Road Trip Across Ladakh: When India met Eurasia

Formation of the Greater Ranges of Asia 

The Himalayas and Karakoram are two of the highest mountain ranges in the world. The Himalayas stretches across 2900 km, passing through six countries, and contains the highest mountain on Earth (Mt Everest if you're wondering) yet it is one of the youngest ranges. On the other hand, Karakoram is only 500 km across but it has the densest concentration of high peaks (over 8000 m) and it is one of the most glaciated parts outside of the polar regions. The Himalayan mountains continue to grow because the region is still very tectonically active, resulting in a high frequency of earthquakes. The formation of the mountains has caused global impact from changing oceanic circulation patterns to inducing the South Asian Monsoons, just in case the heights of the mountain ranges weren't impressive enough!

The two mountain ranges share the same drive of formation: the collision between India and Eurasia. If we wind back to the early Mesozoic, during the time of Pangaea, India was neighbouring Africa, Antarctica and Australia in the southern hemisphere while Eurasia was located in the north. The two landmasses were separated by the Tethys Ocean. This arrangement was disrupted approximately 175 Ma years ago when Pangaea started to break apart and the Indian plate began to move towards Eurasia. This plate movement was due to convergent plate boundaries. The key plate boundary was located along the southern margin of the continental Eurasia plate where the oceanic plate, which is denser than continental plate, was being subducted into the mantle. The subduction zones started to close the Tethys ocean and India moved at a rate of 10-20 mm per year until around 50 Ma, when the two continental plates collided.

The plates continued to converge but the rate India travelled northwards was reduced to 5 mm per year. As the Indian plate and Eurasian plate are both light density continental rocks, the continents began to uplift creating some of the world's greatest mountain ranges. The collision caused the rocks to buckle and fold over, creating the stunning geology. This process continues today as the crust of the Indian plate carries on thrusting under that of the Eurasian plate causing the crustal thickness of the region to be twice the average. Ladakh, located in the state of Kashmir and Jammu in India, is dominated by the geology that created the two mighty mountain ranges. The five main geotectonic units from south to north are: Tethys Himalaya, Indus-Tsangpo Suture Zone, Ladakh arc, Shyok Suture Zone and the Karakoram block. During our road trip from Manali to Leh and around, we were able to have a glimpse of the beautiful landscape the region had to offer.

Starting our journey in the Himalayas

Our road trip officially started in Manali. Technically we took an overnight coach leaving Delhi at 7 pm and arriving in the town of Manali at around 9 pm so you could say our road trip started further south but as I spent most of this journey either yearning for that Blue and Gold Sari I didn't have time to buy or trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in, the excitement did not start until the day after. By then I had already missed half of the Himalayan tectonic units: The clastic sediments (sourced from the Himalayas as they eroded) of the Sub-Himalayan unit and metamorphosed sedimentary rocks (sourced from the Indian platform) of the Lower Himalayas unit. Unfortunately the trip only improved a little as we had to pass the apparently majestic Rohtang Pass in complete cloud cover (damn that Monsoon season).

The start of the road trip took place within the High Himalayan Crystalline Sequence: The Climax of the Himalayan orogeny. The rocks here were originally Precambrian to Mesozoic sedimentary rocks that were metamorphosed into medium to high grade metamorphic rocks during the peak of the Himalayan formation in the mid-Tertiary (though the rocks have undergone many phases of deformation). Here, mica schists, quartzites and gneiss that represent up to amphibolite facies can be found. The HHCS was intruded by leucogranites in the Miocene which also formed migmatites in the process. In fact, Manali is located on one of these High Himalayan Leucogranites. Our four hour drive was spent completely in the HHCS as we spent the night in Keylong. The view of homes on mountain tops was one of the best views among the many others.

