General Information:

1. date: from 30/7/2008 until 4/8/2008
2. no of days: 6 days
3. flight: lcct-solo: ak996, 655 am, 30/7/2008 ; surabaya-lcct: qz 7613, 835 am, 4/8/2008
4. total participants: 9
5. CHANGE OF ITENARIES: please take not that the itenaries have changed. This is to accomodate Mas Arey late arrival on the 31st at Jogja. We regret that we could not proceed to Ijen. Instead, we will replace ijen with The highland of Dieng ( Dataran tinggi Dieng ). Kelud is an option, if we have time, we will take half an hour detour at kelud.
6. exhange rate: rm 355 : 1 juta rupiah, please bring sufficient money. Sometimes it is better to change your currency at malioboro, we can get better rate overthere. will show you the ‘toko’. The chick is not bad either…hahaha. — updated: kabul managed to get today’s exchange rate: rm 350 : 1 juta rupiah. considering that this rate does not change much next week, we can save between rm 5 to rm 30 every 1 million rupiah. got it skool children? FYI, exchange rate in penang is rm 385 for 1 mill, and in shah alam rm 360 every 1 mill. SO…LU PIKIR LA SENDIRI NABIL…
7. please take note that, souvenir shopping will take place at malioboro, jogjakarta. not at surabaya.

participants:

1. remi
2. arey
3. todd
4. jamal
5. ali
6. jasni
7. waje
8. sani
9. nizam

friendly reminder ( especially to WAJE )

1. please be at the airport no later than 5 am.
2. DO NOT LEAVE BEHIND YOUR MEDICATION IF ANY. I only prepare general medication needs.
3. Dr Jamal and Mas Arey will bring 2 tents of 2 man capacity
4. please do not forget your PASSPORT.
5. i will email the tix slip to those who bought the ticket thru me. Others are encouraged to email their tix slips to me at: remiglobal@gmail.com as i will compile the tix together.
6. please bring sweater @ jumper @ pullover and sleeping bag. It is also advisable to have sleeping matress.
7. remi, please do not forget your battery charger. You are the only canon survivor here…hahaha.
8. do not forget to bring tons of batteries and memory cards.
9. please read the general guideline at http://ecotravelogue.com/2008/04/08/lawu-bromo-ijen-preparation-check-list/

chelsea vs malaysia

1. we know that this match will happen on the 29th of July. for those with Dr. Jamal, if you want to proceed to shah alam, i strongly advise you to reach shah alam before 6 or after 9 pm. i can guarantee a heavy traffic for this match.
2. for those who watch, good luck.

itenaries

1. please view the pose before: http://ecotravelogue.com/2008/07/25/dieng-lawu-bromo-finalized-itenaries/

that’s all for now, see ya at the airport.

 remi

ITENARIES UPDATED ( time follows WIB ) 

Day 1 - 30th July (Wed)
0825 - ETA at Solo Airport. Welcome to Indonesia….
0845 - 1500 - Travel to Wonosobo, then to Dieng Plateau (2000m absl). 
                       - Breakfast / Brunch at Soto Mpok Giyem, in front of Sekolah Dasar Boyolali
                       - cant wait for the breakfast….nyum nyum
1500 - 1730 - arrived at dieng, solat jama’ zohor-asar and start with Photo shooting
1730 -  1815 - setting up tent / dinner @ nearby warung
1830 -           - maghrib - isyak jama’. Bisa ngobrol2 sampai subuh bapak2.

Day 2 - 31st July (Thu)
0300 - 0430 - sunrise shooting @ dieng
0430 - 0530 - solat subuh 
0700 - 1000 - Travel to Magelang, breakfast
1000 - 1300 - Visit Borobudur
1300 - 1600 - Travel to Jogja, lunch
1600 - 1700 - Pickup Arey at the airport
1700 - 2000 - Free & easy (jalan2 bandar Joqja somewhere along malioboro), dinner ( Pecelele, gudeg with nice entertainment along lesehan umum @ malioboro ). *mas arey pingin naik kereta kuda. can buy good outdoor equipment here, at least 2 outdoor shop located along this road
2200 -          - proceed to kaliurang, sleep at local resthouse near Merapi Southern Entrance & rest. can take this oppurtunity to recharge ur batteries.

