MOUNT ARJUNO
/ J U L Y 2 0 1 6 / /
"I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery - air, mountains, tress, people. i thought, 'This is what it is to be happy.'"
We are breathless from the altitude and the astonishing beauty of the landscape behind us as we got nearer to ‘Puncak Ogal-agil’.
But then we finally made it to the rocky mountain top. All the struggles and sweats seems to vanished in a blink of an eye. To be here was a breath taking moment, not just because we’re on 3339 meters above sea level, not just because i am standing before a dazzling scenery of puffy clouds and the top of Mt Semeru. But i am standing here with my 9 other friends that has played a huge role in my life these past 4 days.
couldn't thank God enough for this experience. with these 9 tough fighters (minus Renata and NJ). for all the laughters, the jokes, the fights, and the togetherness we shared.
After taking dozens of photos, we headed back to our campsite at 11 AM. For the second time, our group was divided into two. The ‘fast team’ which ran on their way down the mountain, and the ‘WOLES TEAM’ who chit-chat and sang their way down. I don’t need to tell you guys which team i was in, right? The woles team ofc. We were really ‘SELO’ on our way. Occassionally taking photos and videos, while singing one particular song on repeat. When we got near the campsite, we borrowed our guide’s dry woods that he picked on our way home for tonight’s bonfire, as an alibi for our long way down to the campsite because of our lameness, telling them we helped Pak Ladi to search for dry branches.
We cooked and ate okky jelly as soon as we arrived on our campsite (actually the one who does most of the cooking was aghis and the other girls, i just sat there with my camera taking pictures of them). Dang, the food was exclusive. Steamed Pork and corned beef for god’s sakeeee. After refilling our stomach, we went for a nap.
I woke up to the sound of horrible voices shout-singing. Jeez, when i flutter my eyelids i felt like i was on a disco room. The boys were pointing flashlights to our tent, rapidly switching them on and off while singing an EDM song, creating a ‘DWP’-like atmosphere. Their main goal is to wake the girls up. And this time, i must admit they succeed.
We walked out from our tents and began cooking for dinner (as usual, i didn’t cook). They said i was ‘gabut’ which means ‘having nothing to do’ in english, so one of them gave me a job. To hold a flashlight, as the source of light for them who are cooking dinner. This made me feel quite useful LOL. And we sensed something wrong. Harel was quite when usually he always messed with me, seeking trouble, signing his own death wish. We both fight constantly, except for tonight. He felt sick, Aghis said. No wonder he’s been so quite leaving me alone in peace. But he’s still up to capture the stars later in the middle of the night.
I set my alarm on every hour. 12 AM, 1 AM, 2 AM, 3AM and 4AM. Each time it rang, i went out of my tent to check whether there are any stars. Unfortunately, between 12 to 3 AM the fog hid the stars and the beautiful city lights. Until finally i checked again at 4 AM. There weren’t as many stars as i hoped it would be, but the city lights were visible. I woke NJ up and Harel too, flashing my headlamps to their tents, unintentionally flashing the other guys that were sleeping, earning groans from them. Oops, i know they would protests later in the morning.
Time passes by and the sun was beginning to rise. The dawn is to our right, the sun low on the horizon, blazing fiery orange to the blue sky. Unfortunately, our camera batteries died so we can only took photos from our phones. But the result’s not too baaadddd.
Time passes by and the sun was beginning to rise. The dawn is to our right, the sun low on the horizon, blazing fiery orange to the blue sky. Unfortunately, our camera batteries died so we can only took photos from our phones. But the result’s not too baaadddd.
As predicted, as soon as the other guys woke up, they started to protest to me who caused everybody to wake up instead of only waking up NJ and Harel at 4 AM. I don’t blame them:’) we cooked ‘Super bubur’ for breakfast, pack our bags and tents, and headed down, leaving our so-called ‘home’ for 2 nights.
