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Ignorance is bliss. Well I can tell you now that its NOT when it comes to doing a three day trek up a vertical volcanoe. When I got talked into doing this I thought to myself 'nice little walk up a nice little hill, good chance to see some outdoors and meet some friends.' Well I was totally wrong and totally out of my comfort zone to say the least!
Our group consisted of a dutch couple, an irish girl, a chick from London and of course our Indonesian guide, Sam. When we arrived at the bottom of the volcanoe we all were introduced and after a blessing we were on our way. Well that was my first mistake, I should have known then and there that anyone that receives a blessing before an activity is in a little bit of danger.
Our first day we walked up hill for seven hours. It was incredibily hot under the Indonesian sun so we were all drenched with sweat. We stopped for lunch about three hours into it and had some food. This gave us a chance to meet and greet our fellow companions. Our group members were pretty cool and it turned out that none of us really new what we were getting ourselves into.
Our last stretch of day one was up a steep hill that had tiny little rocks all down it. After 6 hours of climbing you can imagine that we were pretty exhausted and these tiny little rocks made our lives hell as we would slid back down.
We made camp looking at an amazing view. However we were quick to learn that we really did not have the right gear. It was really cold up there and even though we were given sleeping bags we still werent warm enough! We all started thinking that we really should have been warned about what we should have bought with us etc.
After a restless sleep we all woke up to our incredible view. Owen woke me up early (5am) so that I could watch the sun come up. It was very pretty and made Day 1 seem worth it... right until Day 2 tramp began.
We all ate our breakfast and at the same time we fried our shoes in front of the fire. It rained the day before so our shoes were soaked through. My shoe fell in the fire haha but luckily we managed to get it out before it caused real damaged. I think I would have been truely f***ed if it had of caught.
Anyway we went on our way down this giant cliff. Now when I say 'down' and 'cliff,' I truly mean down a bloody cliff. There was absolutly no means of safety what so ever. Although as we went down the views became more and more amazing as we edged closer to the lake and volcanoe (mini volcanoe caused by eruption). After three hours of cliff hanging we managed to get to our destination. We stopped by the lake to have a bite to eat and watch monkeys jump from tree to tree.
After lunch and a well earned break we continued on our journey to the top of the summit. This next bit of the journey for me was terribly hard. After climbing down a cliff we now had to proceed up the next one. Owen was like a monkey and well, I was more a slug. I was pretty much climbing up on my feet and hands very slowly. I was scared as hell because there were plenty of opportunities to fall. Owen was awesome though and really helped me get up there. He even carried my bag for me! Later, we learned that a lot of people have died during this leg of the journey. And not just a couple of dum tourists but several!! No wonder we all got blessed!
After reaching the top of this next cliff we made camp. We were above the clouds now and the sites were magnificent! I really cant descibe what the views were like except that they were pretty dam incredible. You could see the ocean, islands etc. Watching the sun rise the next morning was pretty choice!
The next day rolled in and it was time to make the journey home. It was a hard trip back after two full on days of tramping or cliff climbing. However, i could see a nice hot shower, a bed and clean clothes waiting for me so I wasnt going to let anything get in my way. The trip down was a whole lot easier because it was a much nicer route then going up so that was a pleasant suprise.
On the way back we talked to Sam about how dangerous it is for the average joe who did not do any real excercise (me) and he totally agreed with us. His job is to make sure everyone is safe and half the time he cant do that because he is normally focusing on one person.
Thankfully, we made it back to our hotel safe and sound. It was an Indonesian experience that I will never forget. We can tick climbing to the top of an volcanoe off our bucket list.
(photos will come up when I can... computer is not letting us but we will sort it in KL)
- comments
Ken Awesome story What the name of the tour ? so I can aviod it.
Evie That sounded so cool tho! Lucky you at least you did it well done! Missing you xx
Mary Pattie Gee Lily please research the danger levels next time. However well done for being a little survivor and thanks Owen you fit strong monkey boy.
Nicole Winton Hahaha oh dear!! Sounds like you guys are having an awesome time!!