Day 3 - 1st August (Fri)
0430 -          subuh, morning shooting…i hope villagers at the southern crater is as friendly as in Selo.
0800 - 1200 - Travel to Malang Madiun Magetan (Basecamp Cemoro Sewu)
1200 - 1400 - Lunch, packing (should carry essential items only…er, what’s not essential? Yelar, things like charger, power adapter etc)
1400 - 2000 - Trekking Mount lawu (6 jam tuh!!)
2000 - Rest at Sendang Drajat Camp

Day 4 - 2nd August (Sat)
0500 - 0600 - Climb the summit
0600 - 0700 - At the summit (shoot sunrise beb….. and solat Subuh jangan lupa. Then breakfast)
0700 - 1300 - Descend to basecamp
1300 - 1500 - Rest a bit, lunch, packing again, if we have time, we go mandi2 at the waterfall.
1500 - 2200 - Travel from Sarangan to Malang & to Bromo. if we are a bit early, we can pass through kelud, and shoot for 30-45 min. InsyaAllah.
2200 - Dine & proceed to penanjakan

Day 5 - 3rd August (Sun)
0400 - 0700 - Should be at Penanjakan to shoot sunrise!! breakfast after this.
0700 - 1200 - To Bromo crater
1200 - 1400 - Back to Malang. lunch
1400 - 1700 - Proceed to surabaya. Kalau ada rezeki, we will get to pass Apple orchards and tea fields. wanna have some tea?
2000 -            dinner at surabaya. if we have a lot of money, mas arey will recommend a good place to eat.

Day 6 - 4th August (Mon)
0700 - 0800 - Drive to airport
0835 - Balik!!! - makan roti canai atas flight at your expense.

dear participants,

we only have less than 3 weeks before this project will be started. bare in mind that you have to start the physical training now. ( i’m giving myself a reminder…hehehe, me getting fatter and fatter everyday )

 although kaboool says that lawu is not tough, i highly recommend that you at least walk around some football field within your vicinity; for at least 3 rounds everyday to prepare your body for this kind of trip.

as usual, your mental must be fit. We have to stay positive at all time. Although may be some of us are not trekkers, we have to keep in mind the “Malaysia Boleh” spirit. Indonesia has recently launched something similar to “malaysia boleh”. Their tagline is ”Indonesia BISA”. Makanya, bapak-bapak yang ga bisa sebut “Malaysia Boleh”, bisa nyebut, “Malaysia BISA”…hehehe

as for the equipment, you can always refer to this post http://ecotravelogue.com/2008/04/08/lawu-bromo-ijen-preparation-check-list/

i will finalize the ration list in 1 week time. Most probably, we may not need to bring a lot of ration. kabool has confirmed that almost every post has WARONG MAKAN or simply food stall in lawu.

i would like to warn that, please do not take this trip for granted. Although it is somewhat a leisurely trip, an early preparation is always advised. The most important thing is your passport, make sure it is still valid and not within 6 months of compulsory renewing period.

 to be continued….

me and arey have been hired for a wedding photography in semporna. we managed to go to tawau, shopped for some salted fish “ikan masin” and some sleeping mat. ( not just a normal sleeping mat that you can get in indonesia, buat a big one like normal carpet. - Paie jangan jeles )

 the trip was good. after all, it was an all paid trip except for the carpet and salted fish :-p the family of the bride has given a wonderful hospitality. we were treated with nasi kuning, granny made tapai, spirulina, and some other local delicacies that i have forgot the name.

my dearest auntie above is performing iga iga, a traditional bajau dance. It is always presented during the wedding fiesta or official ceremony. i dont think this dance is similar to kadazan dusun dance.

