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....
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