A MUST AT DOMAS

DOMAS IS GOLD

There's a French proverb which says, 'Don't dance on a volcano'. It means beware of someone who has nothing to lose. I was not only dancing on Kawah Domas but frolicking my first experience stepping on a crater of gold, where Kawah Domas had derived its name. Kawah Domas had not threatened me in anyway and I was free to reward myself with Domas' gifts from nature after the hike.

Domas means gold. I think the yellow sulphurous colour of the pool and the sulphur discharge could have given the golden look of the crater. The pools as well as the sulphur discharge glisten and look more golden when sunlight skips and glides on the water surface.

Kawah Domas which fans out to about 5-6 hectare may not look like the crater you have seen in your geography books. I had envisioned the crater to be how my uncle would mix his sand and cement mixture together. Whenever Uncle Jalil had to plaster some bricks walls for my grandmother's house, he would mix the right proportion of sand and cement together before making a half metre mound of the mixture with his changkul(hoe). A perfect depression is made at the top of the peak where some water would be poured. That shaped looked like a volcano with its vent forcing out the magma and lava collecting on the crater mouth. That was my mental model of a perfect crater. But Kawah Domas tore away that image from my mind.

What finally unfolded in front of me was a crater with different angles of inclination and denseness of rocks surrounding the fringe of the crater. I saw instead, slopes of white and grey rocks where some sides had flattened. slumped and collapsed. Some parts looked like they had been 'scooped' out and the materials dumped on the higher elevation of the slopes.

The crater floor itself boasted of bubbling pools of mud, geysers, boiling hot water, gases and steam rising in the air. The smell of the sulphur was tolerable that day. I didn't need to whip out my handkerchief and end up looking like a desert bandit. Instead I was busy taking pictures of the crater and listening to the hissing sulphur vapour which kept coming out from the cracks of the rocks. Needless to say, I had to be a 'Jumping Jane' in trying to avoid getting my legs submerged and scalded in hot boiling pool of water.

Pak Rizki lit up a cigarette. I was just about to tell him that I am not a nicotine substance abuser when he showed me an experiment that took me off my feet. He puffed out the smoke of the cigarette near the sulphur emitting rocks. The chemical reaction resulted in more sulphurous smoke in the air. I let out a 'Wow' and tried to produce the same effect by nearing the stick to the rocks.

A guide rushed away with a basket of eggs to be boiled in the hot boiling water. Temperature of the water can reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit on cold days but stabilises at 95 degrees Fahrenheit on hot days. The locals swear that eating the hard-boiled eggs can lower your cholesterol level.

My mentor picked up some igneous rocks and explained to us their uses. Andesite rocks which are made into bracelets and necklaces can lower cholesterol level, clear eczema and get rid of skin allergy. Andesite wearers who have medical problems feel warm with direct contact of the stone. Animals will run away if you have a piece of basalt in your pocket. I questioned the logic here but waas not in the mood for a debate with my guide. Batu apung or pumice stone can leave your heels smooth.

The most relaxing moment and a must at the crater was having our legs massaged in mud by the guides. The tired feet too deserved a soak in the hot mud pool. The water feels cool when you do not move your legs but if you walk in the pool the, the raised temperature of the water could cause some discomfort. Diabetic patients ought to be more careful of this.

The mud has an exfoliation effect on your skin and is good for those suffering from eczema. The locals have mud bath and face masks to improve their health and skin smoothness. Bottles of mud are sold to tourists. The sulphur laden water can improve your blood circulation and get rid of the click-clack joint sounds you have to bear because of arthritis.

Reluctantly, I pulled my legs out from the pool and headed back to the carpark. My Kawah Domas hike had been wonderful though I still mourn for my white rabbit fur tissue box, bag and muffler. Can anyone buy me those if you are going to Kawah Domas on your next holiday destination? You would truly make me feel elated and estatic and I will show you may gratitude till eternity.

KAWAH DOMAS HIKE - Pit Stops 21-25

FAUNA, FLORA AND MORE

Pit Stops 21-25

We have finally reached the final leg of the pit stops. Nature had offered us views and things to marvel at. We need to comprehend them for nature does nothing uselessly. Tangkuban Prahu had awed those with souls, reminded us of our smallness and brief stay on earth. Now Kawah Domas would not hide herself when we reached it. The goal of our hike is living in agreement with nature and having no conflict with Big Mother.

