Mt Merapi - the volcano

This was our first look at Mount Merapi - you can vaguely see her peaking out behind the clouds in the distance (top left). She is just about to erupt - so the volcanologists say and we are sent down just in case.

As soon as we landed we got in the minibus and headed up for a closer look to do a live as soon as possible. Its hard to tell how far away you are because she is 2000m tall and rises out of nothing so its hard to judge. I have some GPS co-ordinates though and will plot them so I can see how close to the crater we did get.

When we arrived at the airport there was an guy offering helicopter rides around the volcano. The next day we met him at 4.30am and drove for an hour out of town to the helicopter - which turned out to be a working Police one. Obviously a few backhanders were flying but when in need! The pictures we got were amazing as it was a beautiful morning.

At the top you can see the ‘dome’ - black and looks like a muffin top. This was growing at some huge amount every day - 500,000 meters cubed and the volcanologists were worried that it would break and spill down the mountain sides.

A closer view..

Whilst taking in this stunning view, we did get round to doing some work as well.

After our aerial viewing, we drove back and went to the closest observation post manned 24 hours a day 365 days a year by volcanologists.

It may look like we had an easy time of it but the days were very long - up at the crack of dawn to get lava shots. Where we waited…

And waited and generally just got covered in ash.. You could see lava flows coming down the mountain but they were quite tiny and not very dramatic. Later we found out those ‘little’ flows had gone 3km from the summit!

Then to see families who were still living under the shadow - less that 5 miles away who still tended to their crops and animals. Here is one family sorting out their corn - ready to sell at market.

As they have lived with this they seemed unfased by it all and hoped that they could get out fast enough if something did happen.

There were those who had moved to temporary camps - tented villages where they were well looked after. Usually in school grounds.

Every now and again Merapi would show signs of activity by blowing out ‘woolly sheep’ - hot clouds of gas that travelled up to ten miles from the crater. The real name for these are the pyroclastic flow which travel at up to 150mph and temeratures can reach between 200C to 700C inside.

On the first day when we set up for the live, we were very lucky to meet Budhi who then spent the rest of the week acting as our translator and fixer.

Here he is during some down time - watching the volcano.

There is an early warning system used to alert people to subsurface activity. Basically you tune a radio receiver into a specific frequency - when all is clear a constant tone is heard, whenever there is activity it warbles - the more the activity the more it warbles. As the mountain spent much of the time in cloud it was very useful.

Every day more people came down to the camps which involved travelling in the back of a truck - packed in like cattle.

Young and old, fat and thin alike.

The day we went up in the helicopter was definately the best. Soon after day break every other day you could hardly see the volcano for mist cloud and rain - which did make it rather challangeng to shoot. We did manage though. Even co-ordinating a live with a break in the clouds.

One day we found another watch tower on the west side of the volcano with a great volcanologist who would actually talk to us and let us know what was going on. Many of the others…. no comment! Pah. It was a good climb up and down.

But the view was terrific.

Stunning views of Mount Merapi just after dawn.

Having been in Yogyakarta for a week and Merapi’s activity calming down we get a clear from London and plan to head home the next day tired and weary after a week of 18 hour days. We settle down for a farewell dinner - ‘Gotta go to Pakistan straight away.’ Best laid plans and all that malarki.

The Ritz Carlton

I must say that I have been in – if not stayed at – some fantastic hotels but the Ritz Carlton in Singapore does take some beating. This is the view from the bath. Not bathroom bath…

And the view from the main bedroom…

We had a wonderful meal though I was too tired to really enjoy it and went back to bed early. The flight home was full of mixed emotions from Banda Aceh with the movies making me tearful.

It was a very good feeling to be going home to the family.

Leaving

Ian and Martin had the best trip to the airport when their car got a flat.

We actually travelled back to Singapore with more baggage than Kathy – about 26 bags and 250 kgs.

After our leaving meal the night before poor old Mark got a bad ear and was treated by nurse Richie.

TLC

There are lots of TLC’s here and I just love them – next time I import a car I know where it will be coming from.

(TLC = Toyota Land Cruiser)

Just to show that we did walk around in scum here are my boots after a mornings work tramping around the city and debris.

With the end in sight we started to get adventurous and seeking out the fun places – the beer – with no alcohol wasn’t nice but everyone still seemed to engrave their names on the tables though – in couples and same sex - oops.

The sunsets have been wonderful though.

The Team

Here we have the team – from left to right back to front on Mehall’s departure.

Mehall – camera (Sorry sic), Richie – camera, Martin – ex commando, Me,
Paul - producer, Mark – reporter, Ian – reporter.

Fishing Again

This is the story we started when we met Martunis. A story about the local fishing community and how it has been affected – or rather devastated.

But many boats ended up like this one – miles from the sea.

But we did find one fisherman who had boats though all his equipment had been stolen to take us out.

We went to an island called Sabang just to the north east on Banda Aceh – don’t like this photo – I did and still do need to loose weight.

On the way to get the picture above we had to swap boats to the safety boat. Ian was not too happy about this.

Once we transferred the safety oat then broke down!

