Dieng Plateau, Indonesia (HDR)

Dieng means "above the gods"

 

I would like to start by saying that I almost missed that...

I got up at 3 am to start the 7 km hike and arrive before sunrise. It was totally cloudy when I left but I decided to go anyway. After 5 km in total darkness, only using my mobile phone flashlight as a guide, it started to rain, I stopped and hesitated for 10 minutes if I should keep going or not. I almost gave up but finally decided to do it anyway. It is only a few steps further that I saw the horizon brighten up with a huge contrast against the dark and cloudy night.

I had to finish the last 2 km running (because of my 10 minutes pause that was not planned)

This was actually one of the most beautiful scene of my entire 6 months expedition in South East Asia!

Sometimes HDR can be a little too saturated in color, but I kept looking at the original shot to keep it as natural as possible.

You can see 5 volcanoes on this panorama, from left to right: Gunung Ungaran (under the sun), Merbabu and Merapi (at the horizon 60 km away), Sindoro (the closest one) and Sumbing (extreme right just poping his head).

 

The Dieng Plateau is a caldera complex formed by the eruption of ancient Mountain Prau. The caldera was once filled up water and then dried up, but volcanic activity continues to this day, with sulphuric fumes and poisonous lakes. Located at an altitude of 2000m, it's also much cooler than the surrounding lowlands.

Done