Mount Merapi
The Most Active Volcano In Indonesia, Erupting Somewhere Between Every Two And Five Years; The 2010 Eruption Killed Around 350 People And Emptied Villages On Its Southern Flank · Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta
MERAPI MEANS MOUNTAIN OF FIRE and it is THE MOST ACTIVE VOLCANO IN INDONESIA, erupting somewhere between every two and five years, with a city of a million people living within thirty kilometres of it. THE 2010 ERUPTION KILLED AROUND THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY PEOPLE and destroyed villages on the southern flank. Among the dead was MBAH MARIDJAN, the man appointed by the Sultan of Yogyakarta as the mountain's spiritual gatekeeper, who refused to evacuate because leaving was not what the role permitted. WHAT VISITORS DO HERE IS NOT CLIMB IT - the summit has been effectively closed for years - BUT DRIVE THROUGH WHAT IT DID: jeep tours run across the ash fields and through the ruined villages, stopping at a house kept exactly as the pyroclastic flow left it, its contents melted into shapes. It is not scenic, and it is far better than scenic - the clearest account of what a pyroclastic flow does that you will find anywhere.
Mount Merapi, between Yogyakarta and Central Java, Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia
THE SUMMIT IS EFFECTIVELY CLOSED - Merapi's alert level has kept climbing suspended for years at a time, and the area within a few kilometres of the crater is a permanent danger zone. WHAT OPERATES INSTEAD ARE JEEP LAVA TOURS from KALIURANG and the villages on the southern flank, running MORNING AND AFTERNOON on set routes, typically one to three hours, booked on arrival or through a Yogyakarta hotel. SUNRISE TOURS START AROUND 4 AM. THE MUSEUM SISA HARTAKU - the house preserved with its melted contents - and the Merapi museum keep daytime hours and charge small fees. THE MOUNTAIN'S ALERT LEVEL GOVERNS EVERYTHING and tours are suspended when it rises. CHECK BEFORE TRAVELLING. Nearby Selo and Kaliurang are the usual bases; Yogyakarta is about an hour away.