While I was in Surabaya, I went down to Sidoarjo and took an ojek tour of the
mud disaster zone. It was interesting to see how the landscape has changed since April. It's like mud has become the full-time industry. There are pipes and machinery everywhere.
This goat was having a nice scratch, which reminded me of the time when a US Senator told me -- with a straight face -- that drilling for oil in Alaska benefited the local wildlife because "bears love walking on the pipelines."
The abandoned houses have been pretty well picked over for roof tiles. Now the bricks are going.
Things have dried up a bit, since it's the hot season. This guy was scavenging firewood from a dried-out village with a becak.
Some places are so deeply buried, there's only a kind of moonscape left.
I kept thinking of the Shakespeare line, "Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang." I don't know if they had sweet birds here before, but "bare" and "ruined" definitely fit the bill.
This goat was having a nice scratch, which reminded me of the time when a US Senator told me -- with a straight face -- that drilling for oil in Alaska benefited the local wildlife because "bears love walking on the pipelines."
The abandoned houses have been pretty well picked over for roof tiles. Now the bricks are going.
Things have dried up a bit, since it's the hot season. This guy was scavenging firewood from a dried-out village with a becak.
Some places are so deeply buried, there's only a kind of moonscape left.
I kept thinking of the Shakespeare line, "Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang." I don't know if they had sweet birds here before, but "bare" and "ruined" definitely fit the bill.
2 comments:
I stumbled on your blog and I find it interesting. Great pics, I feel sorry for the people who have been displaced by this mess.
Thanks Elyani! I do too ... it doesn't seem like anyone's willing to really tackle the situation so that the people who've been affected can get on with their lives.
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