Island Adventures

Last Sunday Mum, Dad and I went to a small island off the coast of South Java called Pulau Sempuh. We left the hotel early in the morning and travelled to the coast through villages bathed in dewy light. The beach that we departed from, Sendang Biru, was full of colourful fishing boats moored along the shore. One of them took us the short distance to the island

Our main purpose in going to the island was to go to a salt lake somewhere in the centre. The walk there was an hour long through a muddy, slippery, hilly path. My thongs broke several times, requiring me to fix them and get sticky mud all over my hands.

We were rewarded in the end though. Once we reached the lake the path continued along the edge of it towards a pristine beach. The view was breathtaking – an untouched stretch of white-yellow sand, shallow turquoise water surrounded by green forest on all sides, and a crystal blue sky. All too soon, after a quick swim in the warm water, we had to head back across the island to get to shore – but this time without the reward at the end!

Bromo

Very early Thursday morning (so early it may as well have been Wednesday still) my parents and I embarked on a trip to Mount Bromo for sunrise. We arrived around 4am and were greeted with the coldest temperatures I have experienced for a long time. It was ok at first, but after 15 minutes sitting on a hard cold bench on top of a mountain with cold gusts of wind I was as good as frozen to the spot. The sun couldnt rise fast enough! Before it emerged on the horizon an eeriee glow was cast over Bromo and Semeru, emerging from a valley of mist. It was very other-worldly. The sunrise itself was dwarfed by the amazing view of the mountains.
After the sun had risen we drove down into the valley to climb Bromo. The path to the mountain was black volcanic sand. The sun hadn't managed to lift the mist so we walked with limited vision, occassionally glimpsing the sides of the craters looming over us. If we were weightless we could've been on the moon! The climb up Bromo itself consisted of 200-odd steps straight up one side. From the top you could look down into the crater, though it was mostly obscured by plumes of smoke. Then at our normal waking up time, we headed back to Malang.

half way

I am now more or less half way through my time in Malang. The Saturday before last I had the ‘privilege’ of attending the UMM graduation ceremony. It was actually a compulsory activity for ACICIS, but it did have its perks. We were VIP guests, which came along with a small bag of snacks. Just as well, as in true Indonesian style the ceremony started close to 45 minutes late. In the end we didn’t have to stay for the part were everyone receives their certificates (thank goodness, as there was a huge dome full of them).

Last week we had our progress reports for our research. It wasn’t too stressful. Our presentations were spread over two days (meaning lots of food!) and everyone presented in English. It will be a different matter in two months time when we have to present in Indonesian to a room full of academics and press (or so they threaten). Apart from that life has been cruising along. I’ve done more research, more interviews and more writing. My parents are coming to visit this saturday so that will be a nice break, but after that I’m going to have to knuckle down and get the rest of my interviews done.