Blissful Relationship in the Tropics of Indonesia

Happy in the botanical garden of Yogyakarta and wearing the jeans that Pieter came home with from China.

My Mom was most amazed at how well Pieter knew my size... He told her that he had put his two hands around the waist of a Chinese sales person to check and said; that's the size!

He always could just touch his fingers by doing this around my waist...

Pieter very happy looking while standing under a ficus tree...

We both LOVED Indonesia and its friendly people, delicious food and its flora and fauna.

Probably our BEST years...!

Look at the trunk of this tree!

A Gecko that caught an insect...

Turning around the stem of the tree... trying to hide!

A sweet Mother and Child Garden Statue!

Haha, you see behind me some houseplant varieties that we ALL know; just a bit larger!

As long as it does not rain; you think you're in PARADISE!

Well, all that rain makes the plants and trees look the way they do...

Typical stone figures that are being made in the Yogyakarta, Java area.

That's what we loved to do upon arrival, rise early (is quite normal for the tropics!), breakfast and lingering at the pool and afterwards, walking in the botanical gardens...

Pieter wearing his comfy eco friendly Loints of Holland sandals.

Thanks for sharing the joy!

Bye for now...

Related links:

COME Cross the Tengger Sand Sea to Volcano Mount Bromo, Indonesia | previous post showing the eco friendly Loints sandals (Pieter's above)

True Indigo Indigofera Tinctoria in Pieter's Favorite Color | previous post by me with eco friendly Loints sandals

Our Route to Work in East Java, Indonesia

Every morning we had to drive the 40 km around the mountain to reach another mountain back where the mushroom farm was located at some 1200 m or 3937 feet. Not high enough for having the benefit of a cooler climate so they still needed some air conditioning.

East Java is a lot greener than Central Java, with lots of trees.

Hardwood trees such as mahogany and kapok trees or Ceiba Pentandra, which we also knew from México.

In August you can see the kapok hanging from the trees!

To the left in this photo, you see a Poinsettia, they grow into sturdy shrubs in the tropics.

However the landscape is paradise-like, we would arrive feeling rickety from the many bends passing through one after the other Dessa (village) for reaching our destination.

Remember, we are very close to the huge Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park and close to our hotel (see previous post below)

Seen above here is a photo that Pieter took from the road, as we stopped on our way back from work, very close to our hotel!

A waterfall is visible between two mountain ridges...

There are several waterfalls in the Bromo area!

Pieter and I are standing here near a ravine, where you can see the waterfall near the Sukapura Sub-District, called Umbulan Waterfall

The same waterfall and it is very hard to capture it from where we were standing.

No doubt you could hike near it, for a far better view!

Above photos are all taken on November 11, 1996.

We did take my youngest brother Jan and his wife Wilma there on Sunday, August 10, 1997 after lunch for a ride through the mahogany woods and for seeing this waterfall.

Next day I escorted them to Surabaya from where they flew on to Brunei and back to The Netherlands.

It makes all the difference if you work in a country and have contact with the locals for knowing special places!

Tourists often have no clue what they might be passing by...

Previous post:

Raya Bromo in East Java, Indonesia Now Whiz Capsule Hotel Grand Bromo | where my youngest brother with his wife stayed next to us

Raya Bromo in East Java, Indonesia Now Whiz Capsule Hotel Grand Bromo

 

Outside view of this beautiful hotel Raya Bromo in the Tengger Mountains near Mount Bromo...

The hotel is at some 900 m or 2953 feet altitude.

Breakfast at the Raya Bromo hotel on our first morning before going to work...

Heavenly fragrant Tuberose in a vase.

This was the name in 1996 when we stayed there.

Now it has changed into Whiz Capsule Hotel Grand Bromo, Jl. Raya Bromo, Sukapura, Probolinggo, East Java

Lots of young people that stay there for the sunrise (3:00 departure from Whiz Capsule Hotel Grand Bromo...) at Mount Bromo sleep in such an ultra modern capsule!

We always stayed in their Deluxe room with balcony...

In 1997 on August 9 when we arrived there from Central Java, at check in by 14:00, they told us that my brother Jan Van den Munckhof and his wife Wilma were in our adjacent room; they had arrived there! 

WHAT a surprise that was.

Made them coffee with bread (that we bought in Jakarta at the Hyatt Aryaduta hotel) cheese, corned beef (made from mushrooms and 20% beef!), marmelade and Dutch Evergreens that I'd purchased at Amsterdam Airport... They ate like wolves; they had been up at 3:00 for the sunrise at Mount Bromo and also to walk to the crater...

Pieter treated all of us on a Nasi Bromo for supper!

We spent the weekend together and I also did escort them with our personal driver to Surabaya where they stayed one night before departure to Brunei. 

Seen from above...

We loved to walk in their beautiful tropical garden.

This was on our 13th Wedding Anniversary and luckily that was a Sunday!

Such a beautiful area for walking...

A happy Pieter as he always loved Indonesia so much! So do I...

Pieter's two older brothers were stationed here, while in the Military and in the Marine and Pieter was not allowed to go there; not more than 2 at a time from one family!

Happily married... a blissful relationship in paradise!

A relaxed lunch together after walking the area...

Our 13th Wedding Anniversary lunch, with Tuberose again.

On our balcony...

Crocheting on a fine curtain with peacocks for a friend... 

Using the final daylight!

