Parangtritis at sunset

In Indonesia, black sand is common, whereas white or yellow sand is not. Yellow-sanded beaches were too far for us to travel to from the middle of Jogjakarta, so we were stuck with one black one at sunset – Parangtritis Beach.

A photo of Nick, photographing the sunset
A photo of Nick, photographing the sunset

I have never had a ‘bucket list’ and having a list of things to do in my life felt like I was deliberately picking things to achieve rather than living my life and being able to highlight certain moments as the best ones. Having a ‘bucket list’ was, to me, some kind of a fake way of bringing meaning to my life and what I chose to do. So I didn’t have one, although watching a sunset was on a mental list of things I wanted to do.

I couldn’t decide on my best sunset photo, so I decided to post five, and name them something more fitting to their style. It’s amazing how so many different views of sunset can be captured.

Sunset I: Dusk
Sunset I: Dusk
Sunset II: Glow
Sunset II: Glow
Sunset III: Time
Sunset III: Time
Sunset IV: Blush
Sunset IV: Blush
Sunset V: Twilight
Sunset V: Twilight

Let me know which one is your favourite! :)

Other posts about my 2015 trip to Indonesia

Comments on this post

I’m guessing the black sand is because it’s volcanic? I would love to visit a beach like this. The nearest ones to the UK are on the Canary Islands.

I think my favourite is number two, and I like how you’ve called it glow because it really does look like it’s glowing. Beautiful.

Yes that’s true! There are a lot of volcanoes in Indonesia. It was intriguing, and so strange because it just seemed like really ‘clean’ dirt. I never saw it during the day but it was such a strange feeling as the sun set.

Thanks Holly! :)

Loved phot IV: Blush. Enjoy your trip! :>

My favourite is Time, followed by Blush. Gorgeous!

I didn’t know you were in Jogjakarta! I did a study on the nearby Mount Merapi at Uni, was really fascinating. :D

That is interesting! Yeah, I have more to share about our trip there. You probably learned about this, but we visited the bunker on the slopes of Mount Merapi, where two people sadly died because the lava got in. It was so surreal having a look inside.

I like Blush. I hope you’re having fun in Indonesia. :)

It looks like Blush is a popular one! I am already back (since Monday) but I didn’t get time to blog while I was overseas, so I am only getting around to posting some photos now. :D

“deliberately picking things to achieve rather than living my life and being able to highlight certain moments as the best ones … fake way of bringing meaning to my life and what I chose to do.” CAN I PLEASE QUOTE YOU. Cannot put it better myself! Bucket lists are made and then we either forget them or beat ourselves up for not getting to them. :( That time can be so much better spent enjoying every beautiful moment in front of us.

Anyways my favorite photo is Time because it captures the black sand so well! I’ve never seen them but I did look up that they are due to volcanic activity! No wonder so many island beaches would have them. :)

You most certainly can, Liv! I wrote a post mentioning the same idea a while ago but I couldn’t be bothered finding it to link to it. I thought about writing a full post dedicated to that topic, but that sums my feelings up. :)

Now that I look, you are right – the others don’t capture the sand colour that well. It felt like I was walking on dirt, but the sand was so ‘cleanly’ grey/black, if you know what I mean.

I love the Twilight one, but they all look really nice and hope the experience of them was really good. <3

Wow, I remember going to the beaches in El Salvador and it was just pure white sand. Amazing that you got to see black sand. The pictures are simply breathtaking. I don’t believe in bucket lists, myself. I rather just enjoy life and if I can get to something, then I get to it :D I enjoy the moments and of movements instead of crossing something out on arbitrary list.

That’s interesting that black sand is more common in Indonesia! I’ve been to a few black sand beaches in Hawaii, and they’re fun to photograph since they’re different than what people expect.

Glow and Twilight are my favorites because of the lovely colors in the sky. I love the bright pink of Glow, and the darker purples of Twilight. They’re all beautiful though!