The Dieng plateau lies in a volcanic caldera 2093m above sea level and holds a rewarding mix of multicoloured sulphurous lakes , craters that spew pungent gases, and some of the oldest Hindu temples in Java. The volcano is still active - in 1979 over 150 people died after a cloud of poisonous gas bled into the atmosphere - and the landscape up on this misty, windswept plain is sparse and largely denuded. Although travel agents run day-trips from Yogya, these involve eight hours' travelling for just one hour on the plateau, so it's better to spend a night up here, in the damp and isolated village of DIENG , just across the road from the plateau's main temple complex; bring warm clothes and waterproofs. To get to Dieng from Yogya you need to change buses twice, going first to MAGELANG from the Jomber terminal (Rp1500), then to Wonosobo, and then to Dieng (Rp1500).

The tiny village of Dieng lines Jalan Raya Dieng, the road that runs along the plateau's eastern edge, and has a tourist office (random hours), a small kiosk that sells tickets to the Arjuna temples, and some fairly grim accommodation , the best of which is Gunung Mas Hotel (tel 0286/92417; $5-10), at the northern end, which at least has hot water and TV. The rooms at the Dieng Homestay, Jl Raya Dieng 16 (tel 0286/92823; under $5), are basic and full of flies, and the mandi are excruciatingly cold; this is, however, the best of the budget bunch. Bu Djono, next door (no phone; under $5), has shabbier rooms but superior food. Two hundred metres to the south at Jalan Telaga Warna 117-119 stands the smarter but less welcoming Asri Losmen (under $5).