Before 5:00 the day starts and ends early too.

View of the mountains just before the evening...

Next day we will rise early for going up the mountains to the mushroom project.

Related links:

72 Years Later... Gevaphone Spoken Letters to Military Brother Employed Overseas 

1948 Gevaphone Record with Young Pieter Playing his Accordion for Brother in Uniform

72 Years Later... Gevaphone Spoken Letters to Marine Brother Employed Overseas | Toon Vedder was deployed in this very region of East Java...

1948 Gevaphone Record with Young Pieter Playing his Accordion for his Marine Brother

Pieter's Mom in DEEP Thoughts While Penning Letter - Followed by Disaster! | Pieter's Mom penned so many letters to Indonesia...

True Indigo Indigofera Tinctoria in Pieter's Favorite Color

 

In East Java, on May 25, 1996 I'm holding this beautiful purple flower. Pieter's favorite color and it is the True Indigo or Indigofera Tinctoria.

You can see the fruits hanging...

Hard to look up at Pieter with the strong sunshine...

Yep, I'm wearing my same eco friendly Loints of Holland sandals that I wore next day to the Volcano Mount Bromo, see link below post.

During the weekend we always loved to walk around and discover the fascinating flora and fauna of Indonesia!

Identifying this one has not been easy, but glad I found it!

Related link:

COME Cross the Tengger Sand Sea to Volcano Mount Bromo, Indonesia | wearing the very same Loints of Holland sandals

THIS is how a MANGO grows...

 

Me very happy in the garden near the office of our mushroom company in Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia.

THIS is how mangoes grow!

What a sight to hold them in your hands like that...

For husband Pieter it was a discovery as well.

Too bad it is not yet ripe or I would eat it!

By the end of November they're ripe and ready for transport to the fruit markets.

East Java has a very delicious sweet variety and while living in Indonesia we bought LOTS of them, fresh at the local market.

Have you ever seen mangoes on a tree?

MONDAYS for doing Laundry in the Stream

 When driving to work in East Java, we came across this stream where women were doing their laundry...

On Monday morning, November 4, 1996 on our way up into the mountains of East Java, Indonesia to the mushroom farm...

We spotted these women in a stream, doing their laundry!

Usually they're hitting the wet garment on a rock and kneed and rinse, whatever it takes.

A tedious procedure!

It certainly does make one aware how privileged we all are with our WASHING MACHINES!

Previous post:

The Magic Washing Machine | Those that are BELOW the WASH LINE, a few of those 5,000,000,000...

Do YOU eat with Chopsticks?

 Being in Asia, I really do feel like a fish in a bowl!

Eating with chopsticks at restaurant in Jakarta, Indonesia...

May 27, 2001 ready for going to dinner with our Indonesian boss and his wife...

Me in a long Escada outfit

Artful dessert waiting for us to finish our meal.

See the hot towels being rolled up for refreshing after the meal?

COME Cross the Tengger Sand Sea to Volcano Mount Bromo, Indonesia

COME, only 6 km (one way!) of walking through the Tengger Sand Sea...

The Sand Sea is some 10 km² in total surface!

It is an area scarred by magma from a believed stratovolcano explosion 250,000 years ago!

Mount Bromo is a stratovolcano 2,329 / 7,641 ft.

Part of Java's Ring of Fire

Our driver dropped us off near the entrance...

Both of us felt sorry for the paltry and poorly fed horses; so we walked!

Volcanic ash sands covering this ancient caldera.

We both embraced this Sunday challenge!

Feet still looking clean... but we were of course covered with volcanic ash upon completion of this trip.

Looks like you're walking on the moon...

Another of the Tengger mountains is Mount Batok, the inactive volcano and green. It is 2,440 m or 8,005 ft above sea level.

Me looking back...

Below you see the Pura Luhur Poten Hindi Temple

A tribe that still to today is bringing live offerings by throwing animals and birds into the active volcano... 😡

The walk up the 250 steps to the crater rim goes slow (yes, I counted them!). They're only wide enough for 2 people, one line going up, one coming down. But it was not crowded that Sunday.

Pieter is happy for having arrived at the top for viewing the crater...

The B from Bromo to my left is kind of faded away... But we sure got there!

It is an unreal feeling for walking along the crater's rim; on the videos below you get a better idea of that as we did not capture any photos from our act.

This was on May 26, 1996 and since then several eruptions have changed the size of this crater.

That was a nice thing for our Sunday and tomorrow back to work, high in the mountains of East Java where the mushroom farm was located.

See from above where we walked: Road to Mount Bromo, Indonesia | Epic | DJI Phantom 3 4K | HD

Bromo-Tengger-Semuru National Park, Indonesia in 4K (Ultra HD)

Most people go there by 3:00 for sunrise, we have not done that... We were not in Indonesia as a tourist!

Previous visited craters:

Mount Tankuban Perahu Crater in West Java, Indonesia

Sikidang Crater Dieng Plateau Indonesia | from where we worked 6 days a week...

As an addition in reply to some comments about our Sandals.

Those are Loints of Holland and we still have those!

Loints of Holland 

Comfort combined with supple leathers, flexible soles and springy footbeds, this ensures optimal walking comfort.

Sustainable Materials

Since 1918, Loints of Holland's highest priority ensuring footwear proces efficient and sustainable

Create happiness in everyday walks and making you aware of your personal ecological footprints on the earth...