Surakarta, Indonesia - The show starts at 5:30 a.m., but it is still night on Penanggungan, a 2,700-metre mountain on the Indonesian island of Java that serves as an auditorium for a daily performance. Spectators gather on a platform staring in awe at the stage consisting of three volcanoes called Bromo, Batok and Mahameru.
To the audience's left is an enormous floodlight - the sun - which is not yet alight and although Java is a tropical island, the night- time temperatures can fall to a cool 8 degrees Celsius. Luckily, onlookers can rent warm jackets from traders.
Slowly the volcanoes' silhouettes become visible. The almost 3,700-metre Mahameru, also known as Semeru, rises high above the other peaks.
Mahameru looks like the perfect volcano with its cone shape and smoke billowing from the top.
Java has plenty of active volcanoes that have plunged the islanders into disaster in the past. But like religion, they are also a firm part of its culture.
The island has tropical rain forests, beaches that belong in television advertisements and truck drivers who are not afraid to drive on the wrong side of the road ahead of a hairpin bend.
On the way to Solo City, as Surakarta is known locally, mopeds throng the roads and it seems as though every single one of Java's 130 million inhabitants is on the move.
If they are not gesticulating wildly, Javans are usually focusing their attention on the national sport - sending text messages for just 0.1 rupiahs.
One dollar is worth about 11 rupiahs prompting Indonesians to send far more text messages even though most of them earn an average of 108 dollar a month.
The best attraction on Java is the Buddhist temple in Borobudur. Many of the Buddha statues here are missing their heads - "stolen," says tour guide Hanafi Lapidar as he shrugs his shoulders.
Borobudur is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is considered the world's largest Buddhist temple.
Indonesia's Moslem government is proud of Borobudur and is paying 27 million dollars for an archaeological excavation at the temple complex which it deems a national monument.
"They have the same opinion of another temple not far away from here," says Hanafi. Indonesia's largest Hindu temple is also on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites, but is in a bad state of repair.
However, the temple is still a place of pilgrimage where the Hindu Gods of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma are worshipped.
Shortly after its completion in the year 850, the temple is believed to have been abandoned and it began to fall into disrepair. In 2006, an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter Scale caused a lot of damage and left the temples in an even worse state.
"In a few years, everything should be restored again," says a worker. But with 224 small shrines surrounding the eight main temples, it seems unlikely that this will happen any time soon.
One of the temples is dedicated to the God Shiva, known as the destroyer in the Hindu religion.
Shiva lived up to its name and ensured the temple was flooded repeatedly down through the centuries.
Luckily there is also Brahma, the God of Creation, rekindling hopes that one day the temples will shine in their former glory.
Another attraction is the island of Lombok, Bali's "little sister." Lombok has retained much of its original character and is quieter and not as crowded as its neighbour to which most tourists flock when they visit Indonesia.
After just two days on Lombok, most tourists at the beach hotel fall into the same rhythm of having breakfast underneath palm trees in the morning, going to the pool and beach afterwards and spending the afternoon in their huts.
Add another day of snorkelling to this schedule and most people are ready for the Gili Islands just off Lombok's coast.
The three tiny islands of Air, Meno and Trawangan that make up the archipelago used to be destinations for the backpacker community and people seeking to get away from it all.
But meanwhile, the islands have become popular with holidaymakers on snorkelling day trips to see colourful fish.
If you decide to stay longer, there is plenty of low cost accommodation as well as more luxurious places available.
The islands also give insight into village life and tourists can travel to Sukarara where several families make textiles and clothes.
The women in Sukarara are skilled Sarong weavers and also make beautiful textiles and Lambungs, a traditional garment.
Just a few kilometres away is another village called Banyumulek where everyone is engaged in making pottery - as you will quickly see from the stalls selling all manner of ceramics.
Internet: www.my-indonesia.info, www.indonesia-tourism.com.