Pit Stop 21: Stumped for Words



A pair of hands clasped in prayers emerged from the base of the trunk

Faces in agony on the fallen trunk

An octopus with its tentacles.

My husband saw a toad with its stretched out hind legs.

Your imagination determines the image you see

Have you wondered how nature has her own ways in sculpturing the many elements found around us? Nature is a great sculptor with a pair of deft and nimble hands. She moulds objects which are beautiful and aesthetically pleasing from ordinary things.

Tree stumps, uprooted buttress roots, termite eaten trunks and lightning struck branches transform into animals, human and objects.What result from the works of nature did I see? I saw an octopus with spread tentacles. There was a toad stretching its hind legs. A face carved from a tree stump. A hand clasped in prayers emerged from a recessed trunk. I was stumped for words!

Pit Stop 22: Keep Clean, Go Green

Bins for your waste disposal

Tourists exercise high social responsibility in keeping the area free of litter. Not much unwanted waste was seen in the area. Dustbins made from recycled plastic drums and bamboo baskets placed randomly contained mainly empty aqua bottles.

Workers come two days once to keep the place clean and clear the dustbins, said Pak Daha.

Pit Stop 23: Creedance Clear Water Revival

Small rivers that end up as big rivers

The path of the river is not smooth

Clear and sparkling water seen in the river

Rocky river bed indeed!

It’s crystal clear. It’s the 3R. Revitalising, Reinvigorating, Reviving. The water flows swiftly on the river bed of hard lava flow, eroding and contouring the bed artistically. At the upper course, the rocks of different resistant showed vertical erosion being more aggressive than lateral erosion.

The river leaps, falls, splashes, crashes and snakes its way downstream. It gurgles and giggles when it flows on smooth surfaces but groans and moans when it forces its way against boulders and rocky surfaces. I could hear the river crash from a waterfall but was unable to see one because of the undulating terrain and the thick vegetation.

Pit Stop 24: Feel The Tremors

What is this Pak Didi?

The seismic monitoring device embedded in the ground

Over 300 of them are found around the region

I was perplexed when I saw several of them along the hike. They were square cement slabs with a round metal rod in the centre planted in the ground. I signalled for Pak Riziki to stop and explain to me what they were.

I discovered that there were over 3o0 of such cement slabs around the mountain area. Why so many and what are they for? They are actually seismic monitoring detectting reading equipment. Like a seismograph. Any unusual movement in the ground is detected by the equipment and it sends the seismic activity data to the earthquake and volcano office for further analysis and interpretation.

Living around a temperamental vicinity is fragile and dangerous. One needs to be brave to leave behind what one has built and lived for. The collated data can prewarn the locals of any impending disasters; saving lives and properties.

But, unless you and your family have lived around a volcanic area for generation after generation, you would never know why it is difficult for the locals to tear themselves and flee even warnings after warnings have been given.

Pit Stop 25: Kawah Domas Entry Point

Going downhill. We are almost there to the kawah.

A few more steps...and then I can have my leg mud massage

Mud in bottles being sold. Good for your complexion too!

500m and not 500 miles to Kawah Domas

Kawah Domas with her boiling pools behind us

We finally reached the Domas crater entry point after an hour. It would be a short walk down before the crater and all its beauty lay before our eyes. The hike had been very enriching for me. I got to know a lot of things from the three Orang Hutan who had added value to my hike by packing it with informative explanation on the flora, fauna and anything else you can find in the forest.

The climax of the hike would be to finally step foot at the Domas Crater and witness first hand the shooting geysers, rising sulphur vapour, hot steam floating and bubbling mud pools that have drawn

tourists from all over the world.

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Next entry will be a slide show of our Kawah Domas Experience....

KAWAH DOMAS HIKE - Pit Stops 15-20

FAUNA, FLORA AND MORE






Pit Stops 15-20

Our hike was a series of steps. Once a while we took a giant leap but most of the time we took small, seemingly insignificant steps to reach Kawah Domas. These small steps completed our final destination which ended with a leap of joy when we saw Kawah Domas in front of us.


Pit Stop 15: Green Moss, Grey Lichens



Mosses cap the rocky sides of the hill

Mosses retain moisture and slow down the rate of erosion

It was damp and cool here

We will conquer Kawah Domas soon

Thick furry moss covering a piece of rock

The black forest slowly disappeared from the landscape. Trees of different species emerged. The air became dank, damp and moist. Black had changed to green. We were surrounded by greenery. Not grasses but lush thick healthy mosses as far as the eyes could see.

