Since we had two weeks in Bandung, it seemed like a shame to spend nearly 14 days without seeing any of the extraordinary natural wonders that Indonesia has to offer. Fortunately, one of the other ETAs (whom I could clearly learn a great deal for with regard to organizing and planning trips...) realized that there happened to be a major volcano not too far from Bandung, and therefore organized a bus to allow a whole bunch of us ETAs to travel and see this major tourist destination.
The bus ride to the volcano took about 2-3 hours, which actually was pretty darn good due to the fact that traffic in Indonesia is as intense as anywhere in the world (in my opinion of course...). And so, 30 "bules" (foreigners in Indonesian) arrived at the Tangkuban Perahu Volcano to explore the active volcano, that apparently had an eruption as recently as February 21st, 2013! Ah! Kinda scary, eh? But nonetheless, we were resolute in our desire to see the volcano, or at least the one crater than was easily accessible by hiking!
Before we set off on our hike, we were approached by a couple of Indonesian gentlemen, asking if we would like a trail guide for our hike around the volcano. Being the self-driven, go-getter ETAs that we all are, we fairly quickly came to a unanimous decision that "We don't need a Guide!" And those, my friends, are what we like to call famous lasts words...
And so, as all great explorers do, we took a walk. We took a walk in order to see, and understand, and learn about this natural wonder of nature that lay right in front of our eyes. And for me, there are few greater joys than seeing the beauty of this earth.
We began in our large group of nearly 30, perhaps optimistically believing that we could all hang together along the twists and turns of the hike around the crater. And to give ourselves some credit, we certainly did hang with one another at the beginning of the expedition! Fortunately, the first crater that could be seen was right near the entrance, and we were all able to enjoy a view of the volcano crater together. Of course this was only the beginning of the hike, and we hoped to hike further and see the crater from a higher vantage point, along with seeing more of the craters of the volcano.
However as we progressed further and further, climbing higher and higher, struggling with bigger and bigger rocks and inclines, we slowly began to separate into smaller groups to better navigate the terrain. I, of course, found myself quickly fall back I to the last group, due to my inclination to stop every five seconds to take pictures of everything I bumbled into. (I actually meant to write "bumped into," but my computer changed in to "bumbled into," and I think I like that better. Well done computer.) But honestly, look at this scenery! How could you not take loads of pictures?! I tried to capture the beauty of the trees and flowers, as well as the impressive sight of the volcano.
That little collection of photos is for my sister! She has an eye for taking flower photos, and has inspired me to try and capture some AMY-ZING (my apologies for the super corny joke...) shots of flowers in Indonesia! So I tried. I hope you approve Amy! I still look through the Australia photos and laugh at all the random flower shots! "I Don't Care; I Love It!" (Thanks to Icona Pop for that reference.)
And so we hiked, and slowly separated into groups of 6 or 7. Some ETAs trucked forward, enjoying the physical activity of hiking, and getting a thrill out of discovering the not-so-well-marked path. And some ETAs drug behind, moving as fast as a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter. I leave it to you to decide where I was amongst the different groups.
Partway through our hike, we stopped at a plateau to allow everyone to catch up. At this location, there was a giant fenced in area, which seemed rather out of place in the middle of the forest. So a friend and I peered inside, and discovered it to be some type of old school or radio broadcasting center.
I would have liked to check it our more, but I heard a friend whisper "Hey, he's watching you..." So of course I looked around! only to find an Indonesian man with some sort of badge looking at us, looking in the the gated area. And in this scenario, curiosity will not kill the cat, as I am a scaredy cat! Well, I decided to myself, I guess it's time to hike on before I get asked questions!
Further hiking in the forest surrounding the volcano led us to a vantage point at the top of the hill (or perhaps mountain, to make the hike sound more impressive!). When everyone finally caught up to this point (I can't imagine who would have been dragging behind...), we took the opportunity to take some impressive pictures of the volcano and our motley crew! A great many thanks to the Indonesian motorcyclists who snapped the photos!