The sky cleared the next day just in time for us to enjoy the Tibetan Tethys Zone in its full glory. The TTZ is the most northerly zone of the Indian plate and the numerous formations within it show how much the environment has changed! This zone represents a sedimentary shelf facies that formed in the passive northern margin of the Indian plate, which has been divided in two by Carbiferous-Permian volcanic rocks. The earlier Precambrian to Carboniferous Lahoul Supergroup moves from shallow water sedimentary rocks to terrestrial formations (continental molasse, aeolian sandstones) back to marine formations (limestones, evaporites, deltatic clastics).  The Panjal Traps are the continental flood basalts from the Carboniferous to Permian period that occurred from the break up of Gondwana. Post volcanism, the Zanskar Supergroup represents a return to marine setting with carbonate platforms, carbonate sediments, shales, sandstones and limestones that eventually evolved into shallow water setting. The TTZ is largely unmetamorphosed and contains abundant fossils indicating the rich biodiversity that once existed in the Tethyan Sea.

Driving through the Indus Tsangpo Suture Zone

The Indus Tsangpo Suture Zone (ITSZ) separates the Indian plate from the Eurasian plate. The three units within the the ITSZ show a progression from a deep marine setting to shallow waters progressing into a delta and then finally a continental collision facies. The two earlier main units in the ITSZ are the Lamayuru Complex and the Nimdam-Dras Volcanic Group. The shales, sandstones and limestones of the Lamayuru, which were deposited during the Triassic to Jurassic period, represent the "deep water" marine setting. The Dras Volcanic group (of the Nimdam-Dras unit) comprises of basalt, andesites and dacites that show island arc tholeiitic and primitive calc alkaline geochemistry. The Nimdam group contains volcanoclastic materials, limestone blocks and volcanic blocks. The Dras Group represents an island arc while the Nimdam group suggests a forearc basin which received and deposited sediments from the island arc.

The most dominant and youngest group in the ITSZ are the Cenozoic Indus Basin sedimentary rocks, also known as the Indus Molasse. These rocks are carbonate or clastic sediments that originated from the Eurasian plate and were deposited south of the Kohistan-Ladakh Batholith. The earlier group of IBSR, the Tar group, shows an evolution into a shallow marine (shales, fine sandstones, limestones) and delta dominated with fluvial deposits (coarse sandstones, conglomerates). The later group, the Indus Group, shows a switch from a marine to a terrestrial setting. The arrival of Indian sediments into the sequence has been used to date the collision of the two continental masses. During the final leg of the Manali-Leh roadtrip, the highway curves through the vibrant maroon and green shales and sandstones and this was the highlight of the trip. It was the first time that I made my driver stop so I could run over to examine the outcrops while James awkwardly tried to explain that I am a geologist through the language barrier (it didn't work).

Settling in the Ladakh Batholith

Once we crossed the Indus River on the highway route, the sedimentary units stopped abruptly and we were greeted by valleys and mountains made of crystalline felsic igneous rocks. This is the Ladakh Batholith, part of the Trans-Himalayan batholith, which stretches 600 km between the Indus Suture Zone in the south and Shyok Suture Zone in the north. The batholith is mostly made of biotite and hornblende granodiorite and granite but there is presence of mafic components in the form of ol-norite and gabbro. Leh sits comfortably within one of these granitic valleys that was shaped by glaciers.

The Ladakh Batholith resulted from the Andean-type magmatism that occurred during the subduction of the Tethys Ocean under Eurasia. The label "Andean type" refers to a subduction of an oceanic plate under a continental plate. As the oceanic lithosphere subducts into the mantle, it partially melts and dehydrates allowing some of the volatiles, especially the water, to percolate to the mantle of the overlying plate. This lowers the melting temperature of the mantle wedge and can cause some melting leading to magmatism, which in this context manifested as mainly plutonism with some volcanism. The Ladakh Batholith is a result of multiple pulses of intrusion of calc-alkaline material that has been uplifted and eroded to its current form today.

The batholith has been dated several times as another way of understanding and timing the formation of the mountain ranges and the beautiful geology surrounding it. Weinberg and Dunlap (2000) used U-Pb and K-Ar dating techniques on zircons and samples of subvolcanic dike respectively. They found that magmatic activity occurred in Leh between 70-50 Ma and the last magmatic event occurred around 49.8 Ma, just around the time when the sedimentary rock suggests collision with India. This suggests that magmatism stopped soon after the collision due to the change in plate boundary (from oceanic-continental to continental-continental) "disrupting" the magmatic system.