Both mosses and lichens are small organisms and are often overlooked. They do not scream for your attention and demand no care at all. But the mosses and lichens found here are totally the opposite. I could not ignore them but to acknowledge their presence and their contributions to the ecosystem in the forest. They ruled the part of the forest as your distance to the crater below shortened.

The lichens in yellow, grey and orange colonise the trunks of many trees here. The mosses are found everywhere. They cap rocks, emerge in crevices, drape hill slopes and survive on decomposed wood. They slow down the rate of erosion, retain water and provide food to numerous animal and insects.

I would roll myself on the ground if the moss had totally populate it. I guess it would be as close to sleeping on water bed, at least for me.

Pit Stop 16: Wild Rambutan

You would be excused for mistaking this as an edible rambutan

The wild rambutan partly eaten by a black monkey


Pak Daha picked up a rambutan from the ground. Great I thought. I could quench my thirst. I was hallucinating the rambutan white juicy and fleshy pulp sliding down my dry throat.

To a forest simpleton like me, the rambutan on the guide's opened palm looked like the ordinary rambutans being sold at our fruit stalls or supermarkets. It is hairy, oval in shaped and green in colour. The similarities ended there except for its smaller size.

The one that Pak Daha had shown me was actually a wild rambutan. Thank goodness I was not glutton enough to pop the fruit into my mouth immediately. Its kidney-shaped flesh is hard, yellow ochre in colour and resembled a chestnut. It is inedible but is food to the black monkeys of the forest in the region.


Pit Stop 17: The Harendong Tree



The Harendong Tree smothering the ground with its purple flowers


Getting a better view of the tree

Roots fought for space on the ground

This is another evergreen shrub which can grow to a 4m tree with oblong-elliptic hairy leaves on its underside. It bears dense purplish flowers in bunches or solitary. The pollinated flowers grow into berries with many seeds. The pulp is sweet once the fruit is riped but otherwise astringent when green.

I know the harendong tree as the kemunting shrub. They were easily found behind my kampung house at 1 Jalan Buntu where springs, butterflies and grasshoppers entertained me fully as a free child with childhood. I had to compete with the birds for the sweet, edible fruit once they turned purplish and maroonish in colour. The harendong juicy fruits were the blue berries for the 60's child like me.

The Orang Hutan in the region believe that the fruits is a cure for dysentery and diarrhoea. The roots and leaves are boiled and drunk for diarrhoea and stomachache. The crushed leaves have another medicinal value. They can be used to treat and dress wounds.

When we were below the Harendong tree, it rained purple (the colour assosciated with royalty)because the wind was blowing the petals off their petiole. The lightly coloured purple flowers carpeted the ground while some landed on my head. I wish to believe that it was treating us like a royalty. Do you know that purple is one of my favourite colours besides orange?

Pit Stop 18: Dragon Vine Divine

Dragon Vine leaves have medicinal values



Boil the roots for your cuppa of tea


What dragon has no wings, claws, a tail and can't fly? Its Dragon Vine! This forest vegetation has served the locals well too. It grows low on the ground and creeps like vine for support. The roots of the Dragon Vine act as a pain reliever. You don't chew the roots but boil them with some water to get the most out of its medicinal properties.

Run out of tea leaves at home? Just pluck some of the leaves and boil together with the roots to make your cuppa. Caffeine free!


Pit Stop 19: Bamboo Taboo



The angklung made from bamboo

The 3R water I tried

It so clear that I can see my own reflection

A bamboo bridge to increase communication


The bamboo trees grow in clumps and their tall slender stems move gracefully as the breeze blow against them. The leaves rustles and hummed sweet music in the air. The heavy rain in the previous night had uprooted some bamboo plants in the forest area. Since this is a protected place, no locals can remove anything, be it fauna or flora from here. Otherwise, the bamboo tree has a lot of economic and cultural values to the Indonesians.

The bamboo stems are used as building materials, bridges, piping system, rafts and kitchen utensils. Hunters store water in the hollow stems. The angklung, an Indonesian traditional wind musical instrument is also made from bamboo.

We saw many uses of the bamboo during the trail. For bridges, rain shelters and piping system to drain crystal clean water from the gushing river. I also learnt from my guide that bamboo plant belongs to the grass family.

