The Amazing Trip to Mount Semeru

Our Semeru trip started from Pasar Senen train station in Jakarta. We took train Matarmaja from Jakarta to Malang which only cost 65.000 rupiah (USD $6). The train took about 16 hours from Jakarta to Malang. Even though the rate is cheap, the train has been equipped with air conditioner which is enough to make you feel cold during night time. The only minus point from this train was that many outsiders came into the train trying to sell their stuff, from toys, food and books.

As soon as we arrived at Kota Baru train station in Malang, we went directly to Traditional market called Pasar Tumpang. We bought logistics for our trip here such as bottled water, rice, vegetables, sugar and many other stuff. However, please keep in mind to bring logistics as light as possible but enough for you to survive during your trip because it will make your trip harder if you bring too much stuff.

After our logistics is enough, we then used jeep to bring us to the last village, Ranu Pani, before starting our foot trip. The rate for the jeep is 550.000 rupiah ($USD 50) for maximum 15 people. You can divide this amount of money with your friend or other climbers or you can just rent private jeep for you. The cost of the rental is still the same.

It took one hour to reach village Ranu Pani. Before we started our foot trip, we need to pay for the entrance fee. The rate is also very cheap, only cost us 10.000 rupiah (USD $1) each. Besides that, we have to provide copy of our identity card and permission from doctor that we are fit to hike a mountain. One thing that we need to do before we start the trip is to fill in our stomach. We bought curry rice and fried tempe in this coffee shop.

The trip from Ranu Pani to the top of mount semeru will be divided into 3 stages:

Ranu Pani Ranu Kumbala Kalimati Top of Semeru

In each stage, there will be few check points which at this checkpoint we can take rest and take some pictures of Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park beautiful scenery.

The first stage of the trip will be from Ranu Pani to Ranu Kumbala. This first stage is divided into 3 check points: Ranu Pane Landengan Dowo Watu Rejeng Ranu Kumbolo

The trip was quiet hard since we have to walk through stone, sand, trunk of tree and more over, we still need to bring our own logistics. When I saw other people who used porter to bring their logistics, I just told my self that I will be more satisfied if i can bring my own logistics. Besides that the rate of the porter is quiet expensive, which is 150.000 rupiah (USD $ 14) per day.

Ranu Pani is located at the height of 1700 mdpl and Ranu Kumbolo is located at the height of 2400mdpl. This trip will take a total time of 4-6 hours depending on the speed and stamina. For me, I started my journey from 2 pm and reached Ranu Kumbolo at about 8 pm. My advice is that you can start your trip early, but not later because the temperature at night will be very cold. So it is better to reach Ranu Kumbala early so that you can take rest early inside your tent.

This is the picture of Bromo Tengger Semeru national park that i took during my trip:

In the morning, the temperature in Ranu Kumbala can reach up to -20 degree celcius, while during my trip the temperature at Ranu Kumbala was -10 degree celcius. I was amazed when I found that the water around my tent turn into ice.

The temperature was very cold so that I need to wear two jackets and two pants. I also covered every part of my skin except my face. However, this extreme temperature does not prevent me from enjoying the view of Ranu Kumbala.

As you can see here, the haze was coming from the water. At Ranu Kumbala, you can enjoy the sun rise which appear from between two hills. Even though the Ranu Kumbala lakes water looks very clean, all travellers are prohibited to swim here. The reason is because the water in this lake is used by all of the travelers to drink and prepare their food.

After enjoying the morning in Ranu Kumbala, it was the time to continue our journey to the next stage, which is Kalimati. In order to reach Kalimati, there are 2 checkpoints that we need to go through: Ranu Kumbala Cemoro Kandang Jambangan Kalimati

This trip from Ranu Kumbolo to Kalimati took about 4-5 hours. The first checkpoint is at cemoro kandang. During the trip to first checkpoint, you can see huge lavender field. However, the lavender flower does not flourished at this time. If you want to see the purple lavender flourished, you have to go to Semeru around month May-June. Even though I could not see the lavender, i still could enjoy the view of the hill and took photo there. This huge lavender field is called orok-orok combo.

After we passed through orok-orok combo, we then found ourself at the cemoro kandang which is pine forest. We took a rest for a while here and took a photo with the background of pine forest and orok orok ombo. We also prepared our stamina since after this, we need to go uphill to reach jambangan. The trip from cemoro kandang to jambangan was quiet hard since our trip was almost all the way up. We just need to walk slowly but steady and we would reach jambangan in no time.

After we reached Jambangan, we already could see the top of the semeru very clearly. We also started to see edelweiss flower here.

Next, the trip from Jambangan to Kalimati was the easiest one because the route is flat. We reached Kalimati in no time from here. Be sure that you bring enough water container to Kalimati since the water source is quiet far. It took me for about one hour to take water and go back to my tent. The temperature in Kalimati was not as cold as in Ranu Kumbala. However, the water inside the water container still turned into ice in the morning. So be prepare to bring thick jacket.

In Kalimati, the main thing that we need to do was to prepare our stamina for the night to uphill to the top of the semeru mountain. I reached Kalimati at about 3 pm, and then slept at 6 pm. I need to sleep early because at 11pm I have to start my journey to the top of the semeru. For this trip, we have to prepare our logistics well. We could not bring too much logistics since it will make our trip harder. For me, i brought 1.5 litres of water, dates, cereal, bread and chocolate. I will need this during my trip later on.

The trip from Kalimati to Top of Semeru have 2 checkpoints, which are: Arcopodo and Kelik. Arcopodo is located at 2900mdpl while Kelik is located at 3000mdpl. We have to be careful when we walk to Arcopodo because at our left and right side is a cliff. Besides that, we have to bring very bright headlamp since our trip was at night. Dont forget to bring trekking pole because it will help you to uphill the mountain. Once we reach arcopodo, we took a rest for a while and then continued to uphill to the top of semeru. Kelik is the boundary between plant and stone part of the mountain. Once you pass Kelik, you will not find tree anymore.

From Kelik to Semeru is our hardest journey. It took me almost 5 hours to reach the top of semeru from Kelik. This was the hardest part because we have to uphill the mountain with the slope of around 45 degrees. The field comprises of stone and gravel, without any plant or tree. It was very hard because our step is not stable, which I was always shadowed by the possibility of falling down. Also, it drained our stamina since the distance is about 1 kilometres high. Bring oxygen if required to prevent from breath problem. Be careful from the falling stone from your top. In order to reach the top of the mountain, you have to set your mind that you can reach there because only with that you have the extra energy.

And finally, you reach top of semeru which is located at 3676 mdpl. This is the highest land in the Java island. Once we reached there, for a moment we forgot all the difficulties that we have gone through. We really enjoyed the view of pillow of cloud, other mountain such as bromo, putri, arjuno wirangun. We were able to hear the sound of wedhus gembel (vapour) very clearly and see how the vapour was vomitted from the mouth semeru.

*FYI, mount semeru is still an active mountain and it generate the vapour once in 15 minutes.*

For complete story and photos, you can visit my official blog here: http://blog.getourguide.com/2013/09/30/t…

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