MENAWAN MERAPI

assalamualaikum sohabat,

letih badan dan letih berfikir, tapi pengakhirannya Alhamdulillah worth it. i miss merapi so much, Subhanallah Allah gave me the chance to witness the beautiful view from merapi, Alhamdulillah that He gave me the strength to climb the mountain, to stand the cold weather and for everything...

after isya',
we started our journey, gather all the people, with the ikhwah from jakarta and aussie, about 8 people of us, buying stuffs, foods etc. after all the troubles, we manage to depart around 9 like that... when about to reach the base camp of merapi, the breeze was getting colder, the view was getting unclear, the motor also was getting heavier and heavier, until we could see the view of merapi, suddenly all of us getting excited. we did try to speed up, but that was it, the maximum speed we could get, 20km/h, hehh.

almost 12am,
we reached the base camp, parked our motor, registered our names, and discussed either to get the guide which worth 300k or not... so thats it, no guide, with incomplete stuffs, unexperience and untrained hikers, except one of us who used to hiking. around 12 like that, we started to move, reaching the very first destination, the New Selo, the starting point where the real adventure begins... we prayed, and moved on. at the very early steps, i started to pant, well, its been how many months i didnt work out, pffftt, shame on u... still, i moved forward... but seriously i tell u what, the track is not like any other track i used to, its not like the zigzag track, but its more to 45 degree all the way... after 20-30 mins like that, one of us stopped, he could not breath well.. maybe due to the weather plus the extreme track we were facing. (extreme for us the beginner, hehh)... spent about another 30mins there, waiting for him to rest, and so sad that he could not join us, other 2 members bring him down... and we waited for them to come back...

continue the journey till reached the 1st post around 1am like that, there i was thinking of quitting too... we did ask the other hikers, and they said the slowest time to get to the top is 4hours for the girls... and my condition at the time was like huff3 so panting already... ignore the feeling, with the support from each other we continue the climb... about 2am like that, the cloud started to surround the mountain and we had to rush to the top... seriously its bcoz of the support that keep me going...

around 4am,
along the way, the view was so beautiful, Subhanallah, but the climb was getting steeper, my leg was cramping for every few steps i made... we stopped more frequent, but we kept moving... until we saw the top, i forced myself to move so hard, Alhamdulillah we reached the 2nd post, and rest awhile. after a few minutes there, eating and resting, we move again for another few minutes till we reached the top... its 4.30am like that, we perform solat and waited for the sunrise... seriously, we could not see anything, the cloud was so thick, plus the weather was so cold... we hide behind a big rock to keep ourselves from the cold breeze, the temperature was 13 degree celcius like that... the place is actually not really the top of merapi, but all the hikers set camp there before climb to the top which is so near already... its like u really have to climb, or crawl urself to the top...

its 6am,
we woke up, ate, and started climbing to the top... it was so scary, we could not stand up, the track was so slippery, and the slope is like 60 degree, Astaghfirullah... we could not see the top, nor below since the cloud is surrounding us, plus at left and right is a deep cleft that at any time we could be pulled down... my mouth keep saying to stop eventhough my body still moved on... all of us became spiderman,hoho...but it was so dissapointing when we were about to reach the top, we lost track, there's no more track that could lead us to the top, we rest there awhile, and looked at each other... nothing could be done rather than to climb down... its more to gelongsor ke bawah, hew3... after reaching down, we just realised that we were actually taking the wrong track to the top, the actually tack is just beside us, oh mann...

i must say it was a very good experience in a lifetime... i leave all the stressful thoughts up there... Alhamdulillah that we all came back safe... i must maintain my fitness after this... thank You Allah, im so grateful... the 6 hours plus climb really teach me alot of things