MOUNT PAPANDAYAN

“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, "This is what it is to be happy.”

4

this is my first hike when i realized that nature has created a wonderful serendipity. this is the place that makes me fall in love not only towards the ocean, but towards the mountains, too. so my friend PINGKAN invites me to celebrate her birthday in Mount Papandayan. when i knew it was the same day with my planned trip to ayer island, i get heartbroken and i decided to cancel coming to pingkan's birthday. two days before the D-day, my father said that he didn't mind if i cancel the booked cottage on the island, and at that exact time, i texted Pingkan. she gave me the details what should i bring and etc. i got excited and jumpy at the sampe time because i really didnt know what it's like to go hiking. saturday morning, all the participants must arrive at the meeting point which was at school, at 7am. and i woke up at 6.30 AND i still have to pick up tiffany, audrey and isabel. so i rushed and on the way to school, someone texted us that they only waited for us and stella, the head of our school council who's alwaaays late. and finally we entered the bus that's been waiting for us and everyone was there staring at us because we're the last people to enter the bus before we get going. after 6 hours of road trip, we arrived at the starting point of papandayan. we had our lunch and get ready for the hike. it was raining that makes the hike more challenging with the slippery rocks and the cold rain. we had just begun our hike, but the view, is captivating. i never saw something so beautiful like this. i have always loved the ocean and the ocean only. now, my heart opens for something more. i fell in love with this mount. we arrived at camp david when it was almost dark. so we couldn't walk around to enjoy the view, we could only stay at the tent and wait for the night to come. a tent could fit for 4 people. me, audrey tiff and isabel. we unpacked our things and our stomach started to rumble. we decided to ate our energy bars while we waited for the guides to start a fire and prepare our foods. after some time which felt like an eternity, we're invited to circle the bonfire and to cook by our own. sausages, marshmallows, corn, and chickens which're overcooked and get burned were what we ate that night, while listening to live acoustic guitar songs played by two of the talented boys. later that night, we still sat in circles around the bonfire, warming ourselves. there were approximately 10 of us left at 11pm, waiting for the clouds to move and reveal the stars. eventually, we got tired and we lay down on the ground, gazing at the night sky. "Not just beautiful, though--the stars are like the trees in the forest, alive and breathing. And they're watching me.”

it was the perfect feeling one can have, to have your friends laying down beside you, stargazing, chatting about stuffs, laughing in the cold silent night. until we fell asleep the next day, we went to see the sun rise and clasp the earth in the morning. but some of my friends didnt care and just continue to sleep. i realized that for the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle, yet people still refuse to see it. we took several pictures, went to tegal alun which is full of edelweisses and then head back home:) I can hardly wait for another hike!