if you observe carefully, you will realize that there is a RM 1 note in between the dancer’s finger. The money is given by the audience. This is somewhat like showing their acceptance / appreciation to the dancer’s dance. The dancer will continue dancing until she notice that she feels that she needs to stop. ( and of course when people stops giving her money )

will post some scenic photos of semporna later. got to get a nap, me catching a flu. grrrrrr

the above pix is taken exactly in front of floating @ dragon inn. It was taken during the sunset. i wished i had more time capturing those moments. the pix below is taken exactly opposite of the one above. i just luv the lines…

the pix below is taken near the bride’s house. This is what the Bajau clan call PANJI. This signifies that there will be a wedding fiesta held at the house. Notice the Germany’s flag color scheme and the cockerel image on top of it… . I have asked around on what those 2 identities stands for, but i just couldnt find the right ppl to answer it…sigh

this pix is taken on the Pulau Sipadan Resort Jetty. Those kids live inside the boat house. They say that this kind of clan is of the Bajau Laut origin. ( Sea Bajau ).

i felt a little bit disappointed as i couldnt visit sipadan-mabul and kalabakan. That was our target. but since there were some problem with transportation, the photography session has to be cancelled.

still, i got the chance to visit tawau. tawau is 2 hours drive from semporna. iti s not a small town like semporna. i passed by the central market but we were asked to go the wet market instead. At the wet market, i bought some salted fish like kurau, terubuk, dried squids and marinated kerupuk. 

at the wet market, i also bought 2 carpets made of  foam / some plastic material. it is of the same quality as the sleeping mat that paie bought in jogja. He bought it for RM 15 but the size is only half of what i get. I think mine is a bargain as 1 carpet cost me exactly RM 20.

taken from http://www.acicis.murdoch.edu.au/hi/photos.html?

and from http://www.eastjava.com/tourism/index.html

this waterfall?near lawu - tawanmangu?

mosque in malang, but i dont know the name? any ideas? but it looks grand, hope we can pray in this mosque. Amek berkat sket, mana tau, kut kut jumpa kayak inneke koesherawati kat sini…kekekekeke.

somewhere near bromo….i think if we really have a time, i would like to have a tt session in one of the tea plantation area in malang. setuju ga ?

at bromo, “sedap mata memandang…heuehuehe”

?

mount arjuna,?hopefully we?can get a clear sky like this

?

al akbar mosque in surabaya, mao pergi ga ?

?

this is something not related, but i just cant resist of putting it here, this is in tanah toraja, in sulawesi. bapak ali udah ke sini ga?

will update this entry from time to time. cya folks

1. passport indonesia…oops..pastilah passport malaysia om, passport indo utk?om tukul aja?
2. ticket air asia mesti dah beli - 30/7/2008 6.55 pg dari LCCT ke Solo - 4/8/2008?8.35 pg dari Surabaya ke LCCT
3. bank in yuran rombongan to me
4. trekking equipment?
   1. trekking bag - not less than 45 litre. get a good one like deuter, karrimor etc
   2. trekking bag rain cover. Evergreen will suffice.
   3. trekking shoes like
   4. trekking sandals ( in case ur trekking shoes ruined )
   5. rain coat / poncho
   6. compass macam aku nya la..suunto jek.
   7. protrek watches macam mas waje or mas arey punye ( if any
   8. gps macam dr j punya ( if any :-). dr j and mas arey uses garmin 60csx
   9. torchlight / headlamp and spare batteris too
   10. hydration pack like camel bak
   11. BENDERA MALAYSIA
   12. topeng keselamatan - like sarin gas safety mask…hueheuheu ( this is for ijen )
5. sufficient clothing
   1. towels?
   2. 2-3 t-shirts
   3. 2-3 track bottoms
   4. a?pair of tight
   5. 2 stockings
   6. a pair of gloves
   7. 1 baju panas / seluar panas
   8. pakaian dalam — tuuuut
6. photography?equipment
   1. a decent DSLR
   2. travel lense?like 18-250mm IS , 70-200mm f2.8 IS ( boleh pinjam hanty zain )?
   3. super wide lense or a decent 18-55 f2.8 ( nih pun bleh pinjam hanty zain )
   4. spare batteries
   5. battery grip
   6. charger … diulangi charger
   7. flash unit <– this depends
   8. gps tracker to track your photos whereabout
   9. gps unit on top of ur slr?- a better option than gps tracker.
   10. video camera - mini dv ( sorang bawak dah la )
   11. universal converter - plug
7. utensils like
   1. spoon
   2. fork
   3. mug
   4. pinggan plastic
8. misc food like
   1. milo sachets
   2. buns
   3. chocholate
   4. buah-buahan
   5. mineral water - bisa beli di solo
   6. minuman kejayaan - bisa di beli di solo juga
9. alat-alat mandiri
   1. berus gigi
   2. ubat gigi
   3. sabun mandi
   4. shampoo
10. lain - lain
    1. sleepin mat?
    2. kemah - nanti aku tanya om kabul
    3. kompor
    4. gas
    5. pisau / parang
    6. mancis
    7. solid fuel?
    8. empty mineral water bottle - maybe 1 / 2 depends whether you have hidration pack or not
11. centralized food
    1. rice
    2. lipton tea sachets
    3. sugar … oh…hunny bunny
    4. canned food like chicken curry

