Last month my parents stepped onto their first overseas flight....destination....Indonesia. The flight was pretty uneventful until they arrived in Singapore. While they were waiting out their layover, Mt. Kelud erupted, spewing volcanic ash for hundreds of miles and covering many of the surrounding cities. Mt. Kelud is in East Java, about 150 kilometers from Salatiga where we live. That morning we noticed the house seemed extra dark. When we looked outside there was a blanket of ash over everything, and the world was silent. It was very similar to snow in a lot of ways, except that snow is
clean and you don't have to worry about breathing it in. Several stores shut down and most schools closed. Unfortunately several airports also closed due to the ash in the air and my parents were stranded in Singapore for three nights. They actually enjoyed their time there however and were able to catch up on some sleep.
Our car and yard covered in a layer of ash on the morning of the eruption. It looked worse a little later that morning.
Here we are at school (ours was the only school still open)
Mt. Kelud, elevation around 5,679ft
When grandma and grandpa did finally arrive, the kids could hardly contain themselves. This is Blake the morning after arriving outside their bedroom door. He planted himself right there early in the morning, just waiting for them to get up.
A couple of weeks later Matt and I rented three scooters (for only $3.50 each per day!) and took my parents to the rice fields and up Mt. Merbabu, one of the volcanoes here (it is
inactive, I might add)
One of the rice workers. He was such a sweet man and kept trying to tell us about a nearby restaurant that was good
Dad on his scooter
We saw this durian tree and my dad hiked down to it to get a picture. These are the HUGEST durian I have ever seen!
This was the entrance to a village on the side of the volcano. I couldn't believe how steep it was here, yet people built their houses right into the mountainside. It was beautiful.
Another thing we did while my parents were here was visit Borobudur, a Buddhist temple that was previously one of the seven wonders of the world. It is only about two hours away from where we live.
These guys were dancing a traditional dance in the yard of the temple. You can't tell from the picture but it was a HOT day! I don't know how they did it.
It's crazy to think that this temple was buried by volcanic ash and jungle, and was eventually discovered by some villagers!
Before my parents left Indonesia we all took a trip to Bali together. The next post will include pictures from our trip to Bali.