Exploring the Nubra Valley in the Shyok Suture Zone

The zone between the Ladakh Batholith in the south and the Karakoram units (Eurasian plate) in the north is messy, less studied and not well understood compared to the other geological units. However, there's one thing for sure, it's another collision zone! James and I couldn't wait to drive off to another part of Ladakh and we chose to see the Nubra Valley before Pangong Tso (saving the sunshine for the best part of the trip). Our car drove over the Khardung-La pass and headed to the Nubra Valley within the Shyok suture zone in the northwest.

The Shyok Suture Zone represents the collision between the Ladakh-Kohistan Arc and the Karakoram Block. This second convergent boundary was located south of the Eurasian subduction zone as an intra-oceanic island arc. The geology of SSZ is composed of ophiolitic melanges (sections of the oceanic crust that have been obducted onto continental crust), metamorphosed volcanic rocks and sedimentary rocks. The Shyok Suture Zone represents a "complete section through an oceanic island arc". There is a disagreement between the direction of subduction, the features of an island arc the units represent and the timing of (the Shyok ocean) closure. Moreover, there is still an on going debate today whether the Ladakh-Kohistan island arc collided with the Asian or Indian plate first though it was generally understood that the Ladakh-Kohistan Island Arc collided the the Karakoram Block in the Cretaceous period before the Indian collided with Eurasia in the Tertiary period.

Rolland et al (2000) suggested that the SSZ in Ladakh shows signs of a NW-SE evolution from a back arc to arc formation i.e. the back arc basin was opening in the northwest of the Ladakh Arc and closing eastward. The suggestion comes from the presence of basaltic blocks and tuffs with a geochemistry between mid-ocean ridge basalts and island arc basalts in the northwest and arc setting volcanic rocks in the southwest. The sedimentary and volcanic rocks also suggest a change in the geodynamic setting from west to east: limestones with pillow basalts and lava flows found in the west suggest a effusive eruption in a marine setting while pelites, sandstones and conglomerates with ignimbrite layers suggest a continental setting with a "catastrophic" aerial eruption in the east.

Dipping into Pangong Tso & looking onto the Karakoram Block

The first time I wanted to visit Pangong Tso was, unsurprising to any desi readers out there, after I watched "3 Idiots". It wasn't the first time I've seen the beautiful lake in a bollywood movie (Dil Se and Jab Tak Hai Jaan were also shot there to name a few) but the scenery in "3 Idiots" was particularly stunning. My dad leaned over to me in the cinema and told me that the lake was in Ladakh and that he'll take us there one day. So I got a little impatient and went there before he had the chance (I hope I'll take them there one day).

Pangong Tso is located in the Karakoram Block, the final geotectonic unit of our Ladakh trip! The Karakoram terrane extends from Hindu Kush, Afghanistan in the west to Tibet in the east. The terrane can be divided into three major lithologies. The most northerly unit is the Karakoram Tethys Zone which is, as you can guess, a sedimentary sequence that records the travel of the Karakoram as it left Gondwana to make the Asian plate: from deep water sediments in the Carboniferous to shallow marine carbonates in the mid-Jurassic. The sedimentary sequence was then intruded by diorites from a pre-collision event. The south of the KTZ is the Karakoram Batholith and this comprises of granites that range from monzogranite to garnet-two mica-leucogranite composition formed by both pre and post collisional events. Karakoram Metamorphic complex lies between the Karakoram Batholith and SSZ. It's made of metasedimentary rocks, amphibolites and gneiss-migmatites which have have been intruded by granitic bodies too!