itenaries - 6 days trip = 4 days off.

this is final. we have one more issue though. The flight ticket. arey says it might be cheaper if we go back via solo too.

I?have done?some?homework and below is the result:

rabu, 30/7/2008:6.55?am?to SOLO?- isnin, 4/8/2008?@ 8.35 am via surabaya

— KALU BOOK SEKARANG RM 335 SAHAJA — UPDATED 18/4/2008
and i really have to find out the people in 1st?team line up:

1. mas arey - confirmed
2. mas rem - confirmed
3. mas jamal - confirmed
4. mas ali - confirmed
5. mas jasni - confirmed
6. mas waje -?confirmed?- nanti nak beli beg dengan aku
7. mas zarril -?TIX DAH BELI BLOM?- dia la yg racun waj tak bleh pegi la….ada kelas
8. mas zani - bini dah bagi, tapi dia tak pasti la pulok
9. mas zarun - NIH NAK KUT KE DAK ? nak tanya tunang bagi ke tak?and sedikit info dari kawan gua

ok, so sesapa ada topeng ala-ala counter strike tuh, amatlah digalakkan membawanyer…bleh kita main paintball kat kawah ijen…”fire in the hole…”….kekekek

dr j, agak2 topeng sars bleh lepas ke?

Our?incoming project: Mount Lawu (3264 mdpl )?

we are going to climb lawu in the middle of this year. most probably, we will go to mount bromo too before proceeding to kawah ijen and bali perhaps.

i have some info from my?friend in jogja:

?LAWU lebih dekat ke bandara SOLO,
kalau mau ke BROMO, bisa, turun di bandara SOLO, trekking ke Gunung LAWU, kemudian lanjut ke BROMO,
dari BROMO ke bandara SOLO perjalanan sekitar 6 jam,
dari SOLO ke LAWU perjalanan sekitar 2 jam?

?

pix above is kawah ijen. pix below is mount bromo

and with that, so far, below are the itenaries:

?1. arrived at bandara solo
2. take a kijang / avanza to lawu
3. climb up
4. rest for one night
5. summit @ 4 am
6. going down
7. proceed to bromo
8. proceed to kawah ijen
9. take ferry to bali
10. yeah..bali shooting spree

so?who wants to follow us:

1. arey (?bapak kepala?rombongan ) - pasti ikut
2. remi ( bapak pers ) - dipaksa ikut
3. dr j ( bapak medikal ) - pingin ikut juga tapi terbatas tanggal berapa mao pergi
4. dr?a ( bapak mas tukul ) - pingin ikut juga tapi terbatas tanggal berapa mao pergi
5. waje ( bapak anak satu ) - gak tau lagi sih, tapi pasti diracun dulu sama akoe
6. paie ( bapak anak satu jugak ) - masa kamu gak mao ikut sih
7.?zani ( bapak anak satu lagi ) -pingin ikut tapi bulan juni gak bisa ikut donk, lagi mao ke langkawi?
8. ?.bapak-bapak lain yang mao ngikut?silahkan mendaftar yach?

dibawah adalah peta pendakian lawu.

