Selling the charm and the danger of Mt. Merapi

Selling the charm and the danger of Mt. Merapi

Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Mount Merapi is spectacular to look at but hazardous at its
heart. Even when it spurts out red hot lava at night, the volcano
is mesmerizing, from whichever side you look at it, attracting
tourists from far and wide.

One day a few years back, 14 overseas tourists had an
unforgettable experience while trying to enjoy the beauty of
Mount Merapi up close. The volcano suddenly billowed hot ash.
They had to run fast to avoid the hot fumes. There were no lives
lost but the terrified tourists left their belongings behind in
the forest two kilometers from the top of the mountain.

That was the worst experience Christian Awuy, 55, has ever had
as a tourist guide on the volcano.

"I thanked God that everyone escaped safely. If we had been
there just five minutes later, there would have been no knowing
what would have happened," he said.

The next day, Christian, also a member of Yogyakarta's Search
and Rescue (SAR) team, returned to the location. He expressed
gratitude to God when he saw what had happened to the tourists'
belongings. Items such as camera tripods were found lying under a
pile of hot ash. The foreign tourists, most of whom were
journalists, returned to the site along with Christian. They were
speechless at the thought of the extraordinary incident they had
been so fortunate to escape.

One of the world's most active volcanoes, Mt. Merapi's
behavior is irregular. That's why Christian always contacts the
Merapi Observation Station in Kaliurang every time he takes
tourists up the mountain. His long association with the staff at
the station has led to a high level of mutual trust.

A Manadonese, Christian first settled in Kaliurang in 1978
after abandoning his job as a sailor. Here he runs Voegel Hotel
with his wife, Masako Tanaka. Used to an adventurous life as a
sailor, Christian quickly became accustomed to Merapi and its
terrain and became a member of the province's SAR team, helping
those in trouble on the volcano.

As a hotel owner and SAR team member, many of his guests ask
him to take them up Merapi. Christian is only too happy to
comply, as he knows the mountain very well, having climbed to its
summit hundreds of times.

Inspired by these regular requests, he introduced the Merapi
tour package in 1984. With this, Christian seized the opportunity
to expand his business and today Voegel is considered one of the
few well-managed Merapi tour companies.

He has six Merapi tour packages on offer: Merapi Daily Lava
Tour, Merapi Daily Lava and Villages Tour, Merapi Off-the-Beaten-
Track Tour, Merapi Birdwatching Tour, Fascinating Overnight on
Merapi and Merapi Super Trekking Tour.

Merapi Daily Lava Tour is a five-hour tour package to Merapi
where participants are able to view the red-hot lava. The group
start from Voegel Hotel at 3:30 a.m. and walk past villages
dotted along the slopes of the mountain.

Before reaching the top, tourists are given something to eat
in one of the cottages he has built at the slope of Kali Kuning.
This package costs Rp 40,000 and includes a meal and a guide.

The second package, Merapi Daily Lava and Villages Tour, takes
about 10 hours. The first five hours is spent in the same way as
the Merapi Daily Lava Tour. The next five hours are spent walking
through the villages that hug the volcano's slopes. This package
costs Rp 75,000 per person.

If you want to do a bit of bird-watching on Merapi, there is a
special package called Merapi Bird Watching Tour at Rp 40,000 per
person. It lasts for five hours. Reaching the viewing sites and
the return trek takes an hour each way, the bird watching itself
lasts about three hours.

Exploring Merapi's slopes is possible if you take the Merapi
Off-the-Beaten-Track Tour, where you are taken to nearby villages
at the slope of the mountain and have breakfast at Turgo village,
some six kilometers from the volcano summit, before returning to
the hotel.

Tourists wanting to experience what it is like at the top of
the volcano at night can take the Fascinating Overnight package.
This package is more expensive at Rp 100,000, but includes an
evening meal.

The last package, Merapi Super Trekking Tour, which costs Rp
100,000, takes tourists on a trek across the slopes of Merapi up
to Deles village in Klaten, where they spend the night at the
homes of villagers.

The most popular package is the Merapi Daily Lava Tour. "Every
month there are about 300 tourists taking this package," he said,
adding that he had taken some 120,000 tourists to Merapi since he
began this business back in 1984. These six tour packages have
now found their way into the Lonely Planet title Southeast Asia
on a Shoestring, a must-read guide for foreign tourists traveling
in Southeast Asia.

Christian said that foreign tourists were mainly drawn to the
area wishing to see some sort of volcanic activity.

"Mount Merapi attracts foreign tourists because of its
frequent volcanic activity. The problem is how to allow them to
get close enough to have a fantastic experience, while at the
same time ensuring their safety."