/foto favorit: nendang christian harel yang super nyebelin suka takut-takutin gue dan ledekin gue melulu//
As always, the ‘woles team’ took 2 hours longer to arrive at the first base. We waited up for Renata, who’s all 10 feet’s finger hurted because of the pressure with the shoes. On our way down to the second base, we met our porter going up towards our direction on a motorbike. WHAT? And he just laughed at us, saying nonchalantly that the motorbike was for Renata so she won’t have to walk all the way down and she won’t be in pain. Immediately, we speed off running on our way down despite our hurting feet, in hopes that we could arrive sooner than the motorbike. But when we took a rest on one of the base, we heard the rumbling of the bike. Poof! Renata was waving her hands and we just sat there, imagining how happy it would be if we’re in Renata’s place.
Finally, after walking past the tea plantation which was about 100 meter away from the very first base we stayed at before the hike, me, pingkan, nesha, aryo and adit decided to run our way down the concrete road while shouting in glee. The other guys that have arrived there sooner stared at us confused as to why these people dare to run down the concrete road. They poured water to our direction from the second floor of the basecamp. As soon as we’re inside, we threw our bags and plopped down on the floor to catch our breaths beside the sleeping Aghis and Harel who had already showered.
And we head off with the jeep.
we stopped by bakso malang to feed our rumbling stomach because we haven't eat since breakfast. Then we head straight to our homestay which is a motel.
In front of our motel rooms, Harel asked me to enter my phone number for aghis on his phone. I stopped for a while. Dejectedly, i comply and took the phone from him. But when i saw the screen, i immediately shout and close my eyes. SHIT! It was a prank. On the screen was 2 ghosts with scaaaarryyy faces in close-up. In an instant, i sink to my knees and then got back up to kick harel for being tooooooo mean to me.
After our fight, nesha and me went to our room and shower together. When we open the bathroom door, we saw 2 cockroaches on the floor and we shout AAAAAAAAAAAA. The boys get worried that they knocked our door. Luckily, Adit came to the rescue and get rid of the cockroach. Now both of us can shower in peace:’)))))
While we’re scrubbing ourselves with soap, there were one cockroach creeping up the wall and we shout againnn because cockroach were disgustingggg. The boys knocked our door once again, and it was impossible for us to let the boys get in because we’re naked. So nesha and I, dripping wet, walked out the bathroom, and took one shoe, and killed the cockroach with shaky hands while shouting everytime the cockroach moved a centimeter. I hope people next door didn’t get mad at our high pitched shouts.
After our disturbed shower, we head to alun-alun to enjoy Malang night city and their foods. Once we get back, Harel, Adit, Ivan and me stay up for Portugal vs German’s match. OFCOURSE, they all support Germany, leaving me alone to cheer for Cristiano and Portugal. OFCOURSE, they mocked me for portugal’s lost mean boysssss.
At last, we had breakfast in a chinese restaurant, and head to the train station to head for Jakarta
It was an exciting, happy, and unforgettable journey indeed.
Singosari, Malang, Indonesia
07°43′30″LU 112°35′0″BT
Stratovolcano, 3.339 masl high.
From the train station, we rode angkot to Semeru's first basecamp.
There, we waited for Pak Ngadi, the owner of the homestay we’ll be staying at Ranupani, to drive us there by Jeep. 2 guys sat on the front seats, and the rest stood on the back of the jeep. It was a windy ride, and i didn’t bring my buff so i was shivering from the cold wind.
After almost 2 hours, the jeep stopped and we got off, brought our bags into our homestay, and went out for an afternoon stroll. On our way exploring, we met the guys from the SAR team, heading towards Semeru. Okay, so the search was still going, and we agreed that we have to come up with plan B; Mount Arjuno.
/what we found on our afternoon stroll: the beauty of RANUPANI//
5 PM// we head back to our homestay. i felt fuzzy. my head was spinning and i was shivering like cray. as soon as we tagged our rooms i threw myself on the bed hoping that the bed and pillows could warm me. Alas, they’re nowhere near warm. The sheets and the pillows were cold. Regardless, i fell asleep for about an hour then the girls woke me up for dinner. After i wore Adit’s comfy jacket + ate dinner, i felt better. We played some cards game and took some rest.
