Hi! I was supposed to post the story days ago, but my internet wouldn't work well for these several days (=.=), and I had to postpone the post although I actually couldn't wait any longer, -.- Thanks to my brother for fixing it, and now I'm back! :E:E
And there the story goes again...
By the way, the travel diary for the second day would be so looonng, that I need to divide into another two parts. Hope it won't bother you! Have fun reading :)
Several minutes before 4.30 a,m. we were all prepared, (prepared in term of getting dressed and prepared mentally haha) most of my friends didn't want to eat anything because they said they were afraid that they'd probably feel nauseous during the hiking, but I really didn't understand why they had that kind of thought, because for me, I better had something in my stomach rather than let it be empty for several hours ahead, so I decided to munch some biscuits, while a dear friend of mine, Mr. +Erick Young decided to drink a small box of guava juice. (Something will happen later regarding this!!)
Right at 4.30 a.m, we got out from the homestay and the guide, who had already been waiting outside the house, (btw, the guide is the owner of the homestay, the father of Nachelle) welcomed us with a smile and pointed to a vehicle parked right in front of the door and said "That's our Ferrari!" with a very big laugh. And we laughed right away. Of course, it wasn't! It's a rented mini bus which is also a kind of public transportation here in Indonesia(read: angkot!!!).
Truthfully, I was happy that it's an angkot! Because it would be a lot better than a truck. hahaha
Soooo, we embarked on our journey to the foothill with the two Germans who were staying together with us, shared some biscuits with them on the way (as a hospitality gesture? although I didn't know whether they ate it or not muahaha), and let Mr. +Erick Young fulfill his wish to have some communications with his so-called "long lost siblings" (nahloh!), (with some foreigners I mean here) haha
I could tell you that riding an angkot in the dark to the foothill is a totally new experience because it was so dark, that we could hardly see the road, and the road was heading up. I mean it was sloping with ravines on the side of the road. It was actually kinda scary. Thanks to the driver who was so calm and experienced. On top of that, I was amazed that a minibus like that, with the machine's non-stop rumbling sound, could ride on the sloping road, it was cool! haha
The minibus dropped us off at some post, and we had to start walking because it couldn't any further. With the darkness surrounding us, it was really hard to see. But, the stars were there, scattered all over the night sky, shining really bright. The view of the sky was so awesooooome. And since we're on a high place, it felt really nice seeing those stars, as if they're so close to us. Waaaaww.
Smiling at our amazed face, the guide told us to turn on the torch that we'd been carrying all along, then the hiking began.
The path was quite smooth but it was really sloping, so it's kinda hard for us who are not used to hiking (or even sports!). Just about the first 20 minutes, we breathed real hard, (I'm not exaggerating over here, but it's real), We breathed heavily. (Maybe because for some of us, this was our first time hiking that we're still not physically prepared) Well, fortunately, we had two guides coming with us. One in front, one at the back. So, if any of us needed to take a break or take some pictures, we wouldn't have to worry, we wouldn't be left behind without any guide and we wouldn't delay the others too.
We all started together as one big group, but then after a while, four of us, which were me, +Winda Chai , +Daniel Jiang and +Putra Jaya were left far behind, because we kept asking for break, and for taking pictures (this only applied for Mr. Daniel Jiang). And here's a snap of the stars by him!
(with lighting by our torches)
(the view without lighting! See how bright those stars were? And they were scattered all over! Definitely not a view commonly seen in the cities! <3)
Realized that we had been left far and we'd probably be late to see the sunrise on top of the mountain, we continued to hike. After we passed the sloping road, we met the rocky muddy and also slippery path. If before, we could hike while walking, this time, we needed to climb or jump a lil bit, and we needed to balance ourselves well too. And this time, it wasn't as hard as before. We didn't really breathe heavily anymore. Maybe because it's more horizontal or maybe we're used to it already, I don't know, but I started to enjoy the hiking again, and I couldn't wait to reach the summit as soon as possible.
Btw, the guide was very kind and responsible, he waited for us several times (a lot of times actually!), was willing to carry Daniel's heavy backpack filled with camera, and even offered to carry Putra's backpack because he looked so tired and not well. He kept asking and checking Putra's condition to make sure that he could go on.
Sure that everyone's ok, we kept on going, chasing the sunrise. Well, we could finally see the summit after around 1 hour and 30 minutes had passed, and the sky started to get brighter and brighter. Honestly, I was panic at that moment. Because it seemed that the sun was rising. >.< and we hadn't reached the summit yet.
See? We're almost there!! Wait for meee, sunrise!
I was panic but also excited at that moment. I rushed myself to the summit, because I didn't want to lose any chance seeing the sun rising from the top of the mountain, it was the point for this hiking after all!
We finally reached there after about 10 minutes, and I felt soooo happy that the sun hadn't completely risen yet, it hadn't shown itself yet. We looked for our friends, and found them sitting, taking selfies haha
It felt soooooo amazing to stand on top of a mountain, looking around and feeling so grateful with the beauty of nature that's been given to us all this time. Looking up, the clouds were so close to us; looking down, we were served with great views of the lands below us. And the feeling that I could at least accomplish something, (read: hiking Mount Sibayak) somehow made me feel more confident about myself, that I could and I did it, and it means I can do many more in the future. (Wish me luck!) B)
(Striking summit poses with the two Germans (who have great staminas!) and the guide, Mr. Abdy!)
(This guy over here were actually having kinda emergency but he still acted cool, pretending he's okay although he's actually not. hahaha He was shaking, cold and because he needed to restrain something that's been churning in his stomach from coming out, as a result of the guava juice early in the morning :p)
(p.s: We jokingly told the guide about his condition, and the guide simply told us that he could let it come out behind those rocks at the edge of the summit, and that nobody would know. Imagine that, it could be the coolest thing ever, doing "that" on top of Mount Sibayak! Weirdly, I was so excited with that idea that I asked him to do so, which he replied with a "what-the-hell-you're-talking-about" look and eyes rolled haha)
(The smoke was coming for the sulphur and it was boiling hot)
When we descended, it felt much easier, much faster, and it's not as tiring as when we ascended. Moreover, with the sun's up, we got the chance to see the path and the surrounding that we passed before and realized that it's not as scary as what we thought haha)
(Reached the resting point and heaven for that guy who had been bearing his pain for more than one hour wkwk)
We continued descending, walking down through the sloping path (the one that made us breathed heavily) before, and it was kinda fun haha because we had to control ourselves not to slide down haha and that guy was back with all his jokes after he had done with his business! No more worries, and we're going down with a lighter heart and again full of laugh :D
See you again soon cause there's still more to goooo!
xoxo
(All photos credited to +Daniel Jiang, with some by Tripod, and one by the guide)
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