Teletubbies Houses in Real Life?

An earthquake hit Yogyakarta in May 27, 2006 was one of the greatest in Indonesia's history according to the damage and casualties. The area with the worst damage was Bantul since it was the closest to the earthquake epicenter. Researches stated that the earthquake was caused by the activity of Opak Fault. This active fault has been reportedly active since the great quake that occur in 05.54 AM.

The loss of many lives and properties suffered by many people has been the government concern. The development of earthquake-resistant houses has been established for some villages in Bantul Regency. There was a village called Ngelepen, where dome-styled houses were built. This construction was aimed to be resistant of earthquake. The unique shape of the houses have attracted some visitor and reminded us of a teletubbies house, a kids show played on TV in early 2000s. 

I was curious to have a look at these buildings. My sister and I decided to put this place into our list. We went by TransJogja to Prambanan Temple and then were headed to the location by the motorbike. We didn't exactly the location so we let the driver take the route.

When we got there, it was like a normal village. They officer welcome us and invited us to fill in the guestbook. We paid an entry fee Rp 5000. The officer was friendly and we talked about how the idea of these earthquake-resistant houses were made. He told us that after the quake hit, the ground in this village was sinking and it made the damage worse. The villager were given some options of the building style and they chose the dome-styled one. Until these days, this village that called The New Ngelepen is open for tourism spot. I actually like this kind of tourism object cause it's different and has a story about disaster management.