Once at Sabang and landing just as a storm blew it we entered the Mystery Van – ala Scooby Doo. This is the view from inside.

There is a two inch strip to look through that is clear!

The driver took us to this village which had been struck by the wave. We were here 21 days after the tsunami hit and they told us that we were the first outsiders to visit – including the government. Instead they had built a refugee camp nearby for the family’s that had been displaced. Thankfully very few had died here.

Back at the ferry we stopeed to have a cup of tea and some local sweets. As you can see its still better than India!

Sadly we did have to leave the Mystery Van behind…

On the way back we saw a pod of dolphins who only played for a little before they disappeared. Jumping just the once.

Elements

Its very weird as I write this I am actually in Banda Aceh but in March to commemorate three months since the tsunami and how the afrea has begun to get itself back on its feet. Looking back at these photos it is interesting to see what has changed – but that will be under later blogs.

I think what stuck me here and which still can not be conveyed pictorially or by the written word – only by actually being here is the immense scale of what has happened to this small community. In Aceh province so far o date 126,000 people have been buried and another 93,000 are missing – (March 05 figures)

This was not an uncommon sight – here we have Ian and I with a local fishing boat – and yes it is on someone’s house.

The Lost Boy

Whilst filming for our fishing piece a teenager came up to us with a small boy called Martunis, 7.5 years old. He had been wandering since the tsunami hit on the 26th December having seen his mother and father washed away. Living on a diet of dried noodles which were floating around and water he managed to survive.

Malnourished and covered in bites we gave him some biscuits and water. We then decided that we should take him to Save the Children as they would best be able to care for him a God willing find some relatives still alive. The locals wanted him to stay with them. Knowing that wasn’t the best option we left with Martunis being carried by Martin.

In the car Martin dug out an MRE (Meatballs in Pasta I think) and spoon, gave him that to eat which he wolfed down going ‘Hmmm’ and also some more water. We made sure that Medea our driver / translator told Martunis that he would be safe now. Being carried off by three white men must have been quite unnerving.

At Save the Children a very kind Kenyan nurse washed, dried and clothed Martunis, he was quickly assessed by the doctor and then taken to the nearest hospital.

Seeing he had no body fat left they immediately put him on a drip, he did not like the needle at all, oxygen and checked him more thoroughly. The nurse amazed and saying it was a miracle.

It was in the hospital that we left him if the safe hands of Estonian doctors and nurses.

All having kids of our own it was a subdued ride back to the house wishing that he wouldn’t end up in a camp an orphan. But the probability was not that way inclined.

We started to write and edit, as we went and not concerned about the duration – a big TV news burden. Half way through we found out that his father was still alive and being brought to the hospital by Save the Children.

Stunned, totally and utterly stunned.

‘These hands would care for him yes, but nothing could replace this hand, it is his fathers. A hand he must have thought would never touch him again…

There will be many in Banda Aceh and beyond who will have lost hope that they will ever see loved ones again. What this small boy teaches us is that we must never loose faith.’

Ian’s last lines in the script.

This is an amazing story and to be able to get a good ending with in six hours of finding Martunis was fantastic. I think it helped us all realise that despite the total destruction of lives and property positive things could happen. We all felt very proud and privileged to be a part of it.

It gets even better though. When we found him he was wearing a football shirt of the Portuguese FA. They saw this and offered help to him and his family to get back on their feet.

Over a week later we also found out that Spanish TV channels have been playing the package on the news. Stunning.

Drop the R and MARTUNIS is an anagram for TSUNMAI

Links:

Sky News

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1167314,00.html

The Fishermen

Ian and I paired together go with Martin in search of a some fishermen and their stories. As we got closer to the shore the scence became one of complete nothingness. Nothing left at all just flat land or pools of water. Everything here had been ripped up and washed inshore. We met a couple of fisherman down by the shore – one who was at sea who came back to find everything and one lost and another who tried in vain to save his family. These stories are recounted again and again by the survivors. Terrible.

Ian amid the destruction, about a mile from the sea

From a vantage point of the first floor of a house that’s still standing – just.

Again in the same area, another boat lying where there were once houses.

Our House

Back in the house by 10.30 we had breakfast – MRE’s again. Ian, Paul and Mark try to look intelligently at the map.

Ian then makes himself busy writing his script, at his bedside, whilst Mark makes a cup of tea in the kitchen. Richie is in his room / kit area.

Richie hard at work editing whist Mark and Micheal stand posing for the camera.

After lunch we went to find the local General to see if we could do something with the Army. He wasn’t in. On the way we did pass this. Valet parking at its best – Hotel Medan please!!

At, at least a mile from the port and it had to sail down the street & take a right turn as there was no way it could get here.

Across the square a new open plan house.

Our house, still with sludge outside but clean and tidy.

My bed, next to the shampoo and conditioners.

The toilet. All my years in Asia I have always managed to get round squatting but no more. At least its something I can do now. The cold showers from a KFC plastic bucket, in green water wasn’t much fun.

The famed MRE packets in our pantry!

Mark and Paul

Up to no good I’m sure.