hi everyone. I'm back from my trip to java and bali.
plan was to visit some of the volcanoes I have been and to see guides who were with me previously. like meeting old friends. and of course to climb some new volcanoes. In the 13 days,
i visited 6 volcanoes.

First on the list was to re visit krakatau in west java. I attempted to climb this volcano in 2004 after my knee operation and did not reach the top, even though its only a 1000ft high. its steep and very hot out there. i was determined to get to the top this time, but my guide did not allow as the volcano is now active and fairly unstable. He allowed me to go up to the ridge next to the dome and allowed me to go to the base of the 1000ft dome at most.

some background. krakatau registered one of the most devastating eruption in 1883. Even hollywood made a movie about it.. krakatau , east of java.. yup they got their facts wrong. its west, not east. The world had beautiful sunset for 3 yrs as a result of the ash thrown into the atmossphere. whats left of the original volcanoe now appear as islands in the middle of the sea and a baby volcano, called anak krakatau , emerged from the sea since the 1920s and its been growing . its now about a 1000 feet high.

so i climbed onto the volcanic island and hang around the ridge since i was not allowed to climb.
I was taking self portraits of myself against dome and the summit. And then anak puffed black smoke into the sky. I was at the base when it happened. There was no one else around. It was like godzilla coming to life and I'm standing at its feet. Its safe.. there was no lava or rocks thrown out, if it was, there would be rumbling sound before it happens. if its just puffing smoke, no sound , no warning but its safe at the base. Some of the pics will be posted soon. enjoy.