JOGJA_Taman Nasional Gunung Merapi

 A trip up to this marvelous active stratovolcano Mount Merapi was a tiring yet a worthwhile adventure. It has an elevation of 2,930m (9,613 ft) above sea level with an average temperature of about 10° C and is located on the border between Central Java and Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Mount Merapi or Gunung Merapi (literally meaning Fire Mountain in Indonesian/Javanese). The name Merapi could be loosely translated as 'Mountain of Fire'. Did you know the etymology of the name came from Meru-Api; from the Javanese combined words; Meru means "mountain" refers to mythical mountain of Gods in Hinduism, and api means "fire". Isn’t that interesting!

Mount Merapi is the most active volcano of at least 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. Its recent eruption was on October 26st 2010 killing more than 100 people. Thankfully, my family and I had the opportunity to climb this mountain before the unfortunate eruption.

The view from the mountain relaxes one’s mind, there are people selling snacks and drinks at the beginning of the adventure but beware of the adorable yet mischievous monkeys! The climbing distance of about 800 meters, you will find an ancient Japanese Cave from World War II where the Dutch army had previously used this cave as their residence.

After the exhausting hike, my family and I rested at Kaliurang Recreation Park. There’s a train for a reasonable price that would take us around the area and back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Kaliurang Recreation Park we tried the well-known region-specific food made from glutinous rice with steamed grated coconut (Jadah) accompanied with sweet marinated Tempe (a traditional soy product originally from Indonesia. It is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form, similar to a very firm vegetarian burger patty) called “Jadah Tempe.” It is more delicious when accompanied with Cayenne pepper. If you don’t like the Tempe, don’t worry! You may try the sweet marinated tofu!

Jadah Tempe's most famous pieces are made by Mbah Carik whose real name is Mbah Sastro Dinomo. She was the first to introduce these foods in the 1950s in the village of Kaliurang. 

Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX (the first Governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, the ninth Sultan of Yogyakarta and the second Vice President of Indonesia during the rule of Suharto) fell in love with the food and since then he began to frequently send his servant to buy Tempeh Jadah at that place which he called Mbah Carik.

The down side of it is Jadah Tempe could not last long; it should be eaten the same day when purchased. 
But never mind, besides it being so tasty, it is also relatively cheap; for 10 Jadah and 10 Tempe the price is around Rp.10,000.