11 January 2013
Finally I got the opportunity to hike the Sikunir mountain in Dieng! Rushly decided to go, count out the last minute announcement from my friend, I once again went to Dieng. I rode my motorbike to the bus station, because it’s cheaper to board out the motorbike on the bus station (IDR 4 thousand per day) than to ride ojek or taxi (IDR 10-15 thousand one way).
The bus was so crowded and ran slowly. Well, not that crowded actually, only because the lady sat next to me was pretty big, yet she pushed me against the window. I hardly could breath for about 3 hours, but I kept thinking of the fresh air of Dieng, so I survived.
I caught the last bus to Dieng in Wonosobo. I was starving so I bought tempe kemul (one of Wonosobo specialties, similar to mendoan but more crispy with chopped chives) and jenang candil (traditional sweet porridge with tasty coconut milk sauce).
I arrived in Dieng at 7 PM and too lazy to take a bath as usual. I met two new friends, Piter from Netherlands and Fabian from Switzerland. We would go together to Sikunir the next day. My friend, Dwi, told us to get ready at 4 AM, because we had to ride a car to Telaga Cebong (= Cebong lake) around 30 minutes and then hiked up around 20 minutes.
It was a freezing morning that Piter shivered (since last night). He didn’t bring any proper outfit for he thought that Indonesia was a tropical country with hot sunny days all year long. So, we drank our hot tea and ride Herman’s car to Telaga Cebong. Wacky roads!
Piter and Fabian use to hike a lot, I suppose, because they walked up easily. Or it was just because of the thin oxygen… I’m trying to make an alibi here. I tried to breathe on top while waiting for the sunrise.
(Un)fortunately, the clouds blocked the sunrise, but we could still enjoy the wonderful view on top of Sikunir. Dwi told us that Dieng is the best producer of potatoes in Indonesia. Maybe I should move here. I love potato so much.
We went back down to Telaga Cebong through a new path. Beautiful, but it would be harder if we went up through this path. There were pine trees, but last month there was fire that has burned an area. The youth of Dieng tried to plant and grow trees to prevent erotions on Sikunir area. They contacted the goverment for support, but it didn’t work well, so they raised fund for this program.
Traveling and Discerning 