Mud lake

We just got back from Sidoarjo with deadlines looming, so this will be short. It was a strange, sad, fascinating trip. Here's a photo of the main lake of mud from atop the embankments holding it back. These dirt-and-sandbag walls are, in places, at least twice my height. The actual mud geyser is behind the smoke somewhere.


And here's a guy pointing to the remains of his mud-flooded house from the world's tippiest canoe. Chad is looking at me as if to say, "are you getting a good shot?" whereas I'm just trying not to capsize us.


This homeowner used to work in construction. Now nobody's building in the area, so he parks cars for tourists who come to see the mud. He's one of thousands of people scraping by, trying to make a living while waiting for some resolution to the situation. In his case, it's been a nine-month wait.

More soon.