Traveling between Yogyakarta and Salatiga


We became very familiar with the road going clockwise around the volcanoes from Yogyakarta to Salatiga. On our last trip back from Salatiga in mid-December 2001 we took time to photograph the scenery.


It looks closer to travel around the east side, but to do that requires using tiny roads clogged with animal-drawn wagons and pedestrians. The usual Yogya-Salatiga route goes around the west side of the two volcanoes. That larger road is often the equivalent of 1 1/2 American lanes, and is not flat. There are many steep hills.

Leaving Salatiga one immediately enters the mountainous rural interior. Crops are varied, but tend to what Americans call truck farming of vegetables. Crops that prefer a more temperate climate do well here.

Fields are built using the same techniques as are used for wet rice cultivation.

On this cloudy, rainy day we only caught glimpses of the volcanoes we were driving around.

The attraction of this road, besides the scenery, is the relatively light traffic. Even so one has to share the road with trucks, buses, motorcycles and everything else.

This field is corn surrounded by sugar cane, perhaps as a fence.

200 years ago this land was densely forested. Even 100 years ago most of the land in this picture would have been forest. At that time the population of the island was 5% of what it is today.

As you travel it is easy to tell what the local crops are from the roadside stalls. Here the offering is labu, the Javanese version of pumpkin. We have had success using it with our traditional pumpkin pie recipe, which Ibu Tari learned to make. The secret is to bring Watkins vanilla from the US.

These women had taken their produce to the market and were probably going back for more.

Labu-labu

All along the road you see people carrying these big bundles of whatever is green and available. That is how the roadsides are kept clear and the goats fed.

This is the carload heading back to Yogya after our farewell party in Salatiga. Kris is driving, Duane is taking the picture over his shoulder, then l-r: Lilik, Tari, Heidi, Siti, Clare Ann. This car is the "new" 1997 MCC Toyota Kijang van.

In the Sierra Nevada mountains east of Fresno, California, there is a spot just like this. The only difference is the bamboo instead of fir trees.

Ferns on the banks of the road also reminded us of the California mountains.

Approaching Yogya we passed a hardware shop offering tops for mosques. Many people have a public prayer room in their house, and it needs one of these.

Just as we arrived we passed this man delivering giant bamboo furniture. Sometimes they will carry two couches vertically. It is quite a balancing act.

Last modified August 6, 2002. Prepared by Duane Ruth-Heffelbower. visitors since January 1, 2002.

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