Jun 29, 2014

Mt. Prau, Dieng (This Girl Went Hiking -Again!)



I once said that I would never climb a mountain. That was my last year's statement to some friends, but hey look now, I'm starting to fall in love with the idea of climbing, climbing till I want to faint and to finally reach the beautiful view on top. 

This plan was started so sudden; a friend asked me to join his idea of hiking Mt. Prau in Dieng, going with the same group of friends on my last trip in Banyuwangi. That was H-7, I was facing my exams and I was so panic and scared since I haven't done any exercises, and if I would also collapse once more. However later on it turned out that I was coming out better than my last hiking to Mt. Ijen. Perhaps I have prepared myself more, or maybe I have already expected the worst case of the exploration, or even perhaps myself was healthier compared with the Ijen one. 

It takes around 3.5 hours to get to the top with more rocky and difficult tracks. Started at 11 PM after the rain, the track was really slippery. There were so many climbers as well so it made the trip less dangerous. First thing I learned about climbers' culture is that, you suddenly become so friendly that every time we pass some climbers, we say hello and excuse me, and maybe a bit of chit chat. We arrived on the camping area at 2.30 AM and so shocked that there were sooooo many people. That erased my worries tho, since I was afraid if I was the one who left awake when everyone was sleeping. Such a bummer I am.

The view from our tent before the sunrise 
Kayak di Iceland (yha mb)

And this is the way to our tempat pipis (I mean semak-semak):

That one little lake on the centre is Telaga Warna
Biasanya liat kayak gini dari jendela pesawat...
Boys will always be boys...
 Heading back:


Waktu turun stress liat track ternyata susah banget...... untung waktu naik gelap jadi ga down duluan :')


So now, I guess I have made up my mind that instead of only exploring the world from the ground, I should also going up to the sky. If you can dream it, you can do it. If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try.

So see you all again on top!


X.

Jun 4, 2014

Menuju Timur: Banyuwangi (When Was The Last Time You Disappeared?)


So yep, another trip to the east. Semua dimulai dari demotivation untuk kuliah dan kejenuhan sama AIESEC. Asli, that was my lowest point to even have any motivation to get up in the morning and repeating the same routines everyday -morning classes, college tasks, meeting for this, meeting for that, planning this, planning that. I did not even have any time even for one fine, relax evening for a cup of tea in a favorite diner with myself. After I was elected to be one of the vice president in AIESEC UGM for term 14/15 last month, I jumped from one conference to another for days in Bogor, then Kaliurang; not to mention the sleepless nights on the conferences. Ditambah lagi, tugas kuliah lagi banyak dan sedang tai-tainya (btw kapan sih tugas paper HI ga tai), rasanya buat nafas aja ga sempet. 

But thank God someone saved me.

He's a friend of mine named Kunto, a guy I usually meet in gigs and art exhibitions. Dari dulu kita udah sering janjian traveling atau sekedar kemah bareng, tapi selalu gagal. Mulai dari selewat wacana, beda jadwal, sampe salah satu dari kita uda ada rencana lain. He invited me to join his trip called Menuju Timur with his college and high school friends --and I accepted it directly. The trip was heading into Banyuwangi, with the highlight of Kawah Ijen, Baluran and Menjangan. With that, I disappeared from everything I left in Jogja -college, AIESEC, meetings, blah. I knew I really needed some time to get away and coming back with a fresher mind.

We started the trip on 28 May 2014, kebetulan seminggu itu ada dua tanggal merah, jadi sekalian aja bolos kuliah seminggu. Kita naik kereta Sri Tanjung -this would by my 3rd time taking this train- dari Jogja jam setengah 8 pagi dan mencapai Banyuwangi jam 9 malem. Sampe Banyuwangi kita dijemput saudara jauh si Onah -yang juga merangkap jadi pemilik penyewaan mobil yang kita pake- dan nginep di rumahnya. Karena anggota trip masi kurang satu -doi mau nyusul, hari pertama di Banyuwangi kita ke Pantai Red Island sama Alas Purwo. 

Red Island
attempt to do self-timer shot: particularly failed
on the way to Alas Purwo
pantai di Alas Purwo
mungkin semacam rotten pondokan

gardu pandang
I wish this was my backyard

Malemnya, kita berangkat ke Kawah Ijen. Sampe di Ijen sekitar jam 1 pagi gitu, dan ternyata kita baru boleh naik jam 3 pagi, jadi tidur dulu deh di mobil. Udaranya dingin banget btw like literally, so I was like "mampus ga bawa kaos kaki, jaket juga seadanya", soalnya hasil dari browsing-browsing ga ada yang bilang dinginnya separah itu. Panik banget karena sinus lagi kumat, untung aja dapet pinjeman kaos kaki dan jaket dari temen-temen :') maafin ya anak ini ga pernah naik gunung ga ngerti medan, lemah lagi :')

