Walk the Boiling Hot Crusts of Mt. Sinabung

Mt. Sinabung has been inactive for about 400 years but has recently started erupting again. In fact, it has been erupting non-stop for the last few months of $100 cash advance loan. Of course, Indonesia is the land of volcanoes, and there have been some pretty massive earth changing eruptions that have occurred here. In North Sumatra, volcano-central is in the Berastagi area. Berastagi is a lovely town to visit. The climate is blissfully cool, the street food is plentiful and the markets are an overload for the senses!

Mt. Sinabung from Gundaling Berastagi

Berastagi is the vegetable capital of North Sumatra. This is where the majority of the province’s vegetables come from. This area has the perfect climate and perfect soils, thanks to the volcanoes, to grow amazing fruits and vegetables with payday loans today. And a visit to the market will likely have you in awe at the abundance and varieties available. It’s fertile land here folks, still mostly untouched by palm oil, because the climate is not ideal for palm oil, thank goodness.

The problem of course, is that people have their crops and farms right up the bases of some of the gentle-sloping volcanoes. Out of the blue a long-dormant volcano erupts, with thousands living on or near it’s base – it’s a complete tragedy. That’s what happened here.

I visited it a few days after the massive eruption at the beginning of February. The mosque is now a temporary camp for 1000 people. Walking by, there were a few people who set up little food stands, although I’m sure most people didn’t have much money or anything with them. And all around the grounds were lines upon lines of laundry. Laundry hanging everywhere. I couldn’t take a photo, it didn’t seem right. But many children came to say hi. They don’t speak Bahasa Indonesia, the ‘mountain’ people speak different dialects and we completely could not understand each other but I DID understand their word for corn and knew the children wanted some money to buy the barbecue corn.

I went to a place in the middle of Berastagi where you can get a view of the two main volcanoes in the area, both frequented by tourists for climbing. The smaller and more un-volcano shaped Mt. Sibayak, and the massive steep sloped Mt. Sinabung.

Mt. Sibayak, always smoking

The morning I was there was 3 days after the massive eruption. It was still smoking constantly from the top, back and all down the front slope. The volcano’s large tongue of lava was frozen half way down the slope, and the ash continued down the entire slope where everything in its way was wiped out. You can see that the crops on either side of the main ash deposit have been wiped out, and you can see how high up the hillsides the people once lived.

Many who died were people coming to take a look or to help those who were already affected by the previous smaller eruptions. Many folks didn’t want to leave their farms and risked staying. It was a deadly choice for some.

You can read more about this story here at: BBC photos and CNN

Some more of my photos:

These beautiful blue flowers are everywhere. you can see ash on their leaves

I have to share one food photo. Berastagi is a great food town. After dinner I ordered sweet toast with no idea what it would be. I expected two small pieces of half warm bread with something on them, but I got a whole loaf of bread! It was cut open and filled with chocolate and coconut and meticulously grilled to a proper toast texture on all 6 sides. Yum!!

My bus back to Medan, techno karaoke videos blaring, knickknacks everywhere, (including all over the windshield – safety first!) and hiphop driver. Too bad this photo doesn’t catch the stuffed animals hanging from the ceiling:

Changing gears a little bit. The Keep Sumatra Clean Campaign has come to a close and the money collected and construction is underway! This will take a while, the signs still have to be designed etc., but it will get there (nothing really moves quickly here other than deforestation… bad joke I know). The first bin-housing has started: