If the winter of Europe has cold snowfalls, therefore Indonesia has “hot” raining volcanic dust & sand.(Rofiq Fauzi)

Mount Merapi, is an active stratovolcano located on the border between Central Java and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. It is very close to the city of Yogyakarta, and thousands of people live on the flanks of the volcano.

The name Merapi could be loosely translated as ‘Mountain of Fire’ from the Javanese combined words; Meru means “mountain” and api means “fire”. Smoke can be seen emerging from the mountaintop every day, and several eruptions have caused fatalities.

Mount Merapi volcano has erupted again, with greater force than last week’s eruptions in which 80 people died (detik.com). Lava and burning rocks as well as hot ash were shooting from its crater for several hours. An estimated thousands of people have been evacuated from the area since Mount Merapi first erupted there was no immediate word on casualties. Officials have expanded the exclusion zone from 10km to 15km and 20km.

Sawarna means one color. A hidden village in distrik Bayah, Lebak, near Pelabuhan Ratu, West Java. Natural beauty of this village is quity amazing. The village is often visited by foreign tourists.

Potential tourist objects that are contained in the Village Sawarna divided into two kinds, first is beautiful beach with its white sandy and beautiful grassland alongside the beach. It is so unique that I cannot see it in other beaches I’ve been in. The sky is so bright with group of clouds, it is a perfect place to relax and enjoy . There are some places to visit in Sawarna, Tanjung Layar is the most popular one. The best time to visit it is afternoon, while waiting for the sunset. It is formed by two big black rocks standing on the beach, those two look like a ship sailing the ocean, that’s why they call it with ‘Layar’. Tanjung Layar is around 30 minutes on walk from our home stay . Legun Pari is popular too because of its quiet water surface. The safest place to swim is here. Legun Pari is bit far from home stay . Ciantir beach is also popular because of its long beach line.

The second is the natural attractions of the cave .There are several caves located in this village area, but only 1 cave most popular and which allowed residents to enter called Gua Lalay. Lalay word comes from Sundanese meaning kelelawar or bat. This cave is full of rocks that are still natural relief, especially stalactite on top of cave and thousands of bats. Shallow river flowing along the cave, so the soil becomes soft and moist. The length of the Lalay cave is quite big and we need around 30 minutes to reach the end of the tunnel. It’s slippery inside that you may fall down with your ass dirty full of dirt. Overall, Gua Lalay explore is interesting as it gives another option of experience that I never get before.

We stayed at Homestay Batara which is the big house across the street. The rooms there are upstairs, have great view because Batara homestay has a birds farm, many swallow birds flying arround us.

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