The Pangong Metamorphic Complex can be found south of the lake and we had a peek of it on our way back from Pangong Tso to Leh. This complex comprises of, as described by Rolland et al (2000, 2002 and 2009), "a granulite facies core and an amphibolitic cortex". The granulite core is mainly made of garnet-bearing gneiss, metabasite and limestone while the amphibolite facies contains metapelitic schists and gneiss along with the presence of metabasic rocks. This complex is bounded by the Karakoram fault and earlier papers suggest that this block has been exhumed from a 18 km depth and moved southwards. The garnets in garnet-kyanite-starulite gneiss show multiple stages of growth implying that the complex underwent many stages of deformation. Thanh (2001) suggested that the garnet cores formed during the subduction setting induced prograde metamorphism, which were then "abruptly" uplifted during the Karakoram-Ladakh Arc collision, and the overgrowth were formed during the continental collision between India and Eurasia.

Looking Back

I had a wonderful time in Ladakh. Before I jumped on a coach to Manali, I knew that Ladakh would be a geologist's paradise. It wasn't until we were in the Himachal Pradesh - Jammu and Kashmir border (when the clouds and mist shifted a little and the temperatures became a little warmer) that I fell in love with my subject again. This was the first time I tried to explore the geology and apply my course to the real world on my own. I gained a new found love for geological field work. I found myself naturally pouring into the literature to put together the pieces I saw. I understood more about the Himalayas now then during my second year course! My only regret is not reading the papers before I left, it would have been great to drive over to the ophiolites or having a closer inspection of the Pangong Metamorphic Complex. Alas, maybe next time!

References

1. Searle, Mike P. Geology and tectonics of the Karakoram Mountains. John Wiley & Sons Inc, 1991.
2. Garzanti, Eduardo, Aymon Baud, and Georges Mascle. "Sedimentary record of the northward flight of India and its collision with Eurasia (Ladakh Himalaya, India)." Geodinamica Acta 1.4-5 (1987): 297-312.
3. Henderson, Alexandra L., et al. "Geology of the Cenozoic Indus Basin sedimentary rocks: Paleoenvironmental interpretation of sedimentation from the western Himalaya during the early phases of India‐Eurasia collision."Tectonics 29.6 (2010).
4. Henderson, Alexandra L., et al. "Constraints to the timing of India–Eurasia collision; a re-evaluation of evidence from the Indus Basin sedimentary rocks of the Indus–Tsangpo Suture Zone, Ladakh, India." Earth-Science Reviews 106.3 (2011): 265-292.
5. Phillips, Richard J., Randall R. Parrish, and Michael P. Searle. "Age constraints on ductile deformation and long-term slip rates along the Karakoram fault zone, Ladakh." Earth and Planetary Science Letters 226.3 (2004): 305-319.
6. Phillips, Richard J. "Geological map of the Karakoram fault zone, eastern Karakoram, Ladakh, NW Himalaya." Journal of Maps 4.1 (2008): 21-37.
7. Rolland, Y., A. Pecher, and C. Picard. "Middle Cretaceous back-arc formation and arc evolution along the Asian margin: the Shyok Suture Zone in northern Ladakh (NW Himalaya)." Tectonophysics 325.1 (2000): 145-173.
8. Rolland, Yan, et al. "Syn-kinematic emplacement of the Pangong metamorphic and magmatic complex along the Karakorum Fault (N Ladakh)."Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 34.1 (2009): 10-25.
9. Schärer, Urs, Copeland Peter, Harrison T. Mark, and Searle Mike P. "Age, Cooling History, and Origin of Post-Collisional Leucogranites in the Karakoram Batholith; A Multi-System Isotope Study." The Journal of Geology 98.2 (1990): 233-51. Web.
10. Searle, M. P. "Structural evolution and sequence of thrusting in the High Himalayan, Tibetan—Tethys and Indus suture zones of Zanskar and Ladakh, Western Himalaya." Journal of Structural Geology 8.8 (1986): 923-936.Sinha, Anshu K., et al. "Contribution to the geology of the eastern Karakoram, India." SPECIAL PAPERS-GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA (1999): 33-46.
11. Streule, M. J., et al. "Evolution and chronology of the Pangong Metamorphic Complex adjacent to the Karakoram Fault, Ladakh: constraints from thermobarometry, metamorphic modelling and U–Pb geochronology." Journal of the Geological Society 166.5 (2009): 919-932.
12. Thanh, N. X., et al. "Multiple garnet growth in garnet–kyanite–staurolite gneiss, Pangong metamorphic complex, Ladakh Himalaya: new constraints on tectonic setting." Lithos 127.3 (2011): 552-563.
13. Thanh, Ngo Xuan, et al. "A Cretaceous forearc ophiolite in the Shyok suture zone, Ladakh, NW India: Implications for the tectonic evolution of the Northwest Himalaya." Lithos 155 (2012): 81-93.
14. Weinberg, R. F., and M. P. Searle. "The Pangong Injection Complex, Indian Karakoram: a case of pervasive granite flowthrough hot viscous crust."Journal of the Geological Society 155.5 (1998): 883-891.Weinberg, Roberto F., and William James Dunlap. "Growth and deformation of the Ladakh Batholith, northwest Himalayas: implications for timing of continental collision and origin of calc‐alkaline batholiths." The Journal of Geology 108.3 (2000): 303-320.