It was an impressive sight. I know very, very little of volcanoes, but the beauty of crater was astounding. So much raw power that could erupt at any moment. Let's just take a moment together to be in awe of the natural beauty of this earth, and to be thankful that the sucker didn't blow while I was standing there!
After posing for multiple photos, we decided as a group to head down and around the path of the crater edge, instead of heading back the way we came, in order to see some new territory on the way back. And we had a little map of the park, along with the pointed directions of the Indonesian motorcyclists, so we felt confident in our path.
Now is the moment when that whole "We don't need a guide!" thing really kicks in...
It has been said that "not all who wander are lost." After about 3 hours of hiking down a volcano that only took us an hour a half to climb, I can pretty well say we all knew we were lost. But at that point, what's the use in turning around, right?! So we forged ahead.
Clearly Adam and Kelsie realized just how lost we were, even if those behind them were not too concerned! I can safely say that all of the above photos were taken in areas of the land surrounding the volcano that none of us had any idea existed... In other words, we were off the tiny map that we had been give at the beginning of our adventure. But that's the most exciting part! We were out in the middle of Indonesia, exploring the beautiful outdoors and taking in all of the diverse scenery. Honestly, aren't the above pictures of the landscape gorgeous?! Pay no attention to the lost foreigners hiking about... Focus on the Beauty of Nature!
We kept hiking, and eventually came upon a tea garden that we believed may have been on our map. So, we of course first stopped to take pictures of the tea garden, and then decided to try and decide which direction we should head in next. Some of us wanted to take the road less traveled by, while others were more interested I n asking the Indonesian motorcyclists which direction they would suggest. Having already received directions from Indonesian motorcyclists, I was wary of their judgment, so instead stood back and took pictures of the mass of ETAs hovering around the Indonesians for information. (I would like to take this moment to make a cultural note: We were informed during orientation that Indonesians worry a lot about not being able to help others, and thereby are likely to give someone directions, even if they have no idea where they are, or where a person wishes to go. While I cannot say that this is definite fact, I would like to lodge my vote for the "extreme kindness of Indonesians in giving directions, even though their directions may often be quite inaccurate.") And so we received directions, and followed the path described to us.
I will tell you, my friends, our path became no shorter after leaving the tea field. We did eventually run into more groups of Indonesians, the first group telling us that we had only 15 minutes till we reached the road, the second group telling us we had 2 hours till we reached the road, and the third group informing us we were only 10 minutes from the road. Needless to say, we were not getting any closer... A few of us began embracing our more "tribal" side, with natural headdresses made by Zee!
Eventually we turned a corner, and stumbled out onto a dirt road that seemed to leave into a main city. How many hours had we been gone? I'm unsure. And honestly, I was not to worried. The hike was so incredibly beautiful and energizing that I in no way regret all the twists and turns we took to arrive back out in the city. Oh wait, did I say back in the city? My bad. What I meant to say was when we arrived in a lovely little city that we would eventually discover was at least a half hour drive from where we began our hike... Yep. We were nowhere near where we started.
So we called the driver of our bus, who apparently was non too happy with us, and asked that he drive to pick us up at our present location. Luckily, the city we popped out into was a nice small town, with places to eat and a nice area for us to sit while we waited for transportation.
Quickly, to wrap up, since I've been rambling for far too long, I'll just explain the above pictures! The one, of course, is a view of the city that we found ourselves in. Another picture, which you should be able to identify, is an ice cream truck. Yes, an ice cream truck. And oh did we have ice cream. I was slightly sketched out at first by the brown goop the man scooped into the machine from a bucket in his truck, but I will tell you that the strawberry ice cream cone I had after our 8 hour hike was as good as any Graeter's ice cream in Cincy! And finally, the last picture is of the place where we sat waiting for our bus to pick us up. But I'd like you to pay particular attention to the large black vehicle that belonged to the security team that came to "rescue" us. Oh yes... We certainly made ourselves known that day!
Final tally: 30 Exhausted ETAs; 15 consumed ice cream cones; 5 confused security officers; 1 awesome day.
"Getting lost is just another way of saying 'going exploring'" - Justina Chen
Talk to you soon,
Ryan
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