4. There aren’t plenty of human interest objects here, but just in case it is better that you prepared tele lenses 80-200 mm or 24-120 mm lenses. You can use it to take pictures of the farmer or the human interest at the traditional market.

Photo & Text by Barry Kusuma

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Bledug Kuwu, Middle Java Indonesia.

BLEDUG KUWU

Photo and Text by Barry Kusuma

The Indonesian natural resources are rich for its diversity in nature and culture. There are a lot of tourist spot; one of them is Bledug kuwu which is located in Purwodadi, central java.

This place is very unique; it is different from any other tourist object, it is named Bledug Kuwu. In United Stated there’s Salt Lake which came from the silting up of the sea and changed into land. In present time this land use as a testing place for the fastest vehicle in the world. It is different from the one that we have in Indonesia. It is also a nature wonder which no other countries have, it is called Bledug Kuwu. It is located in Kluwu village, kradenan district, Grobogan province. It is named Bledug Kuwu because of its sound that periodically make an explosion sound like Bledug (like an explosion of an artillery from the distance), from the mud bubble together with the coming out of the smoke, gases, and salty water. Through that process it became a land which it was from the bottom of the sea and now it became a mainland that reaches 53 meters height from the sea surfaces. The wide is 45 ha with the minimum temperature of 31° Celsius.

To be able to reach this place, we have to travel through the ground way from Semarang through Purwodadi until reaching the Kluwu village. During the journey we can see beautiful and fertile scenery of the nature, the spread of green rice fields and the blue sky. The beautiful view of the hills so fascinating so that the journey to this place won’t be quite boring, despite our eyes will be widely open and amaze by the scenery of the nature that green and amazing.

When we reach this place there’s a distinction view which is opposite with the view that we saw on the way to get this place. During the journey we can see the beautiful view but when we reach to this place it is so fallow and unfertile. But this kind of condition make this place so special because there is two kinds of conditions that opposite from one to another. Meanwhile we enjoy ourselves with the beauty of the nature; we also can see the local people who earn money as a salt farmer. From the source of salty water of Bledug Kuwu the farmer make it into kitchen salt. The quality of the salt from this area is very popular and it is written down in the history of Surakarta Royal Palace. It can be prove by the statement from the local people. In this area there are small mountains which on top of them let out a yellow mud.

Bledug Kuwu has its own specialty, if you see from the geological site, Dr. AJ Panekoek, stated that all lands that consist of Bledug is belong to alluvial plains (sediment soil or silting up soil) together with the explosion of Bledug, smokes, gases and salty water will come out from it. The sound of explosion happened because the coming out of the volcano which form into mud with grey color or dark grey but if this liquid mix with water it will become white. If you silt up this water eventually it will become lime land. It used to be sea that changed into land because of the erosion of the lime mountain, so the land consists of lime.

Photo & Text by Barry Kusuma

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