I started my hike journey this month with Lawu mountain that located between Central Java and East Java in Indonesia. This mountain is one of the 7 highest mountains in Java. Lawu mountain has three main tops, they are Hargo Dalem, Hargo Dumilah, and Hargo Dumiling. There are few access to go to there like Cemorokandang in Tawangmangu, Candi Ceto (Ceto Temple) in Karanganyar (Central Java), and Cemorosewu in Sarangan (East Java). The hiking trail that I’ve been through was Ceto Temple. This hiking trail is one of the longest tracks than the other tracks. There are five posts on this track with a distance is about 9.75 km.
At the beginning of the trip, the hiker will see the view of Kethek Temple and Ceto Temple. Because my friends and I started the walk at 4.30 am, we didn’t see the temple. But we would still know we were in the temple area because of the stairs, statue, and the spring pool. The hiking track to post 1, post 2, post 3, and post 4 is paths that are close to trees. Some of us didn’t continue to the post 5 because the weather was so terrible and our time wasn’t enough to reach the top. Because there was so much trouble in the trip, we came back to basecamp at night around 22.00, and actually, the night trip through the Ceto Temple track isn’t recommended. We came back from post 3 and got to the base camp at midnight around 01.00. The track conditions after the rain was muddy and slippery, we must be careful with our steps to avoid slipping. Our stamina wasn’t too fit because some of us were sleepy, tired, nauseous, and freezing made the trip was so long. We should stop and rest a few times during the trip.
That night trip was so terrifying for me, there were so many mystical things that happened. Yeah, Lawu mountain is so famous with sacred mountain and we should be careful with our words and our deeds. Before we hike this mountain, hikers should know the verbal term and non-verbal terms. It’s basic ethics and we should be adaptable to local wisdom and traditions. But overall, I enjoyed this trip and I’m so grateful that I can be relaxed for a while from my work and I found new friends during the trips.
