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Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Gunung Merapi Adventure.

A little background info on Mount Merapi

(all the words in large letters are mine but the pics are not)
It is an active volcano in Jogjakarta and and the last time it erupted, it was in the year 2010
Everything within its radius was covered with a layer of ash and molten lava. A whole village was wiped out.
This is the village before: note the padi fields and trees and houses...they are now all gone, buried under with ashes.
Mount Merapi in all its fury: spewing fire and smoke and ash and molten lava that could melt anything metallic.
Volcano destroyed village in the aftermath. Sad and poignant graffiti that speaks volumes.
Rescuers racing against time to rescue survivors and victims
Rebuilding and growth in years after 
livestock, people and domestic animals all perished in the volcanic eruption. I read about all these in the newspapers 6 years ago in 2010.
I also read about the keeper of the Volcano who died after refusing to leave his home when it erupted.
 Mbah Maridjan, the 'spirit keeper' who was killed after refusing to leave his home when Mount Merapi erupted in 2010. Photograph: Dimas Ardian/Getty Images

"He is the balance between air, water and fire. If Merapi erupts he can explain that it was punishment for bad behaviour."
Many villagers still wonder if Maridjan's death was a result of his refusal to evacuate during another volcanic scare in 2006, despite warnings by government authorities and the sultan. His defiance won him accolades as a tough and competent mystic: after starring in an advert for an Indonesian energy drink, he became something of a national celebrity.

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