Mount Merapi

Mount Merapi, Indonesia

Mount Merapi rises behind terraced highland vegetable farms under an early golden sunrise.

Merapi is one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes, and the villages on its flanks live alongside it every day.

The place

Mount Merapi is a stratovolcano on the boundary between Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta, about 28 km north of Yogyakarta city. Its summit stands 2,910 m above sea level. Smoke is often visible drifting from the crater, a reminder that this is a volcano which has been erupting, on and off, for centuries. The name is usually rendered as 'fire mountain', and that fits.

Life goes on around it. Thousands of people live on the flanks, and settlements climb as high as about 1,700 m. Fields, homesteads and roads form a patchwork up the slopes, with the lower land farmed and grazed. Yogyakarta, a city of around 2.4 million people, is close enough that many visitors treat the mountain as a day trip, though the upper slopes are a different proposition altogether.

The southern and northern approaches feel quite different. The southern side, around Kaliurang and the Sleman area, has museums, guesthouses and volcano-related attractions. The northern route from Selo is where most climbers now begin, because recent eruptions have sent gas and ash southward. Access changes with the mountain's mood, so a route that is open in one season may be closed the next. Expect hazard notices, checkpoints and guides who know the current picture better than any guidebook.

Its story

Merapi is the youngest of a group of volcanoes in southern Java. It sits where the Indo-Australian plate slides beneath the Sunda plate, and it belongs to the stretch of fault lines around the Pacific that geologists call the Ring of Fire. Stratigraphic work suggests eruptions here began around 400,000 years ago.

For a long time the lava was runny and basaltic, flowing rather than blasting. Over the millennia it grew thicker and more andesitic, so it piled up into domes. When a dome collapsed, or a tall column of ash fell back on itself, the result was a pyroclastic flow: a fast, hot cloud of gas and rock running down the slope. This mechanism sits behind many of the deadly events.

Small eruptions tend to come every two or three years, with larger ones roughly every ten to fifteen years. Notable eruptions with heavy loss of life include 1822 and 1930. In the latter, thirteen villages were wiped out and about 1,400 people died in pyroclastic flows. A very large eruption in 1006 is said to have blanketed central Java in ash.

The modern record is hard too. On 22 November 1994, a pyroclastic flow killed 27 people, mostly in Muntilan to the west. A larger eruption in 2006 came shortly before the Yogyakarta earthquake.

The most serious recent event began on 25 October 2010, when the southern and south-eastern slopes erupted. Over the following month 353 people died and around 350,000 were forced from their homes. Most of the damage came from pyroclastic flows, but heavy rain on 4 November set off lahars, mudflows of volcanic debris that caused more destruction. By 30 November, the majority of the fissures had ceased spewing lava, and officials cut the alert level down four days afterward. Because of the risk to dense populations nearby, Merapi was named one of the Decade Volcanoes, a list singled out for close study.

What to see

Culture

Merapi is part of everyday life for the Javanese communities on its slopes. Many people here farm, run small businesses and send their children to school close to the volcano. A flag-raising ceremony for schoolchildren on the slopes is a reminder of how ordinary life carries on in its shadow. The mountain also carries spiritual weight in Javanese belief, and local people often speak of it with respect rather than as a sight to be ticked off.

Villages move at an unhurried pace. Greetings matter, and when people are pleased to see you they may invite you in for tea or a snack. Conversation tends to be gentle and polite, and voices are rarely raised, even when discussing hazards. Keep a relaxed manner and accept hospitality graciously.

Ask before photographing villagers or ceremonies, and dress modestly in villages.

What to wear

Traditional dress in the Javanese heartland centres on batik, a cloth patterned by applying wax before dyeing, so the waxed areas stay pale. Batik motifs carry long-standing meanings and are chosen for weddings, ceremonies and formal occasions. For women, the kebaya, a fitted blouse usually worn with a batik sarong, remains the standard formal outfit. Men often wear a batik shirt or jacket on similar occasions.

Day to day, people on the slopes wear practical clothes: T-shirts, jeans, sarongs for home, and headscarves for mosque visits. Work clothes are simple and durable, because the land and the weather are hard on fabric.

For a visitor, dress in layers. Mornings on the higher slopes can be cold and wet, while the lower land is hot and humid, so a light waterproof and a warm top are sensible. Choose sturdy closed shoes with good grip for loose volcanic rock and ash. Cover shoulders and knees when visiting villages, mosques or any ceremony, and wear a sarong or a loose wrap if you enter a religious site.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. The drier months, roughly June to September, are the most practical for walking, with clearer skies and firmer trails, though July and August are the driest. Volcanic activity matters more than the calendar, so check the current alert before choosing dates.

How long. 1–2

Getting there. Fly into Yogyakarta International Airport, then take a taxi or pre-booked car to Selo, the last village on the northern route, a drive of several hours on winding roads. A scooter is an option for confident riders.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources