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DIENG |
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The Dieng plateau lies in a volcanic caldera 2093m above sea level
and holds a rewarding mix of multicoloured sulphurous lakes , craters
that spew pungent gases, and some of the oldest Hindu temples in Java.
The volcano is still active - in 1979 over 150 people died after a cloud
of poisonous gas bled into the atmosphere - and the landscape up on this
misty, windswept plain is sparse and largely denuded. Although travel
agents run day-trips from Yogya, these involve eight hours' travelling
for just one hour on the plateau, so it's better to spend a night up
here, in the damp and isolated village of DIENG , just across the road
from the plateau's main temple complex; bring warm clothes and
waterproofs. To get to Dieng from Yogya you need to change buses twice,
going first to MAGELANG from the Jomber terminal (Rp1500), then to
Wonosobo, and then to Dieng (Rp1500).
The tiny village of Dieng lines Jalan Raya Dieng, the road that runs
along the plateau's eastern edge, and has a tourist office (random hours),
a small kiosk that sells tickets to the Arjuna temples, and some fairly
grim accommodation , the best of which is Gunung Mas Hotel (tel
0286/92417; $5-10), at the northern end, which at least has hot water
and TV. The rooms at the Dieng Homestay, Jl Raya Dieng 16 (tel
0286/92823; under $5), are basic and full of flies, and the mandi are
excruciatingly cold; this is, however, the best of the budget bunch. Bu
Djono, next door (no phone; under $5), has shabbier rooms but superior
food. Two hundred metres to the south at Jalan Telaga Warna 117-119
stands the smarter but less welcoming Asri Losmen (under $5).
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