i will continuously updating this info. for more information on lawu, visit this site: 1. http://www.indobackpacker.com/index.php/gunung/mountlawu
2. http://www.cohp.org/personal/southeast_Asia/version_1/Lawu.html

and i bet, these guys are way crazier than most of us:

http://www.cohp.org/personal/southeast_Asia/version_1/intro.html

update 17 march 2008
———————–

excerpt from my conversation with mas kabul:

sentinel: lawu berapa hari mas
kabul jogja: lawu seandainya bang remi samapai bandara solo pukul 8 pagi kaya kemarin, kita lgsg ke basecamp lawu, jam2 siang di basecamp, malam jam 7 kita bisa langsung trek
kabul jogja: 2hari 1 malam, persis merapi
sentinel: wah bagus
sentinel: langsung ke bromo dulu atau ke ijen
kabul jogja: hari kedua nyampai telaga sarangan kita camp, hari ketiga pagi2 kita lgsg menuju bromo, sekitar 5 jam, istirahat dulu di basecamp ranupani
kabul jogja: hari keempat kita ke bromo, camp, hari kelima lihat sunrise, lgsg menuju ijen,
kabul jogja: hari ke enam di ijen, siangnya menuju surabaya, malam sampai bandara
kabul jogja: hari ke tujuh pagi lepas landas
kabul jogja:
sentinel: ook
sentinel: bagus
sentinel: ini agak santai ya
kabul jogja: ini lebih santai.. cuman capek di mendaki lawu saja, tp kalau sdh daki merapi, daki lawu enteng

amacam dokter2, bagus ini, semuanya bisa nyantai-nyantai aja.

WE ALMOST COME TO AN AGREEMENT THAT WE WOULD GO THERE IN EARLY AUGUST. and with the above mentioned itenaries, kena cuti 5 hari la…heuheuehue. ada ke cuti tuh…ekkekeke. tapi dahsyat nih, turun kat solo, pegi naik lawu,?then turun ikut telaga sarangan, terus ke bromo, then ke ijen, tarus balik ikut surabaya. nih confirm la ber-gig-gig CF habis…ekkekeke.

one more thing, mr zaril, mr apek, and mr ayul would probably join this trip. all of them are photographers too and they are canoners…ekekkeke

if im not mistaken, we went there in the year 2004. i was in the company of arey, paie, zani, mazli and ita. the mission was to conquer mount rinjani in lombok and mount agung in bali.

i think this is the first time that the all of us went to an overseas expedition. maybe arey and paie has been doing it for some time but not me certainly.

i still remember, i had to do some tender preparation till the wee hours of the morning, the day?we depart to denpasar. my bos had forgotten that i have applied for the leave for sometime and he asked me to finish up the tender by hook and by crook. oh yeah?i did finish the thing and it took me the whole night to do it.?i sent in the tender doc by 6 am. packed up my things?and at 7 rush to the nearest commuter station to take a train to klsentral.?at klsentral, i took?ERL to KLIA. not sure about the time i checked in, but it is half an hour late. oh?finally i managed to catch up with my friends and i think by 1030 we?were off to Denpasar. ?

i think we arrived at denpasar by noon local time. it was a 3 hour journey and of course i had my breakfast on the plane. yeah?i love air asia?s nasi lemak. yum yum.
will write some more later.

hey, ive been there, conquered merapi, and so can you?this was one of the most memorable trip. i would say, this is the first time that i have ever climbed an active volcanoe. I repeat, an ACTIVE?VOLCANOE. thank god,?nothing uninvited has occur. we come in peace, and we return in 1 piece .

ok, the story begun 7 months ago when me, arey and paie was discussing which is the best place to go for our next expedition. fortunately, at?that time, the USUAL air asia very very low fare or ( FREE tix) promotion is on the air. we have very limited information on where we are going but we have decided, mount merapi, here we come. the tix is considered very cheap. at 525, we got 3 return tix to Bandara SOLO.