The Fiery Land of Indonesia

  It shivers and it rumbles. It will exhale with frustration. It will make you know of its own temper and tantrums. In Indonesia, you begin to believe that the Earth is alive. 

I'm used to travelling independently around a foreign country, mainly thanks to James whose fascination over trains and public transport links in general makes planning route an exciting puzzle than a chore. However, despite the fact that Jogja - Mount Bromo - Kawah Ijen - Bali is a popular route, there wasn't an obvious choice we could take. There are no direct public transports between the routes so we have to make a choice of risking a complex itinerary or using a tour company.

Now I have an obvious dislike for using a tour company to exploring a country - you aren't given enough time. The route we wanted to take have an infamous reputation for gruelling 11+ hour cramped bus rides and unpleasant accommodations. After pouring over blogposts about alternative routes, I secretly knew I would fall back on the tour company option. I didn't want to admit it so James and I kept postponing our decision until we got to Jogja. Staying in Surabaya and making our own way seemed risky at such a short notice while we had an endless amount of tours available at Yogyakarta. We took the easy option.

Jeep packed adventure at Mount Bromo

Waiting for the sun

At 3 am, we had the convenience of hot water shower to wake us up and refresh us from the 13 hour minibus journey. Bearing in mind how awful people have rated their experience with tour companies, I was relieved that road trip flew as I alternated between sleeping and reading as well as that our room was not freezing and falling to pieces. We walked out to see a line of jeep ready to start our adventure. James and I got pushed onto sharing a front passenger seat (well, that's not dangerous) and we drove off in the pitch black. Well, it wasn't exactly pitch black... we could see the path we were taking as a bright trail of headlights and rear lights trailing into the distance - Mount Bromo is definitely not Indonesia's best kept secret.

Our jeep parked on the side of a steep road and we had to continue walking for another fifteen minutes. I looked up and it was the first time I noticed the starry skies since... Mexico? It was already busy once we reached the platform at Mount Penanjakan. I still wanted a good view of the the volcanoes or sunset but that was proving a little difficult due to my height. I found a little gap against the railing but before I could lean against it, a French man next to me turned around and said:

"What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm trying to see the volcano."
"That's my space."
"But there's space for two people." (Bearing in mind he was adjacent to me, I wasn't trying to squeeze in front of him).

He then proceeds to push in front of me and gets on the railing to block my view.  A woman then told me that she tried to get in there earlier but he blocked her too. I recall a friend believing that travellers are the best kind of people in the world. No, they could be the worst too.

I couldn't let the selfish attitude of the man spoil my experience, but I was really hurt. James came into the rescue and pulled me to another side of the platform where he found space for us to watch the sunrise instead and boom, I was happy again. 

Cemoro Lawang can be seen on the edge of the caldera (bottom left).

