Dieng Plateau (Java Tour 1)

We were welcomed at the airport by our tour guide and driver. Since the journey to the Wosonobo hotel from Seramang took quite a long time due to traffic, there was no official program scheduled for this day.

Already on the way to the hotel, we saw rice terraces and tobacco plantations along the road, which inspired us to take a spontaneous photo stop.

The next morning, we headed to the Dieng Plateau, the 'Mountain of the Gods'.

Viewing point before the Dieng Plateau

There we visited several small Hindu temples from the 8th century AD. This Arjuna temple complex is known despite its few decorations because it contains the oldest Hindu temples in Java.

On a large square, we saw the remains of festive decorations for Independence Day on August 17th.

Next to it, a 'dove pole' was set up, a structure consisting of four poles connected by ribbons. Some men were practicing for a pigeon competition: the pigeon owner stands in the square holding a female pigeon in his hand. An assistant releases a male pigeon at a distance, whose task is to fly to the owner and the female pigeon. Then the male pigeons perch on the females and peck at them.

Practice area for the 'pigeon competition'

After the cultural part, we went into the crater of an extinct volcano (Sikidang Crater), where sulfur hydrogen still reaches the surface through holes in the ground.

We saw hot, bubbling lakes from which hot steam rose.

This is manifested in a smell that resembles rotten eggs. Now we also knew why mouth masks were offered for sale at the entrance...

Along the way, many stalls were set up, but most of them were closed during the week. As a typical regional souvenir bought by local tourists, Caricas products (small papayas) were offered. We tried some Caricas chips.

After another temple stop, we went on a 'Light Trekking' as described by our tour guide and walked a short distance to a viewpoint from which we had a beautiful view of an emerald green volcanic lake and a natural lake.

From the plateau, we descended through rice terraces.

On the way, we briefly stopped at a tea plantation to see the plants and learn how to harvest tea.

Tea plantation

The next stop was made at a coffee plantation, because before we could hardly imagine that coffee blossoms smell like jasmine. Now we can attest that they emit an intense fragrance.

Coffee plant