The next morning, we packed our bags and went to Mount Arjuno. It was 3 pm when we got there, so we decided to stay the night and start hiking tomorrow morning. We searched for the nearest homestay, but came up with nothing. The only option was to stay in a villa for 500k/night. Luckily, the first basecamp of Mt.Arjuna was open for hikers to rest. It’s actually a house with 2 stories, with 3 rooms and a balcony.
The girls slept in the room, and the boys slept outside in the balcony, with giant spiders hanging above their heads.
The next morning, we began our hike at 7:30 after having breakfast; a plate FULL of rice with scrambled eggs and indomie. It was a struggle to finish the meal.
/the white painted house on the left was where we stayed the night.//
First we walked past the tea plantation areas where i thought the ‘teh pucuk’ advertisement took place, for about 30 minutes to reach the first base. ANDDDD i was already breathing heavily. shit it was only 1/20 of the journey.
And our friend Renata,who's on her first hike, started to fell tired. Her face turned tomato and we worried she will faint. She knew that Arjuno is harder to hike than Semeru. But her spirit made her continue the journey she started together with us.
After 45 minutes, we reached the first base!
The second base is where we met a group of hikers going down while cooking Indomies for our lunch. They told us sadly they didn’t get the chance to hike to the top of Mt Arjuna bcs of the baaad weather that made one of the guys from their group almost got hipothermia. Jeeeeez. We could only pray that the weather allows us to finish our hike.
After the second base, we have to walked up through the savana
Luckily, throughout the hike the boys wouldn't stop joking and singing trashy songsss. It was a moodbooster, and i felt lucky to hike with happy persons like them who can't shut their mouth.
Finally, after a total of 8 hours spent hiking, we reach the camping base. It was a relief, really, to reach our camping base before the sky gets dark. We then warmed ourselves with a cup of tea, and cooked our ‘FANCY’ dinner.
/ kiri: makan mevvah: kornet, daging maling, babi kecap // kanan: pingkan kaya UFO //
Then we slept in our tents, making sure we had enough energy for tomorrow’s hike. i really wish i could see the stars but unfortunately the cloud didn't agree that they covered the stars:---(((( I woke up to the sound of nesha saying that it’s 2 AM. Why did nobody wake up? We had agreed to wake up at 1 AM so we can began our so called ‘summit attack’ at 2AM. But it seemed like no one set their alarm clock. Both of us decided to wake the others on their tent. Just like we assumed, all of em were still in deep slumber. Gosh. Boys.
After stuffing our things into our daypack, we then warm ourselves with some hot coffee and energen. After a brief prayer, we head off in a sinuous line, winding our way through the dark woods. Getting there through the dark with only headlamps to light the path proves more of a challenge than we expect.
/left to right: aryo-adit-aghis-axel--tania-alvin-nesha-pingkan-ivan-harel//
We’re greeted by the rising sun on our right as we hiked up. we could see hints of the orange sun peeking. An enormous beacon of light to those who had lost their way.
/on this photo: foto bintang (baca: bintang honey stars) pengganti bintang di langit semalem yang ketutupan awan//
It’s 6 AM and our team was beginning to split into two. As we got higher, some of us struggled to catch our breath because of the thin oxygen, including me. Yes ikr i was lameee. The ‘fast’ ones which consisted of the boys (adit, acong, harel, ivan) and ‘team belakang’ (pingkan tania nesha pebe aryo aghis). I was thankful Aghis tolerated our lameness by walking slowly behind us even though i know his pace was a lot faster than our pace.
/kita bahkan sempet foto-foto dulu dan pingkan sempet ee dulu sedangkan yang lain uda sampe puncak//
The JKT-MALANG journey took 16 hours by train. Ikr, that’s a loaaad of hours spent sitting. We played cards and made loud noises, indeed disturbing the other passengers who were trying to sleep. No wonder we got admonished by the train officers, not to mention twice, to stay in our seats and keep silent. We just nodded our heads but as soon as the officers went out the door, we shrugged them off and continued our cards game.