Stopping beside a bridge, we cupped our hands to drink from the river water that flows from the bamboo pipe. My verdict? The water was super clean, cold and revitalising in taste.

By the way, the bamboo is linked closely to black magic and things of supernatural in many Asian countries.

Pit Stop 20: Black Monkeys

Can you spot the black primate atop the tree?

You're on candid camera!

The playful yet shy black monkey

They caught our attention because of the movement and calls above us. A pair of black monkeys were teasing each other and turning the foliage and branches into their playground. Using their long tail, they curled themselves upside down from a branch to swing and balance themselves midair. They are shy creatures. Once they felt our presence, they scampered to greater height and hid behind a screen of green leaves.

It was a delight to observe these official residents of the animal kingdom here. The whole forest is theirs and the humans can't get any closer to them.

KAWAH DOMAS HIKE - Pit Stops 7-14

FAUNA, FLORA AND MORE

Pit Stops 7-14

The will to persevere is often the difference between failure and success. With that in mind, we continued the hike with more pit stops and more exploration on the fauna, flora and new discoveries

Pit Stop 7: Crazy Over Columns

These remind me of Batman's Gotham Dark City

The coarse-grained rocks are brittle and crumble easily

Disintegration of the rocky structure

Columns, towers and pillars annihilated by precipitation

A mass of rocky columns and towers were standing upright at attention close together beside the hill slope. You might miss them if you take big strides because they were not of any significant height. But I noticed them because it was the first time I had seen such rocky structure. Also, they reminded me of Gotham City - gloomy, black and dark. The columns were of similar width and height and some had mosses growing on their surface. The rock-capped mosses act as a cover against the falling rain but once the moss is gone, the rock surrenders to the erosive power of precipitation.

I bent down to touch the upright rocky structure. They have a rough sandy and coarse-grained texture and are dark grey in colour. They are not compact and porous looking. Those that had disintegrated and settled on the ground crumbled easily when I applied a light pressure to press them. Even the standing pillars are brittle and can collapse to the slightest touch. Certain parts of the columns have almost been flattened due to the rain fall and reduced like broken Thye Hong's cream cracker flaky biscuit.. They are whitish grey in colour with some yellowish tint.

Since they stand in a vertical manner on a bed of clay, I suspect the falling rain water has a part in their formation. Rainwater, which contains a weak carbonic acid reacts with the rock, just like in a limestone or karst area. But because of the heavy rainfall the place receives, the constant hammering of the rain on the rock surface has dissolved the softer materials along any vertical lines of weaknesses, leaving the sturdier rocks to stand longer.


Pit Stop 8: Prey and Predator

The 146-year old tree hollowed out by termites

The carved out portion can easily fit an adult

We strike ala-Hindi love songs pose at the tree

Fear factor gone once I know there's ample space in the depression

Peek-a-boo....But dont' leave me here...booh..booh...

Pak Rizki hurried his steps and proudly showed us a strange-looking 146 years old Jambu Alas tree which had been hollowed out. The cavity which can fit my 1.55m and 56kg frame easily was a sight to behold. Even my husband who is 1.7m tall and 68kg heavy can fit snugly into it. But I don't think I want to encase him inside permanently. I asked my mentor what long history the tree had had.

According to Pak Rizki, termites had devoured the tree and left it in that present state. They had carved 2m of the trunk hollow and spherical in shape. However, before anymore damage to the tree could be done, the burung pelatuk or the woodpecker had a feast on the termites with an appetite impossible to stop. Natural predators had gotten rid of the ferocious and voracious wood chompers. The tree was saved and is now a must stop-over for any guide to point it out to their charge.

Pit Stop 9: Too Tough To Quit

The steps get steeper. Watch out for your arthritis!

No problem man! Singaporeans Boleh

The path gets easier as we near the crater. Trees get less dark in colour too.


Take five to just soak in what Mother Nature has blessed us with

The background fitting for a Lord of The Ring sequel?

The going was getting tougher with the slope getting slippery and steeper. It slowed down our pace. Even the terraced steps had lost its wooded trunk edge leaving the bare ground as naked steps. We had to be supported by our guide as we descended further down the trail as the ground offered little friction for safe walking. The vegetation got denser and little light penetrated the canopy. The air in the ground was heavy but fresh.

