As mention above ladies and gentleman, I have hiked Gunung Gede, Bogor. Alhamdulillah I made it up and down safe and sound; I'm so grateful that I can blog about it. Hee..I know it's been a long time since I wrote anything but yeah..I think it's better than stopping right? So, here it goes!

Originally I wanted to hike Gunung Padjajaran at Garut but there weren't any groups going and in a way none of my friends responded when I asked if they wanted to and I gave up the whole idea really. Then one day my friend asked if any of us wanted to join and hike Gunung Gede so I said yes at the moment!

The whole trip was a 3 days 2 nights experience and we started off on Friday to the group's basecamp at Seoka. From there we rode a truck to get to Gunung Putri's homestay and yeah, we went to Gunung Gede thourgh Gunung Putri.

Calilah night 1 atu LOL. I wouldn't imagine I'd ride an army's truck from Seoka to Bogor. All stuffed with people and bags. It was funny and funnier when we reached the homestay. I'd expected the word 'homestay' would be a room with beds for the girls..You know, warm and cozy but no. Lol. It was literally a space beside this bapak's house with roof on top and well yeah, we just belimpang there with everybody. Macam, a parking space lah ah imagine and you just lie there and sleep. 

Honestly I couldn't sleep but I forced myself to in the condition because for one thing I wanted to forget the shock I had with the word 'homestay' and yeah I needed enough rest for the hike.

Morning came. We had breakfast, went to the toilet and started our hike at 6am. We arrived around 4pm that day and wow, it was an experience. It was a challenge most definitely both physically and mentally. For one thing the fact that we brought our own stuff up the mountains; I mean biasa di Tasek Lama kah Bukit Shahbandar kah nada bah kan membawa-bawa barang ani. You just bring your own water and other necessities like your mobile and car keys right? Imagine bringing necessities like clothes including water and food up the mountains. Gila lah but because of that I now understand why hiking bags have a lot of those seat belt thingies if you notice? Yeah rupanya it's used to support the things you're bringing. The seat belts must be  used so that the weight focuses to your back instead of your shoulders. So by the end of the day your shoulders is still intact and not in pain.

Before the hike

Seatbelts up!

Believe it or not ada orang bejual jua diatas atu. Lol.

After half a hike.

Going up!

The hike took 10 hours to do. We went slow of course because for one thing it was our first time and seriously we didn't do any training before the hike. It amazed me really that we managed to arrive there and with no complications such as nosebleeds. The hike was cool. Imagine you're hiking in a air-conditioned room lah ah. So masa hiking it was bearable but when we took breaks it was cold especially with our sweats. Woohoo. Imagine the scenery is Tasek Lama but beaircon. Ya udah tu haha. Tekajut jua lah ada orang bejual here and there at the hiking points so during breaks we bought hot tea and etc. Hahah cali.

I like the fact that the hikers; old and young, going down or up. All of them greeted all of us and everyone there; and they also supported us the whole way. But then again, I think it's just common courtesy between the Indonesians? That they're just so nice. Although they don't know each other, they greeted as if they do and then they get to know you. This thing doesn't just happen in the mountains fyi.

When we reached Alun-alun Kencana basecamp, I cried eh. Serious. Inda sangka lah pokoknya and it's just so..Beautiful! Cold, beautiful lah ah. I definitely have never seen such environment and scenery. Clouds passing by and etc. I cannot believe I'm close with the clouds lah ah.








Camping for a night there was another thing. Calilah. Bepikir juakan kejamban. LOL. There were no toilets there and seriously we went dangerously. LOL! And during the night time, MashaAllah..Sajuknya.. I wore 3 layers of clothes with 2 jackets and I still felt cold to my bones! You see the coldest I've experience is Dubai so seriously it was colder up there. Banartah. The sound of the cold wind crashing our tents and it was a good thing it didn't rain or anything. I was so grateful for that. We slept around 10pm I think and we slept easily as we were really tired. There were funny stories here and there but hey, what happened in Gede stays in Gede. LOL!

We went to the peak/puncak the next day and omg, getting out of the tent at 6am that morning was crazy. But I wanted to because bila lagi kan? Hahah. So we hiked again and then sampai puncak. Took pictures here and there then we went down to have lunch, packed our stuff then went down.

Going down was a crazy challenge. Crazy. For 1 thing you were tired already because of your hike you did yesterday. You'd think going down wouldn't take that long (which is true) and you'd think it wouldn't be that tiring. You're wrong. Tiring gila pulang. I don't know why but maybe pasal sudah naleh and also we're going down hard? I for one thing had ankle and knee pains during the hike down so that gave a me slight mental breakdown. Luckily the group I'm with taught me the right way to go down and seriously, I had the whole 4-5 hours to practise.

I cried when we reached down though. For one thing because I reached during Maghrib and it was raining. Gila jua lah. Mental kacau jua. Especially when the group I joined was sarcastic the whole way and was annoyed that we were slow. Entahlah. Hahah.

But, awesomelah. Banar. I'd want to hike again but I think I'd like to go with a group of people that I enjoy to be with rather than I'm uncomfortable with? Pasal macam kana bully rasanya dengan group atu though I'm grateful they provided with the camps and etc. But really, kacau mental eh.


Things I learned for a beginner's hike?

1. The seatbelts does have a function. To support the weight to your waist instead of the shoulders and back to avoid the pain on those areas during the hike. It really did the job and I seriously depended on the seatbelts alright.
2. Pack as light as you can. This ain't no hotel with showers and toilets. Just bring the 1 option of necessary clothes. You're just putting on weights when you're thinking of styling your wardrobe up there and at what benefit? None. You'll just be in pain.
3. Wet wipes. Disposable panties. They're my savior alright. For toilets and your everything. No explanation needed. Hahah.
4. Get ready for the cold. The mountains are cold. If they say bring a jacket, with a hat and gloves then that means IT IS COLD. Trust them. I may say pack lightly but don't take the cold lightly. Don't think you can fight the cold. Unless you're my friend Najib who can withstand it. Hahah.
5. Be dry when you sleep. You'll get colder if you're wet.
6. Bring a sarung. For when you need to go to the toilet atleast you got something to cover yourself with. Trust me on that. LOL!
7. I drank less water. I tried drinking less water at the time mostly because there are no toilets in the mountains or in the forest. 
8. Learn how to hike down the right way. This is to avoid ankles and knees pain. Trust me.
9. Go take a cold shower after that. To cool down your muscle and to decrease the pain when you get back.
10. Bring your powerbank. For picture purposes.
11. No hotel or glam camping imaginations please. It's rough. Just expect to jarih. Hahah!
12. Stamina. It was definitely not easy and everybody who wants to try and hike especially Gunung Gede, please please please prepare your stamina. And mentality. It's a long hike. It took me 10 hours. Imagine if you're not ready. How many hours will you take?

That's what I can remember. For one thing, you can't deny there were challenges and unexpected treatments but after it's all done and with me here sitting and typing about this, I gotta say. I'd do it all again. Another gunung, one more time naik Gede? Why not. It's fun!