- 4:21 am
- 6:17 am
- 3:32 am
- 12:50 am (yes, basically just past midnight)
It is not just the places I have been visiting that are so early. The first morning, I actually awoke a few minutes before the alarm, not all that uncommon for me, with the sound of morning prayers at the mosque a few doors down from my hotel.
It recalled one of our first weeks on the road, sleeping on top of a hotel outside Petra, Jordan. The set up was kind of incredible, a bed on top of the hotel that looked out across the city towards the slot canyon that leads to the temples. The vista revealed about a dozen mosques, standing tall and proud in the spectacular setting. There, we were also awoken by calls to prayer very early in the morning, as the sun rose over the canyon walls. Back here in Java, instead of the powerful sun as the accompaniment to prayers I awoke with weak raindrops - different but in the same family of relaxing.
In order to cover the ground these last couple of days I have taken a couple tours, which is not my favorite way of traveling. But, it was the only way I could imagine getting to Borobudur buddhist temple to see the new daylight rising with the mist across this ancient temple. And the only way to hike to the Bromo volcano in Eastern Java to see the sun rise with the smoldering volcano. And certainly the only way to hike into the Irjen volcanic crater to see the blue flame/lava contrast powerfully the night darkness.
Borobudur
This temple was re-found a handful of decades ago, having languished empty and unused for hundreds of centuries. The jungle had retaken its divine right and it took a monumental effort to clear the temple and restore it to significant glory. The glory is immense, with multiple layers depicting the path towards enlightenment. There are hundreds and hundreds of reliefs dating from the 8th century, which are captivating to wander amongst. Even though it was rough to get up to get here so early, I appreciated the effort when an hour or so after arriving I looked out on the entrance pathway and saw hundreds of people streaming towards the main temple.
Bromo
Sunrise and sunset register differently, the former grounds the mind in the fundamental relationship between earth and the sun. We turn to, and await, the grand Marshall of our solar system. With the former, that perception is mistakenly inverted. The sun is leaving our little slice of the world, where we remain even after the last rays of light have departed.
I thought about this while hiking along a massive crater, one that is so large that it holds three standalone craters or caldrons within its massive escarpment. The daylight is creeping in, but I am still a little lost and confused. I know there is a volcano out here somewhere, one that is literally smoking. But it takes a few moments to get my bearings. I turn off my headlamp and take some deep breadths up at 2100 meters of elevation. There it is, the smoke rising and giving me a beacon. Making my way up to the rim, I head for a perch to watch the sun rise with deep peace and appreciation for the hard work of hiking to this point and figuring it out.
Injen
While the sunrise yesterday got me thinking about the cosmos, this volcano had me contemplating the terrestrial. Watching sulphur gas originating deep in the earth liquify powerfully as blue lave/fire in a volcano will do that. I had never been this close, less than 20 feet, from a direct conduit to the complex and dynamic tectonic process that is taking place beneath us. It was mesmerizing.
The wonders of the last several days have been manmade and natural. And they have been amazing, awe inspiring. Now though I am quite tired, at a sleep deficit for sure. Beyond just a straight math of sleep forgone, I also find myself slightly disoriented with weird bouts of hunger or lack thereof. My body is kind of confused and I am looking forward to getting it some rest, getting back on normal biorhythms and a less hectic pace. 
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