We took the occasional rest to sip our water and exchanged conversation on our family. i was more determined to surge forward and continued with the hike. I know there would be huge rewards for us once we reach Kawah Domas - a crater alive with geysers, mud massage, hissing steam and vents spewing yellow sulphuric gas. A truly astounding sight I was promised!

Pit Stop 10: Munching Manarasa and Putat

The pinkish reddish shoots of the Manarasa and putat shoot

The rare purplish putat shoot for stomach ailment

The manarasa shrub fringing the trail path

Manarasa is a tree with red shoots commonly found in the crater region. It grows as a shrub but can reach a tall height of 15m. By chewing the young reddish shoots, the local belief in keeping one young and svelte. No Botox, no bird nest and no collagen for that youthful looking face. Could that be reason for Dayang Sumbi to remain young and ageless through organic products? The local community have a use for these manarasa shoots. Any diarrhea and stomach discomfort? Just chew on these shoots, swear the locals. Other medicinal properties of manarasa include improving blood circulation and relieving arthritis.

I tried a few bunches of Manarasa leaves and found them crunchy and crispy. No bitter or sour taste at all. I could swallow it easily for it tasted like guava-cum apple. My husband in jest said that I looked twenty years ago. Pak Daha showed some purple putat shoots which I immediately chewed. Very palatable and would go very well with 'botok-botok' (a Malay traditional dish with lots of herbs). I was hoping that the purple leaves would remove another ten years of my age. But alas, the leaves are meant to alleviate any stomach pain and not to be mistaken as leaves for elixir.

Pit Stop 11: Won Over By Sariwangi

Flaring my nostrils to sniff the lemo bark oil


Hubby holding the bark of the sariwangi tree

We had a close fragrance encounter with the Lemo Tree or locally known as Sariwangi. Pak Didi showed us a lemo bark and scraped part of it. Immediately the air was filled with a strong citrus smell; very refreshing, revitalising and rejuvenating to the soul. The bark had given out that intoxicated smell similar to that of the kafir lime. Needless to say, I was high with the zesty smell.

The oil of the bark can be extracted and applied as as mosquito repellent. The drier the bark, the stronger the fragrance of the sariwangi will be. The locals also boil the oil with other herbs to produce it as massage oil.

Pit stop 12: Gingerly Ginger

Holding the wild ginger plant

Notice the lava slabs on the ground?

Tuber of the ginger plant

The plant can easily reach 3m in the wild

Another plant with medicinal properties we came across was the wild ginger. This rhizome family grows easily in the moist climate and can reach a height of three metres. The ginger is bruised or smashed to obtain the juice. The juice is mixed with warm water and drunk to alleviate any stomach pain.

Since it is of the wild variety, it does not end up in the cooking pot of the locals for culinary use.


Pit Stop 13: My Dear Puspa

My Dear Puspa standing behind me

Puspa or jasmine (melati) is an evergreen flowering tree

The sweet-fragrance white flowers for the making of perfume

Pohon Puspa is an evergreen flowering tree that can tower up to 47 m. Its sweet frgrance white flowers are most sought after for making perfume. The flowers are small and grow in bunches. The trunk is used as building materials, electric poles and for making boats. Puspa flowers are harvested from March to June and September to January.

Puspa flowers are also known as melati or jasmine. Some local women tuck the sweet-smelling flowers in their bun as natural perfume.

Pit Stop 14: The Parkis Plant

Parkis plant (centre of picture) thrives best in the cool temperate climate

The fetal-shaped shoot is used in Indonesian lontong gravy

Ferns of different species grow in harmony. Why can't we?

A fern landscape for my garden one day?

They are simply known as fern and are found in abundance. They reproduce easily from the spores under the frond. The cool air and moisture support its growth well. Many grow as ground cover while others latch themselves on hosts as parasitic plants

According to Pak Daha, there are twelve parkis species found in the area. Only two are edible as vegetable cooking for the locals. Not all parts of the plant is eaten. Only the curled up fetal-shaped shoot is plucked off to be cooked as lontong gravy or fried as vegetables. I had a taste of the parkis shoot when my cousin in Jakarta seerved me lontong. The parkis shot is soft, tender and slide down your throat easily. Not bitter at all. I love it!

A matured parkis plant can grow to a height of 3-4m. The trunk is cut and carved into ash tray and vases by the locals to be sold to tourists.

Akan datang....the final pit stops would be coming soon....