This excursion gets its own post because I'm so excited about it! Last weekend, I had the opportunity to hike my 4th mountain here, the active volcano next to the city of Jogja. Ever since I saw Merapi from the summit of Merbabu, I couldn't wait to "befriend" it too!
Because I like to tell stories, here goes the account:
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| Our route, approximately |
After a 2 hour motorcycle ride from our church, 3 guys and I arrived at the base in the village of Selo. Starting at 6:30 pm, we started to naik (climb). The moon was beautiful and full; the stars, clouds and Merbabu to the rear were bright and awesome! Kudos to our fourth group member, who was embarking on his first hiking trip ever. After a bout of feeling sick, he kept going and eventually made it down the mountain the next day too. :) As we exited the "tree line" and entered the rocky part of the volcano, the mist started rolling in. We couldn't find the camping area, a plain called Pasar Bubrah or "devil's market". After quite some time, we found the rocky plain and pitched a tent. Our 12:00 am supper was short and sweet (literally. I've never seen anyone spread so much Nutella on one piece of bread...) and then we had a rest. It rained while we were pitching the tent, so we went to bed slightly wet...Not a good idea. It was also chilly so I didn't sleep much. It still amazes me how cold it gets up there!
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| Sunrise |
At 5:20 am, "woke up" and looked out the tent to see the lightening sky and the summit of Merapi right there! After the sun came up, three of us headed to the summit. This was the most difficult part as it's mostly sand and then rocks. Good thing it only took less than an hour! We reached the top and WOW looked down into the volcano!! It's a crater, with a flat bottom and few rises. There were small spots where smoke was coming out. There was a lingering sulfur smell and a constant sound of rushing wind throughout the hole. There was one spot down there, probably a few metres across, where lava could be seen! The outer wall is complete except for one large gap, that can be seen from Jogja. The original summit, called Puncak Garuda, was reduced to a stack of large boulders by the eruption in 2010.
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| The top! |
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| Puncak Garuda |
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| Good friends, good fun! Merbabu in the background |
We hung out at the top for a while, taking tons of pictures and basking in the sun and complete awesomeness of Creation. Merbabu to the South was perfectly clear and the sea of clouds, beautiful. I didn't want to leave!
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| Tea time |
We descended after some time and this was the easiest part: awesome sand-surfing! At the camp, we ate a hearty breakfast of boiled potatoes with bolognese sauce, leftover snacks and good tea. More pictures, and then we set out to descend the mountain. It's always so cool while going down to see in daylight what we missed coming up the night before. This was slow going but we had some great conversations about culture and personal opinions. Made it down around 3:00 pm - SUKSES! Posed with the lovely Hollywood-esque sign at the trail head. Made the journey home, in the rain, and arrived safely in Jogja! Sunburnt and sore, natually, but man it was AWESOME! Every time I see Merapi -which is everyday - I can't believe I was there. It's also reflective thing because the eruption in 2010 was devastating and a nightmare for many people in the area. The power that nature holds is amazing and terrifying! I praise God for the livelihoods and environment that have been regrowing since then; also for the strength of the people here to rebuild their lives when such disasters happen.
Another amazing thing about hiking here is the community. As evident in many other places (e.g. Austria), the mountains are a place where everyone is family. My friends struck up conversation with everyone we passed and shared a good many laughs. It was mostly in the Javanese language and in those cases, I just had to wait until the conversation turned to "who's the foreigner?" It was great meeting people from all over, including many other foreigners that day!
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| Camp at Pasar Bubrah |
In conclusion, I'm not sure when my next hike will be. I have desires (and people to take me) to hike more mountains in Java but time is short. There's Lewu, Semeru, Slamet, Gede... Aduh! So many! I also figure I should get to the white sand beaches because we do not have those in Canada!
Thanks to my hiking group who took me to Merapi!! Trima kasih, saudara-saudara, untuk mengajak aku ke gunung! Pengalaman LUAR biasa dan juga keren "beudh" haha.
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| The trail head at "New" Selo. Climbing those metal bars was sketchy! |
A happy and satisfied little Austrian hiker,
Lisi :)
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