Climbing Mountains in Central Java
Today’s post was written by Lindsey Daniels, who is serving with Wijna, a community organization in Salatiga.
As we were coming up to our 10th week of SST, Carlos, Camila, and I decided that we wanted to explore a bit more of Indonesia. Every day, while I’m cruising down the hill my house is located on, I get a glimpse of Mount Merbabu and Mount Merapi in the far distance. In Javanese culture, Mount Merbabu is viewed as sacred and blesses the people with fertile land and good harvest. We are placed in the city of Salatiga which is north of both mountains and close enough to see them in all their glory. As the weekend was coming up, Carlos suggested that we go climb a mountain. I have always enjoyed the views and nature in Indonesia so I was happy to go. Even though claiming to have climbed the 3,145 meters to the summit of Mt. Merbabu would have been pretty impressive, the hike was for advanced skill level so we decided not to risk it. Instead, we found the slightly shorter Mount Andong. We decided to leave our houses and take a GoCar to the base at 3am so we could see the sunrise. When I told Pak Aldi (my host father) the plan, he was shocked and then immediately offered to drive me to meet up with the others. I was very grateful to him since he offered so quickly even though it was at 3 in the morning.
When the day came, I woke up early and met up with Carlos and Camila. We ordered a GoCar and headed towards the base of the mountain, where we would check in. Our driver didn’t speak any English but we were just fine which proved how much Indonesian language we’ve learned. As we started gaining elevation, the fog began creeping in. We arrived and the driver wished us good luck. We eventually found the beginning of the trail and began our climb.
I was a bit nervous at first, probably thanks to my wild imagination and how dark it was. The trail looked a bit sketchy and there were times we were unsure where the trail went but as it started to get a bit lighter, the path also became more clear. We kept having to stop and rest because it was constant uphill, stepping over rocks and trying not to fall from the slick ground. We found a good pace and forged onward. But also to our slight disappointment, the fog persisted even when it became lighter and we didn’t need the flashlight anymore. It was very strange to only be able to see maybe 25 meters away from you. We kept climbing and we made it to one of the peaks. It was the second highest and there were tents and a few other hikers there as well. We continued on, determined to make it all the way to the top.
At this point it was around 6am. We made it to the top and there were a couple more people there. We put our rain jackets on the ground and started waiting for the fog to clear up. We waited about an hour until we decided to head back. Once we reached the second highest peak, we met some Indonesian university students who were our age. They were all really nice and they were fun to talk with. We talked about school and where we lived and then we offered to hike down the mountain together. Just as we were about to leave, the sun peeked through the clouds and the wind blew them away to reveal the amazing view that we had wanted to see. We quickly got all the pictures we could while it lasted.
Thankfully the sky was also clear as we headed back down the mountain. We said our goodbyes to our new friends and went separate ways.
On our trek back down the mountain. There were quite a few slips along the way but we made it back in one piece:
Once we reached the bottom, we found that we had no way to get back to Salatiga. We couldn’t get a GoCar since we were in a small village and we were too far away. We decided to get some snacks and start walking towards the main road. After walking for about 30 mins, the Indonesian students passed by on their motorcycles and Camila flagged them down and told them about our situation. They graciously decided to give us all a ride closer to Salatiga on their motorcycles. We were very grateful and without them we might have had to walk a lot longer than just 30 minutes. They were just another example of how considerate and giving that the Indonesian people that I’ve met are. We offered up our snacks and a tip for our thanks but they all declined. We successfully made it back and got some celebratory soto for lunch. I went back to my house, flopped onto my bed and fell asleep, tired from such a fulfilling day even though it wasn’t even 12pm yet.
