I went to Mount Ciremai on April 3 to 5. Mount Ciremai is a huge mountain, it’s the highest in West Java, around 3078 mdpl (above sea level). The trek is similar to the trek on Mount Cikurai but a much longer. I went there with Jelajah Jakarta (it was my third time joining Jelajah’s trip).
We started our hike a bit late, it was pass noon…I couldn’t remember the exact time. I didn’t take any picture on the first day because but I managed to take some when I got down from the mountain.
We started our hike from Cibunar, Linggar Jati. This place is the only place where hikers can get water. Ciremai is famous for its lack of water. I was carrying 2 1.5L bottles of water while the boys were carrying way more than the girls, about 4 to five bottles. We needed the water to drink and cook. On the first day, we hardly had any rest. We continued walking till around 4 or 5 pm. We decided to set our tents before dark. Since we started late, we hadn’t covered much…the walk to the top was still so far.
We had to sleep early because we were supposed to start hiking again late at night…well midnight, to be precised. We had something to eat and started our midnight hike. There were several small groups, we had to stay together with our small group. Ciremai is not a friendly mountain to climb during night.
A lot of us were actually still sleepy, some managed to sleep here and there during the hike…unfortunately I couldn’t do something like that. I stayed awake through the night. GOOD THING about hiking at night is that the inability to see the trek…the trek was hard but since we couldn’t see far it couldn’t discourage us at all. The most difficult one was when we passed through Bapa Tere, we had to use rope to climb.
We were trying to catch sunrise on top of Mount Cikurai…but safety always comes first, so we tried not to be careless just because we wanted to see the sunrise. When it was nearly dawn, the groups began to break and we walked with different people from different groups (but still with people from Jelajah). I ended up walking with 2 boys. We were the first people from our group. I was lucky to walk with them because I could still see sunrise behind the Triple S Mountains (Mount Sindoro, Mount Sumbing, Mount Slamet). Even though I didn’t see it from the top of the mountain but it was still gorgeous. You can see the video here> youtube.
Seeing those images made us walk faster and eager to reach the top as soon as possible. We soon saw clearing and was about to be excited when we realized that it was not yet the top. We reached Pengasinan, sort of like the shadow of the top. We took our time to rest there because no matter how fast we walk we wouldn’t be able to see the sunrise anymore.
The good thing about hiking is that we can always meet new friend 🙂 When we reached Pengasinan, there were only three of us from our group (me, Wira and Panji) but then we meet 4 boys from Bandung and teamed up with them…yup that made me the only female amongst 6 guys…again, I ended with an all boys group!
The seven of us walked together, laughed and chatted as if we were old friends even though we had never met and most likely will never meet again (they went down earlier than us once we reached the top).
I had a small pride when I reached the top…a man told me that I was the first female to reach the top that day 🙂 I know it’s nothing much but at that time I was quite happy with my small achievement. The top was (as always with any mountain) stunning. The view of the crater and the cloud instantly lifted all our tiredness away.
You can see a 30 second video here> Youtube
I took my time to share my love toward my babies 🙂 This is a different picture to the ones I shared at their blog> Underneath The Shell
One of the reasons why I love hiking is seeing the cloud so close and so beautiful. You can only see clouds around you when you are on the plane and on the mountain.
Where else can you have this kind of picture if not from the top of a mountain 😉
I reached the top of the mountain earlier than the others but I got down as the last person. I went to Mount Ciremai with my roommate. She wanted to go to an easier mountain, Mount Papandayan, but I’ve been there and I told her I want to go to Mount Ciremai, she can come along if she wants…she decided to join me. She had a cramp on her left leg, she couldn’t go to the top and waited for the others on Pengasinan. When I got down, I accompanied her along with 2 men from our group. We got down in a very slow speed because she was sort of limping all the way down.
Going down is usually faster but not this time; I climbed up around 7 hours but got down around 8 hours, from 11 am to pass 7 pm. It was raining, the trek was so slippery and the camping site was so far down the mountain. It was a very tiring hike. I was wet, hungry, thirsty and tired. i was so happy when we finally saw our camping site.
The group had to go down that night, without delay because the bus to Jakarta was waiting. My friend couldn’t walk anymore…so we decided to stay while the others went down. 6 of us waited till morning to get down while the rest got down around 9 pm. I was tired of walking in the dark, it was fortunate that my friend couldn’t walk so we could spend another night to rest.
Feeling all refresh in the morning made us all so cheerful when we finally got down. I was so happy to leave in the morning where the sun still shone because I got to see beautiful scenery around us…and we could have a group photo 🙂
I am going again with them to Mount Sumbing on May 14 🙂 …can’t wait!!
I truly enjoyed the greenery of paddy field on the feet of Mount Ciremai
As always, it was a fun hike 🙂
I am going to close this post with these two pictures:
Polychrome Interest 
Reblogged this on rennydiokno.com.
You must be in great shape (lots of leg muscles!) to go so fast! Beautiful pictures, as always.
I don’t know whether it was great shape or determination, I just walking with less rest while others tend to rest a lot.
Thank you Karel 🙂
You certainly have been going on a lot of hikes lately! It’s nice that you share them with us so that we can see some of the landmarks in your country.
Yes…hiking is addicted 😉
I left this hobby many years ago but once I did it again, I can’t stop…well, it’s hard to stop again.
I’m glad you like the pictures, Peter 🙂
It’s a good hobby in many ways. Plus we get to see your pictures, so we all win!
I guess you’re right 🙂
It’s a healthy hobby and I get to share pictures of my country.
Great pictures again! It seems that you always manage to get to the top before the group you start off with! So strong!
Thank you Jason 🙂
Hehe yeah it happened a lot. I am not sure it’s about being strong, I just like being on the first group because resting too long only makes it more tiring to start walking again. I enjoy resting for only 5 to 10 minutes and star walking again. Others tend to rest longer.
You’ve been on so many adventures lately. I love it. The hike down doesn’t sound fun. Rain and slippery conditions make for a long day. How sweet is Lyank for carrying two bags.
Yeah, once I started it again it seemed so hard to stop. It’s an addictive hobby 😉
I know, rain always slowed us down in any mountain but we still had fun nevertheless.
In every hiking, I always see such nice boy/man who is willingly help another.
The hiking is good for you! You look healthy and very happy.
I am a few years older than you, but I think I would not be in as good a shape as I am if I didn’t walk and hike as much as I do. Keep it up Novia, and you will be able to scale the peaks even when you are a granny someday. 🙂
Thank you Miyuki 🙂
I am planning to do that…just like the woman I met in Mount Rinjani, 58 and still hiking. I just wish I will meet a future husband who can understand my hobby 😉
I hate hiking up mountains after dark. It’s a pain because you can’t see where to put your feet as clearly and you can’t stop to admire the view as much. Mostly I get caught on the hill at sunset when I didn’t bring a bedroll and have to hike down in the dark. No way I’m going to start at midnight.
I get used to it and the light from the headlamp is enough to see the trek…as for the view, we’re going down afterward so we can see everything clearly then.
My latest hike was also a hiking in the dark.
It seems to be a regular thing there. Do you have the option of picking tours that only hike in the day?
I rarely seen one. Most of them hike at night unless if the mountain is not that high.