from there we start planning the trip. as usual, the man who is in charge of the planning would be mr arey. he did some research and he suggested that we conquer 2 mountains i.e. Mount Merapi and Mount Merbabu of Central Java. oh..gosh, 2 mountains at one go?i am not so sure. i know i can conquer both, but i think, i want to climb one mountain only?hahahaa, at this time, they dont know that i have already thinking of not climbing the 2nd mountain

ok, then the day we have waited comes. me and paie went to LCCT by car, driven by zani. while arey, dr jamal and dr ali comes together with arey?s wife. we arrived there around 3 am and had our breakfast at the nearby food court @ lcct. The nasi lemak is quite cheap?rm 3.50 with a massive amount of rendang and nasi.

only @lcct, i came to know dr jamal and dr ali. my first impression was like, WOW, these guys are really into photography. Just look at their lense, 70-200 f2.8 VR?WOW?and the best part of it, both of them are NIKON users. arrghh?.that makes me the only guy using CANON.

and as time passed by, i only realized that waje has not yet arrive. called him and he said, he is on the way to lcct. Fortunately, he?manage to?make it at LCCT by?6 am. took him to check in and at 6.10 am we went to musolla. we thought we were late but we found out that those Dr(s) and mas paie and arey just entering the musolla?huhuhu. and after that, we proceed to the boarding area and i think we departed from LCCT at 7 am.

?on your left is the pix taken during taking off. we arrived at solo?s airport at round 11 am. ( 10 am locally ). oh?what a fresh air. solo is not an industrialized state. We could see paddy fields from the high ground.

When we arrived, we were greeted by mas kabul and mas bagus. Mas kabul was our guide and mas bagus, was our driver. He drives an avanza and i bet, that avanza is new. The plastic cover of the seats is still intact.

all our baggages were loaded on top of the avanza. after that, we proceed to selo, in which the base camp for merapi is situated. actually there are other basecamps, but this basecamp is the most popular for climbers. This basecamp is the starting point for the trackd via ?jalur selatan? or southern.

ok, at?selo, we stopped for lunch. while arey and paie were looking for some?logistics neccesities, some of us went?for shooting spree.??i think, mas ali is quite excited when we arrived here. he took few good pictures like below. here, we also bought our dinner and we had our lunch too. And for me, this is the time to try indonesian delicacies. My first on the list was Mie Ayam. Others might have opted for bakso. The Mie Ayam, i would say, emm?is a bit like Mee Soup back at home in malaysia. The people here, should try Mee Sup at Pasar Malam TTDI. That is the best, and i tell u, mie ayam is not as tasty as TTDI Mee Sup.

ok, then after that, we proceed to the base camp and it is actually near to the small town of Selo. We unload our baggages and started to repackage our things. Mas Eros was there to keep an eye on our belongings.

Actually, mr ali and mr jamal were not interested to climb. They followed this trip just to take photographs. But unfortunately i have succesfully influenced them to climb merapi. heheheh??baek punya racun?. After performing the jama? prayer, we started our journey up to pasar burbah. Pasar burbah is the last camp site before we proceed to summit the next morning.

all i can say is, the trip going up via this route was not that difficult. Why? I have been told that is the easiest and the fastest route to summit. As for me, i still can manage the climb. I didnt experience the usual leg cramp and the best part of it, i didnt even put on anykind of training for this trip. we started to climb at 2 pm and arrived at pasar burbah at? 8 pm localtime.

when we arrived, if i am not mistaken, it was drizzling. others have already set up the camp and we (remi,dr ali and dr jamal) were sharing a tent. unfortunately, as dr ali and dr jamal was not prepared to climb the mountain, they didnt bring enough equipment like sleeping bag. The night was freezing cold and i sensed that dr ali woke up several times. em?actually i have given him my sarong, trackbottoms etc but somehow there was miscommunication and he didnt use it at all.

the next morning, we started to summit at 5 am. It was too late but we had taken the oppurtunity to perform subuh prayer first. i was the last to start my journey. in front of me was mas waje. there was one incident that happened to waje. he needs to go the loo while climbing and he thinks that he could not proceed if he did not do THAT thing. He vomitted and he had no other choice but to find a big rock to hide and to do THAT thing?ehueheuhe. what an incident.

i will write something about the merapi trip soon