The adventurous Yogja - Day 4/5

Wake up...wake up... dinner time!!! We have to load ourselves with lots of carbo and water. Hiking Mt Merapi was not easy. Start at 1am and we have to reach the summit by 5am, to catch the sun rise. I was quite skeptical about myself to hike this Mt, I was worried and concerned about my legs. Can I carry myself that far? Can I conquer my height phobia? I have to give it a try, don't give up. Ensuring myself again and again.

Did some research about trekking Mount Merapi this is a live volcano, and most active volcano in Indonesia, with a height of 2930m above sea level. The last eruption was 2010, hope it will not erupt so soon :D keep our fingers crossed.  

2hrs drives from Yogja City to Selo village, nearest village to the peak. It will takes 4-5hrs to reach the summit, and another 3hrs down. Was told the last 200m was the toughest route. Basically, is a 1 step up & 2steps slides down .. phew.. I don't want to think about it.

Dinner at a local cafe

Resting/praying while waiting for guide

Getting ready!!!

It was drizzling and freaking cold outside... at 12 midnight. Getting ready for the trekking, a guide is recommended. Last check, head/hand torch, batteries, walking stick, water, warm clothing, snacks/energy bar.
Make sure you got a good head/hand torch, and enough batteries to last for the night.. sickening me.. got a spoiled torch with me :S half way up it failed !!! Luckily , I got a nice friend walking behind me and shone the way for me.. so touched! :D

The beginning of the trek

Pit stop

The 1st 500m was an easy smooth trek up. As we moved farther, it get tougher.. steep & narrow path up, rocky path. After 3hrs of climb,Yes CLIMB.. I was on ''four" to get up to the next big rock. I could hardly bring my legs up anymore... we were going to fast (the young ppl don't want to miss the sunrise) I knew I couldn't go further from here, I have stamina to go on but my legs are not listening to me anymore. It's getting weak, and can hardly stand. I have to give up.. I have to save some energy & strength to get down later.. omg.. what shld I do????

Getting panic & confused, almost cried.. what the hell am I doing here.. :S Struggled with my thoughts, not a good sign..so I decided to give up.Ya, I stopped and told the group I gave up. I urged them to go ahead, get some nice pic for me. Senior (a seasons hiker) too felt exhausted with the speed and fatigue (didn't take nap) so he too decided to stay. One of the guide stay with us, and found a nice cozy site for us to sleep :D Was freezing..wet and cold..what an experience.

Well, I have no regrets, at least I tried and made it to 2500m. Already proud of my achievement :) Managed to catch some nice view too.

The Summit behind me

Feel proud for my friends who make it to the top, Bravo!!!!

Pic by Sean

Steep all the way up...

U did it!Great Job!!!

Way down was another challenge, with height phobia and slippery wet muddy trek....took me 3-4hrs down.

Nice pancake treat from Guide

Heading back to Hotel, another 2hrs road trip. zzzzzz....tired and sweaty.,, hack care, zzzz all the way. Knocked out immediately when I hit the bed, :D zzzzzzz until dinner time.
Went for a body massage, rejuvenated and food exploration again. This time, we went for very local street food on the push cart. Moving from 1 to another cart, it's fun and exciting. We had spicy satay, siu mai, ginger dessert, bakso, all the authentic food.

Flight back home on the next morning. Tired but fun trip. Ask whether I would do the trekking again... hmmm maybe. Depends on how my knees conditions, and I believe with some training before climb it should be better. And ofcoz if we could go slower pace, it might helps too. Nevertheless, I do enjoy our group. Would love to travel as a group again! See you guys soon! :)

Home sweet home...

Information:
Guide recommended for trekking Mt Merapi, we got the guide from Yogja Tourism Board along Jalan Malioboro.
Standby Warm clothing, it get very cold on top of Mt.
Enough training, run/trekking before trip
Good pair of trekking shoes, walking stick and TORCH light (don't repeat my mistake)
Get enough sleep before the climb.

The adventurous Yogja - Day 4

Getting up at 4am... errr...our late night & early morning calls begins...