Amidst the selfie sticks and tall western tourists, I was still one of the first to catch the moment the sun broke into the horizon and watched Mount Semeru erupt quietly. I finally saw the Tengger massif for the first time and I was amazed to see how perilously Cemoro Lawang (the town we were staying overnight) sat on the edge of the caldera. I realised that we had driven from the town, down into the caldera and across the "Sea of Sands" in a jeep to get to the top of Mount Penanjakan. We went past the volcanoes and I was oblivious to it? The crowd slowly started to thin as everyone started going back to their jeeps to get down to the Sea of Sands as it was time to get up and personal with Mount Bromo.

Starting our journey through the Sea of Sands

Mount Bromo vent!

Failing to walk confidently around the crater rim

Mount Batok - now an extinct volcano

Always a selfie with a volcanic vent

The Sea of Sands is a vast plain of volcanic ash and just like san, it's incredibly tough to walk across. There was several touts ready to rent a horse so you can gallop across the ash but as awesome as that image may seem, we thought we'd give that a pass. We reached the bottom of the cone and braced ourselves for the walk up. A staircase was built right onto the slope of the volcano, which seems like a strange thought but a much easier alternative to trying to climb up the steep slippery slope. We tried walking along some of the rim of the volcano but the path was so thin and I wouldn't help but panic with every step I took. We thought a better way to enjoy the volcano was to sit as far (safely) we could towards the vent and listening to the volcano rumble. Despite the number of active volcanoes I've walked on, I wasn't prepared for the deep ominous sound Mount Bromo made as it degassed. I was mesmerised.

Journey into a Volcanic Crater: Kawah Ijen

A glimpse of the Blue Fire

We were still euphoric from our journey around Mount Bromo when we had to be whisked away to our next destination. Another twelve hour journey, another cold night's sleep. We had to be ready so that we could be picked up at one am so that we could be at the national park before two to meet our tour guide and sign in. It didn't take long before the group separated from each other but our guide was close by us. We were by no means alone or deserted, there were plenty of people who opted for the blue fire tour. We reached a lodge about forty-five minutes into the hike which was a short pause for everyone to have a chance to rent a gas mask to make it easier to breathe through the sulphuric emissions - we were only at the half way point! We continued to zigzag with the path when we noticed more and more sulphur miners walking past us, we must be close. We reached a dense crowd and a stairway going downwards along with a sign warning "No Visitors Allowed in the Crater". That didn't stop anyone.

Aren't we the cutest?

Cover of my next music album

Mount Raung erupting in the background

Our journey into the crater was unstable. There was no path, just Ioose rocks and ash from past eruptions. As I made my way down precariously balancing on one volcanic rock before making it to another, I was grateful for a tour guide. He held onto my hand and found the best route for us to get down while being prioritizing the sulphur miners. The miners continued on with their business, carrying heavy loads of sulphur through the crowds of tourists. I was too worried about slipping to be conscious about time but all that frustration was gone once we made it to the blue fire. One of the only two places in world where the blue fire is known to be - such a beautiful shade of electric blue caused by the ignition of sulphuric gas after it travelled up under higher temperature and pressure. 

We had to make our way up by sunrise, it was quicker to walk up especially under pressure, and we caught a glimpse of the crazy path we had just taken. We saw the crater lake from above and the beautiful texture of the crater. The gas emissions were getting heavier and within few moments of sunrise, the volcanic gas engulfed the whole region - crater lake and all. 

The first taste of Indonesia: Yogjakarta

We never prepared ourselves for Indonesia. We had so much trouble in Taiwan to keep us busy that it felt like we were spiralling from one whirlwind to another. Taiwan is very different from every part of Indonesia we visited with its tall skyscrapers, bright neon signs and crazy street food. Indonesia's craziness lay in its crazy drivers, overbearing touts and quietly erupting volcanoes. As soon as we arrived, we were overwhelmed and pushed around: into the airport, into the bus, onto the streets. It's almost suffocating how crowded everything was. Despite all of that, I couldn't help smiling cheek to cheek. Looking out of the bus, I felt like I was back in Dhaka and just like my first home, it was the start of bustling atmospheres, lively people and endless amount of good food.

