The allure of Dieng

Dieng means Di-Hyang (or di hayang) in ancient Javanese language. I guess a direct translation means that it is the abode of gods a.k.a heavenly realm. I'm not too sure whether it can be extrapolated to modern world today. I can just surmise that our brief yet worthwhile visit to Dieng Plateau was a sonata of serenity and isolation as this refreshingly cool wonderland is definitely off the beaten trail.







Finally managed to catch the sunrise..yay! It was pretty special as we see the sun rising amidst the clouds and volcanoes. Unfortunately, we didn't really catch the double sunrise...









Anyway, the Arjuna temples predate Borobudur and Perambanan by centuries and reminded me of the temples of the Aztecs in South America. It was so misty and cold up there...the weather was superb!









Not only that, we manage to catch many geographic wonders...like the ever-bubbling, hot mud-pool at the foot of an active volcanoes. My friend SH kept on wondering whether the ground will disappear beneath her feet as we kept on avoiding hissing spots emanating very hot gasses from the ground under our feet. Not only we are visually-stimulated, our olfactory gland was activated to the fullest by the strong sulphuric fumes. I think by then, if any of us were still drowsy, we truly did wake up to the 'overpowering' smell eh?

Another interesting spot was this aqua-marine lake that is called Telaga Warna. Apparently, the

lake changes colour as the sun-light hits it at different angles. As usual, the weather was against us and it was the cloudiest day ever. All we had was the amazing blue that I absolutely adore so I didn't mind. At least it wasn't muddy-coloured like most of the waterways in Malaysia!!

Some of the fallen trees are so reminiscent of fallen heroes in a long-forgotten war eh? As we couldn't stay on for long (hunger beckons), we left after a few wonderful hours at Dieng Plateau to arrive at our hotel in Wonosobo in time for breakfast.

One of the best thing about being a doc is that we could access any meds we like and I took one anti-motion sickness pill and slept the whole journey. In fact, I was so knocked out, I was drowsy almost the entire day. Aaargh!

Nevertheless, the return trip was forgettable (it was raining cats and dogs again) as the Uncle Muddy negotiated the hairpins with skills comparable to Schumacher. I was pretty glad I wasn't awake throughout the entire harrowing trip (I'm well-known for vomiting in cars and boats).

This time round, we decided to stay at the Sosrowijayan Road area at Jogjakarta which was the most superb place to stay if you decide to backpack. Its so near to the train station and to Malioboro street, the shopping road that has it all.



Next up on CPD version of Amazing Race Java : very cultural experience which lulled me to sleep and the tale of two cities....