Trekking up hill to view sun rise at Borobudur. We have organized the tour with Manohara Hotel
the transport will pick us up at 4.30am, on the road for 30min and followed by a 30mins trekking.
A easy trek but walking in dim light (almost darkness) was not easy.

Guess luck was not with us, we do not get a good view for both sun set & sun rise..:( cloudy again. Kind of disappointing.

Borobubur from a far

Getting down the hill after sun rise

After sun rise, bkf in Hotel before we went into Borobudur temple. Hotel was just walking distance from the temple.

Borobudur it is listed in UNESCO world heritage site, one of the world's truly great ancient monuments, and single largest Buddhist structure on earth. It is huge & magnificent.

Flights of stairs we have to climb up

Going up layer by layer, from the story of Buddha's birth to his suffering, teaching & progress to the final stage of Nirvana. Be ready to expect some high school students going around trying to start a conversation. Most of them were friendly and can act as a free guide too :P they were trying to converse in English & learn about our Country & Culture as well.

The only Buddha left with complete statues, not being destroy by Mt Merapi eruptions in 2010. And was believed to be a "Lucky Buddha", was told to touch His heel for good luck. Well... hahaa knowing me..I have tried, but not possible unless you got a long arm. Coz you have to stuck your hand in from outside the stupa.

The Lucky Buddha

Borobudur view from Manohara Hotel

Oxtail fried rice

Checking out after lunch, going back to Yogja city. We need to catch a power nap before we hit the road again for night trekking up Mt Merapi. All dozed off during the 2hrs road ride to Hotel :D
I have booked myself in  Phoenix Hotel, a historical & fantastic Hotel with an affordable price & accessible to Shopping district. Wish to stay there again ;) 2nights in this Hotel, was not enough I deserve more :D 

Complimentary local fruits from Hotel

Information:
Borobudur open from 6am to 5pm, entry fee US$20/adult.
Daily sunrise/sunset can be organized by Manohara Hotel
Advance booking is recommended to stay in Manohara Hotel, rooms fully booked almost every seasons.

The adventurous Yogja - Day 3

The 3rd day, pack up & move to another Hotel closer to Borobubur Temple, Manohara Hotel. 2hrs by land, and on the way we stop by a few temples.

Our 1st stop, the lost but found Hindi temple Sambisari. It is located 8km east of Yogjakarta. The Temple was once buried 5m underground, and was accidentally discovered by a farmer. It has since became a popular tourist attraction. I like the green & serenity feeling, some calming effect.

Then we moved on to the highest Hindi Temple in SEA, Prambanan. It's located 18km east of Yogjakarta.Constructed in the tenth century. There's a love story behind this, check it out Prambanan

Steep stairs all the way

Pic by Joey

I must say that these temples are really awesome, but I didn't take a lot of pics..Well... I have seen Angkor Wat and they are kind of similar. Ofcoz, all of them have their own uniqueness, guess I'm just too overwhelmed/ "templed" :D and feel a bit bored & dried after 2sites...Nevertheless, my group did the pics well, isn't it :D So count on you guys for the pic. lol..

The Buddist Temple, Candi Sewu

Have a break, have a coke!!!

The quiet side of me :D

The vanity & funny side of me... a Dutchman ever comment "She can play with anything.." and that's true :D 

How about a dance pose?

 Some "caught in action" pics missed out in previous post.....

My crazy idea to pull the water out of Well

Powerful prayer that smoke :D

Mind your steps..stop playing!!!

A nice view of Mt Merapi on the way to Borobubur. Opps.. and we caused a slight traffic jam, to take this pic "D .. sorry!

Finding the best spot for a glimpse of sunset...15mins climbing up the stairs & steep slope.. to King Boko Palace, then we realized actually the best spot is at the cafe :D Phew... we have 5mins to get down, so quickly make our way down before we missed it.

Sunset view of  Mt Merapi

 We didn't get the full sunset, still a good experience tho :)

How could we end the day without some "Cheers!" :D Bought a few drinks and had it at the back of room balcony. Cosy and relaxing.

Informations:
Hindi temple Sambisari -- free entry.
Prambanan Temple --  Open hr 6am -6pm, US$18/entry (including sarong). There's a free toy train that ferry around every 10-15mins (but too long wait, we rather walk)


kk ;)