Dieng is approximately 120km away from the famous Central Jaya tourist city Yogyakarta. It is a highland caldera complex formed by the eruption of Mountain Prau.
We had about 6 days to spare for Yogyakarta and decided to visit Dieng for a country side experience. The whole Yogyakarta is planned on a car with driver, to add some spice into our itinerary, we tried our luck by asking our driver if he could arrange a riding tour for us up to Dieng Plateau. After a few phone calls, our super awesome driver Yoyokk got each of us a scooter and he will be our road captain throughout the entire journey! So impressed with Yoyokk's customer service, doing all he can to make our experience wonderful!
There were few highlights of the Yogyakarta itinerary, the ones which we looking forward were Timang Beach, Jomblang Cave, Mount Merapi, Pindul Cave tubing, Kali Suci tubing and Dieng on two wheels. We completed all the above and really enjoy it, except for the cave & river tubing. Why? I will explain later......
Day 1- Arrive Yogyakarta, Prambanan Temple
Day 2- Kadiwung sunrise, Jomblang Cave, Timang Beach, Pengger Pine Forest
Day 3- Two wheels to Borobudur Temple and Dieng Plateau
Day 4- Two wheels at Dieng Plateau and return to Yogyakarta
Day 5- Taman Sari Palace, Mount Merapi Jeep Tour
Day 6- Return to KL
There are many articles and sharing about Yogyakarta must do and must see, won't be writing about those again and will just focus on our riding adventure to Dieng Plateau.
Day 1
Yogyakarta - Borobudur Temple - Dieng Plateau
On the bike 8am departing to first stop, the must see UNESCO site of Borobudur temple complex, situated on our way to Dieng Plateau. Arrived around 10am the sun was burning hot. As we have seem many different temples before in Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Indonesia, we decided to just tour around quickly and proceed to our riding.
About 90km ride out of Yogyakarta town, after the wonderful Bakso lunch break, I dropped the bike on a busy street. Still could not identify the reason, only remember I made an emergency brake (but why?), my rear tyre slipped to the left and next thing I landed on the ground on my right exactly on a sitting position with the bike. Luckily there was still a gap between the bike and ground and my leg wasn't sandwiched.
My buddy stopped the traffic from behind and the locals also stopped to lift my bike and carry me to the side. Immediately I could feel my right arm was in great pain and there was pain from my right knee as well.
A quick check on the bike, the right side mirror was detached from the bike and some minor scratch marks on the bike.
After making sure I was able to ride, we rode further to a fuel station to manage my wounds. After changing to shorts and slippers, I sat down to rest and my buddy rode around to buy some aids items for the open wound at my arm. Yoyokk quickly sent my bike for a fix and returned with a bag of ice to treat my bruises on the knee.
As those were not major injuries, we decided to move on with our adventure. The only inconvenience was the discomfort caused by the wounds and bruises. So this was also why I couldn't do the water activities later when we returned to Yogyakarta.
My movement was greatly restricted as a slight stretch of my arm and knee resulted the great pain. I also have a problem on my outfit as the tight jeans suppressed my wound and caused more discomfort. My creative buddy offered me his loose pants and thank God for that I was able to move around without the fabric constantly pressing against my wound!
Rain started falling when we arrive the entrance of Dieng around 3pm. Yoyokk joked that we brought the first rain after 3 months. The wet ride was really cold despite we had our raincoat on. The vision was not very clear with the heavy fog formed during the rain.
We arrived our homestay around 4pm. I quickly showered before night fall and treated the wounds again.
Dieng's night was freezing cold. We were rewarded with hot delicious local delights of Mee Ongklok and some ginger drinks, it was a great wrap for such an eventful day!
Day 2
Arjuna Hindu Temple Complex - Telaga Warna - Yogyakarta
We were supposed to visit Dieng's tourist attractions yesterday but schedule changed due to my drop. I was glad we did not push it through as I really needed the rest to allow my body and mind to rejuvenate.
Today I got over the incident and all prepared for a brand new adventure. We begin by visiting the Arjuna Hindu Temple and proceed to the spot which we much looking forward to: 3 colours lake.
Standing at the peak of look out point with the colour lake infront of me, glad I made it so far.
We hanged around the lake for a bit to admire the magnificent landscape and felt something was missing. Oh yes, beautiful places like this is a perfect match with a cup of coffee! We asked Yoyokk to find a cafe with panorama scenic view so we can chill and enjoy the wonder of nature.
Yoyokk brought us all the way up to the highest village of Java, Sembungan Village but found out later the restaurants and street cafes were all closed as their operation hours were mainly focus on the early crowd which came in for the sunrise trek. No coffee at highest village of the region but at least a photo to check us in!
The ride around Dieng Plateau was beautiful, there are plantation terrace at both side of the road, the weather was cooling with bright blue sky. The winding mountain road also made the riding a wonderful experience.
No regrets for the 2 days 1 night 250km motorcycle adventure to Dieng Plateau. Everything along the way, including my drop and injuries were such an unforgettable journey throughout the whole trip.
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