Do you dare to challenge your self for a jeep riding up to Merapi Volcanic Mountain? Early at dawn?
About Merapi Jeep Lava Tour
Jeep Lava Tour has become one of the favourite tourist attractions in Merapi recently. We can find it at Kaliurang, about 23 km from Jogjakarta. It is called Jeep Lava Tour because by riding an off-road jeep , we’re going to explore the paths where the lava flowed at the big eruptions in 2010. While riding the jeep, we can enjoy the fresh natural scenery of Mount Merapi and the remnants of the previous eruption. Well, it won’t be such a smooth journey, but it surely brings so much fun!
There are various offers that you can choose, depends on the length of the routes. They are: Short Trip, Medium Trip and Long Trip. Some agency even add Sunrise Trip, Sunset Trip or Night Trip. You can check it online before deciding which one to choose. There are many tour agencies which give complete description of each package. We can find it or book a trip by clicking www.traveloka.com , tripadvisor, www.tourmerapi.com , www.lavatourmerapi.online or www.yogya-backpacker.com
 |
| Sunrise picture taken from www.yogya-backpacker.com |
Each agency may offer different route for each package. They may also have different rates of cost for each package.
Off We Go! The Sunrise Trip
The Sunrise package that we chose that day visited Bunker Kaliadem, Alien Stone, Remnants Treasure Museum (Museum Sisa Hartaku) and had some water splashes at Kali Kuning. I and my colleagues ordered the trip the night before at the hotel we stayed, Villa Eden 1. The Manager of the hotel kindly ordered three jeeps for us. Each Jeep carried four passengers. We paid Rp.400.000 per jeep. The trip lasted for about 1,5 – 2 hours.
We woke up early that day. After having Subuh pray at 04.15 WIB, we rushed to the lobby of the hotel. Can’t wait for the journey! Brrr.. it was so cold outside and oh my! I forgot my jacket. But the jeeps had been ready in front of the hotel. No time to go back to room. The sunrise couldn’t wait. “So off we go! Don’t mind about the jacket.”
Hmm..the first lesson for me is : Next time prepare well for a trip, instead of chatting too much in excitement. For the sunrise trip, it’s better for you to wrap yourself with a warm sweater, a jacket ,with a muffler or shawl. It was at the beginning of rainy season so the dawn was even colder. Even though it wasn’t the best season to enjoy Merapi, we’re lucky because it wasn’t raining hard that morning.
The roads were not crowded that early morning. That’s the plus point of having the sunrise trip. At the midday the numbers of the jeeps might be too many. The number of the trips increased a lot during the weekend, the driver explained. Another plus is: we didn’t get too much dust as the roads‘re not dry yet. And the best part is: Having the very fresh air of the new day! It feels like refuelling our lungs with fresh clean air at dawn.
Bunker Kali Adem and Batu Alien
The First stop was Bunker Kaliadem. We were told by our friendly jeep driver that we would watch the sunrise there. The sun rises from the eastern side of Merapi and Bunker Kaliadem is the best place to enjoy it. But we didn’t bring to much expectation for an overwhelming sunrise that morning. Well, it was a dawn at a rainy season. Thick clouds and fogs were everywhere. We didn’t meet the sunrise actually. However, we felt- we were lucky enough as the fogs were not really thick and the clouds opened a little while; allowing us to enjoy the awesome scenery of Merapi Mountain.
The paths were slippery as the result of the rains last night. Wearing good sneakers were good choices . At Bunker Kaliadem, we would walk up to the spot.
There are many beautiful instagramable spots where we can take pictures or have thousands selfies at Bunker Kaliadem and Alien Stone. Our jeep driver kindly offered himself as photographer during the journey.
At Alien Stone, or Batu Alien as local people said, we can see big stone which was thrown away from the peak of the mountain during the big explosion at 2010. According to the villagers, the stone wasn’t there before the eruption. I found a food stall at the Alien Stone area. I enjoyed a glass of hot tea and a small portion of breakfast with hot dishes called ‘Jangan Lombok’ and fried tempe. There were some small shops selling merchandise, too.
Enjoying Splash of Water at Kali Kuning
The next destination of this package was a small river namely Kali Kuning. Yuhuuu.. we would be wet here! It was full of fun and screaming.
The driver will add some speed as the jeep racing across the river to create more splash. “More! More!” we spoke out excitedly. And Brrummm..brummm.. the driver turned twice or three for another splash of water.
Here is the video :
For safety, we were not allowed to stand on the jeep at this part of the trip. We had to sit down with seat belt fixed well. Make sure you wear your helmet precisely. Bringing kids under five maybe not recommended as they will not able to sit with seat belt fixed during that off-road journey. Older toddler might enjoy such this kind of experience. And if you don’t like this part of the trip, feel free to discuss with the driver. Most of the drivers are helpful and friendly.
We enjoyed this water spot too much. It’s something that we couldn’t experience in everyday live.
The Remnants Treasure Museum (Museum Sisa Hartaku)
This is a kind of private museum run by the local villager. It was an abandoned house which was then turned into a museum called ‘Museum Sisa Hartaku’ or the Remnants Treasure Museum. Some other peoples may call it Mt.Merapi Museum. This spot is quite unique as it shows the aftermath of the big eruption of Merapi in 2010. It was such a horror catasthrophe! There were lots of victims, it was said that about 353 people killed and hundreds of houses were broken.