The Local Culture of Yogyakarta 

We decided to spend the first day exploring Jogja. We started with a visit to the Sultan's Palace, Kraton, where we learnt about how much Yogyakarta loves its royal family. Next we visited the Water Palace, Taman Sari, a few blocks away from Kraton and then took a becak to Jalan Prawirotaman for lunch at Via Via. I had the Sambal Udang and Lime Juice, which I am craving to this day. Jl Prawirotaman is another tourist hotspot, after Jl. Sosrowijayan, so we spent the rest of the afternoon walking up and down the road to talk to different tour companies about a trip to Mount Bromo and Kawah Ijen. We were taken by Bottle Trip tour's Maria charisma and lovely character as she spoke about all the things Java Island had to offer. We decided to stick to a cheaper, more well known company for the volcano tours but we wanted to use her service so much that we were sold when she mentioned the "Golden Sunrise" of the Dieng Plateau. Now, I hadn't heard of Dieng before coming to Yogyakarta but I saw it mentioned in all the tour companys, so I did a little research online to see previous tourists' experience. It seemed that everyone who went for the sunrise loved it, but it's not worth it for later visits. Since James and I had a day to spare, we thought... why not go for it?

First sunrise in Dieng Plateau and our unforgettable driver, Tegu

James and I waited anxiously for our driver at 11 p.m., but even after fifteen-twenty minutes we were still waiting outside our hotel and we were getting worried. I didn't doubt our tour company at all, but I suspected there might have been a misunderstanding with the dates... but we were on a tight schedule we couldn't afford pushing our dates forward. James went to wait near the road and eventually I heard a car door slam shut loudly followed by:

"Mr James, I AM SO SORRY!"

So I and the rest of our street knew that our driver had arrived. I waved our hotel staff goodbye and headed towards the car when I felt two hands grab my shoulders as a new face started begging for my forgiveness:

"MISS, I am so sorry! Please forgive me!"

I knew we were in for a bumpy ride (and not just literally).

It was a little hard to convince our driver Tegu not to speed especially when he asked for our permission so politely and still insisted because "everyone does it" anyway but it was more forgivable when we were in ignorance of the narrow, steep highway he was flying across. My long lost motion sickness began to find me and I pretended to sleep as a way to fight it off but I didn't think it was a coincidence when I discovered that James was fighting the same battle too. Soon we arrived in Dieng with plenty of time but not enough layers. We started making our way up a trail, I had no idea where I was heading but there were plenty of Indonesians to follow as a guide. Then we reached the peak and I felt like a needle in a haystack. I was lost in a sea of Indonesians who also travelled many miles to see the wonderful golden sunrise... And what a view we had from the top! Sights of one volcano after another and the clouds covering the plains below, I never grow tired of the amazing landscapes our planet has to offer. 

We were feeling euphoric after watching the sunset and Tegu knew where to channel all our energy. He was blasting "Welcome to Paradise" on the radio and claiming that Bob Marley is Indonesia's religion (a claim that many drivers confirmed), so the only right thing to do was to sing along loud and proud with our driver as he took as around the plateau. We visited the sulphur crater open among the industrial pipelines and the hindu temples from the Kalingga Kingdom. We were continuously debating with Tegu about visiting the "Rainbow Lake" because, after the sunset it seemed the only other site worth seeing in the Plateau but it did seem to be unreasonably costly for the foreign tourists. Our driver wanted to take us home and feed us but we insisted on the colourful lake. That was suppose to be the end of our stay but it seemed Tegu had other plans for us...

