This was not a normal Valentines Day. When I woke up this morning, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was as if the colour had been sucked out of the world. Everything was covered in a fine layer of grey dust, that coated every surface and hung in the air as the cars sped by.

Overnight Mount Kelud, located 300 km away, had erupted covering much of Central Java in a thing layer of volcanic  ash. It was hard to believe what I was seeing.

yogyakarta coated in ash 2014

The volcano that did this – Mount Kelud – is 300km away fromYogyakarta. There’s an even more active volcano just 20km away.

volcanic ash

Visibility was down to less than five meters, giving the world a strange post apocalyptic feel.

mount kelud erupted

While some people think disaster, others see an opportunity. This person was on the street all morning selling face masks.

kelud ash in yogya

Woman struggles with her bike through the ash.

kelud yogyakarta

Traffic kicks up ash as people commute to work.

yogya because mount kelud erupted

Becak driver struggles to find passengers.

I can understand why my friends four-year old child thought it was snowing. The city is covered in volcanic ash.

I can understand why my friends four-year old child thought it was snowing. The city is covered in volcanic ash.

Volcanic eruption: yet another reason to own an umbrella.

Volcanic eruption: yet another reason to own an umbrella.