Pas akhirnya udah boleh naik, deg-degan banget takut capek, ga kuat (deg-degannya udah dari Jogja sih btw) karena kata blog-blog orang itu lumayan capek. Setelah dicoba eh ternyata............................

capeknya yasalam banget ampun Tuhaaaaaaaannnnn~~

Katanya naik cukup satu jam aja, but I took around two hours karena kirain nanjaknya ga lebay, ternyata 45 derajat sodara sodara dan ga habis-habis. Sumpah gak enak banget sama yang lain karena mereka udah biasa naik gunung sementara cewek ini terlalu mudah menyerah dan letoy, jadi berhenti-berhenti mulu :'< maapin gueh guyyyyyysssss. Untungnya ada satu orang ini yang namanya Pulung yang dengan sabarnya bantuin --walaupun sesekali ngegeret juga karena doi ngejar the famous blue fire; but it really helped a lot.

Anyway, ternyata bener kenapa orang selalu ketagihan naik gunung. Pemandangan yang didapet setelah sampe puncak bener-bener bikin lupa sama capek. Saya yang tadinya udah gabisa ngomong apa-apa saking capeknya waktu naik sampe bisa lari-lari pas di puncak karena seneng banget sama pemandangannya.

  Zamrud Khatulistiwa - Chrisye

sendal gunung sama kaos kaki pinjeman ga sinkron, biarin yang penting pemandangannya bikin nangis
sama Pulung! cowo yang katanya egois dan ga sabaran tiap naik gunung ternyata mau nemenin dan nungguin si cewe lenjeh :')

Next stop: Baluran! Taman Nasional yang super bikin penasaran!

kaya wallpaper windows tapi bukan
ini agak saltum sih, abis dari tempat dingin langsung ke savanna ga sempet ganti baju. sekali lagi maapin

Sorenyaaaaaa kita langsung nyeberang ke Bali karena kita mau ke Pulau Menjangan! Kalo pengen kesitu, dari Gilimanuk bisa naik bus jurusan Singaraja (biaya 15-20 ribu, tergantung dapet calo atau ga) minta turun di Banyuwedang, itu udah deket sama pelabuhan buat nyeberang ke Menjangan. Rencananya kita nginep dulu di Banyuwedang dan main-main di Menjangan besoknya. Kita nginep di Banyuwedang Homestay, lumayan reccomended loh karena super low-budget --sekamar 150 ribu berempat, kalo bertiga 100 ribu dan kamarnya bersihhhh banget dengan bentuk bungalow ala-ala di Lombok.


Besoknya, anak-anak pada semangat banget buat snorkeling di Menjangan karena pada belom pernah, sementara saya memilih untuk ga ikut karena kapok dulu snorkeling di Karimunjawa berujung masuk angin dan diare, apalagi sinus kumat gini, ga deh.

Pelabuhan Banyuwedang
Menjangan!!
pada latihan dulu lol
Sambil nungguin yang pada snorkeling, akhirnya saya turun ke pulau buat liat-liat. Kebetulan hari itu lagi Galungan & Kuningan juga, jadi banyak umat Hindu beribadah di Pura Menjangan.

sejernih ini guys :')

 Ya kira-kira begitu deh bentuk Pulau Menjangan --which ended our trip. Sorenya kita balik Banyuwangi dan nginep di stasiun buat ngehemat biaya karena kereta balik juga besok paginya jam setengah 7.

Buat yang penasaran budget for the whole trip, kita semua per-orang rata-rata habis 500 ribu-an (tergantung banyak jajan cemilan dan makan masing-masing lol), sewa mobil itu 400 ribu sehari belom sama bensin (kebetulan kita dapetnya 250 ribu because, well, the power of links) dan kita juga pas banget bertujuh. Kalo pengen nge-trip gini sih mending rame-rame deh biar share budget makin dikit.

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I usually feel really sad to end a trip; that weird, quirky longing feeling where you just want to come back. Yet this is the worst. Waktu udah nyampe Jogja dan turun dari kereta, masih lumayan gak rela buat balik ke realita. There are so many stories in the journey --as always, as the best things always happen when we least expect it. This trip also makes me feel so sentimental about Indonesia, karena ternyata Indonesia-ku itu seindah ini.
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"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." -Lin Yutang

and,

"Never go on trips with anyone you do not love" -Ernest Hemingway

:)

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As I have read somewhere in my Path timeline, 20s is our selfish year. Old enough to make the right decisions, but young enough to make the wrong ones.
So what I want to say for those who are still on your 20s is:

Go travel and fall in love more.
The world is still big enough for you to dream away.

Till later,
x.

The team.