spooky landscapes

today i took a day off to travel (two, actually). a friend was driving to a town far away and passing through the dieng plateau, which is one of the top tourist sites in java, it seems. that said, i didn't see more than 6 other foreign tourists today. i think they're really hurting for cash.

it's beautiful here. they work the fields for every last scrap of food it can produce. all of the hills are terraced. there were 7 mountains surrounding us today - 7! we went to see these geyser-type things, lava-type black goo bubbling up and no safety nets to keep people from falling in down the slippery slopes to their hot deaths. and a lake that shimmered a strange bright pale green from all of the sulfur.

we hiked 2 kilometers up a dirt road to see another geyser, off the beaten track. the working day was wrapping up and men were hauling giant bags of potatoes down the mountainside, boys in tow. they kept cracking jokes with us, and the women and girls at the side of the road made lots of good-natured jokes about us.

my friends dropped me off as they continued on and i hopped on a bus to start the journey home. but the bus was totally crowded so i jumped off a minute later in a little village that i thought i'd been by before. turns out, i hadn't. i can't imagine them ever really getting tourists. so many people followed me around and i ended up getting invited into one person's home to watch a band performance with bamboo instruments. the women begged me to dance and the children giggled behind their hands. it's been great. i was in a home wtih all muslims, the women all cover their heads, but no one seems to have a problem with americans and people seem largely thrilled to meet me. i feel safe here, despite all of america's travel warnings. i'm sure the terrorists are lurking somewhere in indonesia, but it certainly doesn't feel like java.