  

With only a few hours of sleep the night before, James and I were on the edge of exhaustion, but it didn't seem like Tegu was sympathetic to our situation. I couldn't stand to listen to, let alone sing, "Welcome to Paradise" anymore despite Tegu enthusiastically yelling "One more time!" and the sun was getting to me more than it should. I went back to sleep, hoping that I could fast forward to arriving at our beloved hotel. However, I was woken up too soon and I was looking out the window to a unfamiliar green scenery. Tegu had taken us to a rice plantation. Tiptoeing between the rice terraces, we followed Tegu as two confused, lost souls to the rice plantation workers that showed us to how to harvest rice. As peaceful as the scenery looked and as sweet as the rice workers were, we were too tired to take in what was happening. We didn't stay longer than we were shown around and trusted Tegu to finally take us home... but he was clearly not done with us as he took us to his home instead. Unsure of what to do, we felt like hostages in his house as his sister cooked us Nasi Goreng while Tegu's manager interrogated him about us over the phone. Sure, we finally tried Snake Fruit and we were fed very well by Tegu and his family... but we just wanted some sleep. Finally, it looked like Tegu wanted to give in to sleep too... after he dropped us home!

The Two Giants of Yogyakarta

James and I were debating whether we should pay extra to see the sunrise from Setembu Hill or Borobudur itself, or if we should just skip seeing the sunrise and go to the Buddhist temple at a normal time. I'm a sucker for sunrise related events as you can see, so the last one wasn't a real option. In the end, we decided to enter Borobudur through the Manohara hotel and watch the sunrise from the top of the temple. Watching how bizarrely misty the temple is at early hours and exploring Borobudur before it gets crowded was worth the experience for me. It's easy for the temple to get crowded, each passage is quite narrow and there are only two staircases to move across each level. I loved the atmosphere of walking around Borobudur when it was still dark, it felt eery. We needed the whole time from sunrise to our pick-up time at nine to wander around until we were satisfied. 

It only seemed logical to end our day by watching the sunset from the Hindu Temples of Prambanan. While Borobudur seemed to withstand destruction, it seems like Prambanan wasn't as fortunate. As we made our way towards the temple, you're first struck by how intimidating the main temples are with their tall, dark, jagged appearance. As you walk closer, you're struck again in awe by the remains of the devastation caused by the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake. The main temples are surrounded by rubble and you can't help but feel a little bit of sadness at what it once was.

We arrived around 4pm and spent most of the evening around the main Prambanan complex. Our main mistake was underestimating the time we needed to roam the whole park. We did climb all the main temples that were restored and walked around the complex but there were also Buddhist temples further north that we didn't have time for. We also saved sunset for Prambanan due to numerous travel blogs claiming how beautifully it is lit by the setting sun... I don't think I saw what they were seeing and if I did, it's not that spectacular. Nevertheless, I would have allocated at least half the day to explore the whole site.    

  

Our Wonderful Host, Faisal

One of that best parts of travelling, the aspect that romanticises it, is the other souls that you meet on the way. I've made friends with people I worked with abroad, cherished conversations I had with strangers in accommodations I stayed in and learnt a lot from fellow travellers I shared a hostel with. I have friends who want to travel solely so they could have that experience with other travellers. However, people seem to overlook the connections they could have with the locals. I always enjoyed meeting locals because they give different perspectives of the country you're visiting and provide a more authentic experience. I've always made it a goal to meet residents of the country I am visiting because they can show you what's best (or most extraordinary). I've been taken to the best restaurants, ordered the strangest food and received an insight to the local politics. Taking the time to meet the locals should never be under-appreciated!

I want to take the time to thank our wonderful host, Faisal during our stay at the Griya Wijilan hotel. While the rest of the staff were great, Faisal stood out in terms of friendliness and care. He had so much to tell us about about Indonesia in terms of what he has seen (he showed us photos of the places he visited) and about the culture. We spoke about migration within Indonesia and he taught us a few Indonesian phrases we could use. When we were worried about Tegu being late, he stayed up with us and talked about the history and religion of Indonesia and when Tegu was distressed about arriving late, Faisal calmed him down. I've never met someone who is integrated with their guests and I always looked forward to coming back to the hotel and talking to Faisal. If I go back to Yogyakarta, I would definitely stay at Griya Wijilan just for Faisal (though the hotel itself is fantastic too!).