During that big eruption, the hot volcanic gas known as ‘Wedhus Gembel’ destroyed and melted everything in its path. There are many things that we were exhibit there, such as remnants of animal bones, household and kitchen appliances, clock and vehicles.
I was moved by the sight of a remnant of a small bicycle. I hold my tears as I imagined the life of the kid who had this broken bicycle. Ashes were covered the remnant. The hot volcanic gases had destroyed the small joyful dream of this bicycle. Nature is really powerful. How could we as a fragile human being keep boasting ourselves as the most powerful one.
The rains started pouring down as we left this museum. The jeep moved back to the hotel. Surprisingly, the rains didn’t bother us at all. We really enjoyed this Jeep Lava Tour. It was the most memorable adventure we had. The scenery, the jeep trip and the museum were so awesome.
Cerita diatas adalah pengalaman saya bersama beberapa rekan guru saat ‘escape’ dari acara In House Training yang dilaksanakan Sabtu – Minggu akhir tahun ini. Hanya squad kami saja, hanya beberapa emak-emak rempong, yang ingin melarikan diri sejenak dari kepenatan acara. Untungnya bu Kepala Sekolah mengizinkan asal saat acara dimulai, yaitu jam 08.30, kita sudah harus sudah siap di ruang kegiatan di hall hotel.
Yess, dengan semangat 45 kita mengatur perjalanan untuk Jeep Lava Tour – Sunrise Trip. Agak mahal sedikit sih, tapi kalau rombongan bayarnya kan tidak terasa. Terlebih lagi sangat ‘worth’ untuk pengalaman seru yang kita peroleh. Habisnya, Villa Taman Eden 1, tempat kami menginap ini sangat dekat dengan pusat Jeep Lava Tour. Masa sih mau disia-sia kan?! Hehe.. inii terdengar seperti alasan emak-emak kurang piknik, yak.
Keuntungan memilih Sunrise Trip :
- Udaranya super sejuk di awal hari. Tepat setelah selesai sholat subuh, Jeep trip langsung dimulai. Udara Kaliurang dingin segar sekali saat pagi.
- Tidak terlalu banyak jeep hari itu. Siang hari saat weekend bisa sangat crowded, sehingga bisa mengurangi kenyamanan
- Tidak berdebu. Siang hari perjalanan dengan Jip ke Merapi bisa sangat berdebu. Apalagi jika itu musim kemarau. Penumpang perlu masker saat seperti itu. Kebetulan ini pas awal musim penghujan. Jalanan pagi tidak berdebu sama sekali.
- Pemandangan terasa lebih fresh. Sisa embun membuat pepohonan tampak lebih segar. Apalagi ditambah munculnya semburat warna munculnya matahari. Beberapa spot tampak lebih dramatis.
Memang kali itu kami tidak berhasil mendapati sunrise yang jelas. Awan beberapa kali menutupi guliran matahari di lereng sisi timur Merapi, tempat matahari pagi muncul. Tetapi tetap saja pemandangannya bagi kami sangat menawan. Bunker Kaliadem, Batu Alien, Kali Kuning dan Museum Sisa Hartaku/Museum Merapi semua merupakan tempat yang keren untuk dikunjungi.
Saya paling tersentuh ketika merenungi barang-barang sisa reruntuhan ledakan gunung Merapi pada tahun 2010 lalu. Sebuah pemandangan sepeda kecil membuat air mata ini hampir luruh begitusaja. Terbanyang betapa dasyatnya lerusan itu. memudarkan impian bahagia si sepeda kecil dan anak yang memilikinya.
Ah, betapa dasyatnya kekuatan alam ini. Malu saya kalau teringat masing seringnya muncul keinginan untuk sombong merasa lebih powerful. . Padahal - Manusia betapa rapuhnya dirimu.
Ah, betapa dasyatnya kekuatan alam ini. Malu saya kalau teringat masing seringnya muncul keinginan untuk sombong merasa lebih powerful. . Padahal - Manusia betapa rapuhnya dirimu.
Pengemudi yang begitu ramah bersahabat membuat perjalanan selama dua jam itu terasa lebih menyenangkan. Beliau malah yang menawarkan diri sebagai fotografer merangkap pengarah gaya bagi emak-emak narsis di beberapa spot yang instagramable.
Perjalanan dengan Jeep ini memang agak membuat kita terguncang-guncang. Tapi kita sangat menikmatinya. Bahkan saat hujan turun sekalipun. Aiihh jangan salah, pimpinan squad kami ini adalah biangnya emak-emak. Beliau adalah guru sejarah saya dulu saat SMA dan sebentar lagi mau purna tugas.Perjalanan jeep ini oke-oke saja untuk orang yang sudah berumur selama dalam keadaan sehat dan mau mengikuti aturan.
Overall, perjalanan mengejar sunrise di Merapi dengan Jeep ini sungguh terasa menyegarkan dan istimewa. Merapi menyapa, menuturkan keindahan dan kedahsyatannya pagi itu.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar