List of mountains (DONE)
Trans Full C-Curve
#40mountainsin2018
#30mountainsin2017
#20mountainsin2016
#10mountainsinJapan
#10mountainsin2014

Week 2.2: Of Elly Kasim and Coffee Hunting

Pendaki Indonesia (PI) Tangerang

Kota Tua Jakarta

I'm coming, Cirebon!

To be continued....

Week 2.1 : The city of kids jaman now. 


Berjalan seorang di pagi hari,
Langit cerah matahari terik,
Jangan diratap apa yang pergi,
Kelak diganti yang lebih baik.


Jakarta

I checked-in at Capsule Hotel Jakarta, Jalan Batavia as soon as I reached Jakarta. I need rest, a proper one. And I need a shower too, to clear off my mind from all of the disappointments. This hotel happened to be one of the most popular among backpackers. I didn't know that. Hahaha. The staffs were all kind and helpful. The bed was fluffy and nice, with the cozy ambient. No wonder it's famous (I would recommend this one to my friends).

I unpacked my bag and put in underneath the bed, that's where all the lockers located at. Took a shower, binged on junk food and lied down. This going to be my place to sleep for several days. I might as well enjoy it to the fullest.

Efek Rumah Kaca; Tiba-tiba Suddenly Konser Again

Wanita Gunung

To be continued....

Week 1.4 : Mission abort! I repeat, mission abort!

"Selalu persiapkan diri untuk
kemungkinan terburuk. Karena, 
rencana-rencana indah akan selalu
kalah dengan apa yang Tuhan rasa
yang terbaik."  — fiersa besari

Garut - Jakarta

I woke up with no motivation at all. Sad, mad, regret, ashamed, a bunch of emotions came crushing me down. I packed up my stuff, ate breakfast and waited for the boys to come back. I've been thinking a lot while waiting for them. Tried to think over my decision, listed out all the pros and cons. And it made realized that a decision has to be made regardless what it is.


We had a discussion once he got back to the campsite. We both realized that we did not have chemistry, share the same goals nor we have the same fitness level. I had a hard time to make up my mind, especially to abort the mission that I have been working hard for years. But thinking that it was the best for both of us, we agreed to part ways. He will continue his journey to Tasik Malaya with the hikers we met at the mountain while I will go back to Jakarta and start my Trans Java journey all over again, alone. Yep, I'm going solo.

After bidding goodbye, I went to terminal and took the earliest bus straight to Jakarta with a sad feeling. Looking out to the window, looking at Garut city for one last time and vowed to myself to come again for Guntur. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but mine alone. My preparation and training were not enough, or maybe it was not my rizq this time.

I called my friend, Fajar and informed him that I’m coming to his place. Alhamdulillah, my journey to Jakarta was smooth. Big thanks to Selep for his recommendation, advice and little information that brightened up my gloomy day. So, I booked a bed at capsule hostel through Hostelworld. Thank God for technology for making life easier. I will stay here for several days, until I decide where to go next.

Week 1.3 : Recovery, But I Haven't Started Yet Though... :(

Bandung - Garut

After a very long night (and painful one), I followed Karin to her campus the next day. Well, Izza can’t help but being herself, unstoppable. It was wisuda day for ITB students. Kirin’s friend was graduating, and I didn’t want to miss the chance to see how their graduation day. Sadly, I didn’t take any good pictures as I was still very weak to do anything. I spent the rest of the day sleeping at Kirin’s studio while she was working with her project.

We had Nasi Kucing for dinner. Namanya begitu sebab portion-nya yang sedikit. Macam makanan kucing.

My condition got better. I spent another two days for recovery. Unfortunately, I was behind schedule due to the unexpected incident (gastric). I have to keep on moving and go to next destination if I want to complete my mission.

To be honest, I hate recovery days :/

After 3 days in Bandung (with two days of being a zombie, metaphorically), we spent the last day at Bandung full with activities (finally!). We went to Bandung Car Free Day in the morning, ate breakfast, meeting friends. Then, walking around looking for outdoor shop to buy more gears. We bid goodbye to everyone and went to Cicaheum Terminal to take a bus to Garut.

Kue kekinian; Bandung Makuta by Laudya Chintya Bella.

With Kirin at her kosan.

We reached Garut city after 4 hours of journey. We kind of lost at first while looking for angkot to go to Mount Guntur Basecamp. And it was harder to find one when it was already past 6PM as not many angkots were there, at the terminal. Most of them already left. We then met this hiker who just got back from Mount Cikuray (near Garut). He helped us looking for angkot.

Luckily, after few hours , we found an angkot that can bring us to the junction near Mount Guntur Basecamp. And from the junction, we took ojek to the basecamp (around 15 minutes). It was already late when we arrived, they told us to just sleep at the basecamp and hike tomorrow morning since it was dangerous to hike at night (cause this mountain happens to have many pigs around). 

Mount Guntur

We woke up late! Other hikers already proceed to the peak/campsite while we were sleeping. We showered right away, packed our bag and started to hike. There are two trails to the campsite, and both were quite steep with big stones along the trails. We had to be careful not to slip or get ourselves injured because we have another 9 mountains to hike.

Starting point

The day’s getting hotter and we have yet reach the campsite. We stopped for 5-minutes break at Pos 3, catching our breath and eating snack. We didn’t see anyone around and continued the hike few minutes later. We can see Garut city from where we at, clearly.

Garut city

After an hour walking, I started to lose sight of my partner. I kept walking, alone. Called his name many times, but no respond. So, I kept on walking and calling out his name until he responded to me. I realized our pace was different and this was my first time hiking with him and I started to regret my decision. I felt like we did not have chemistry and I should have trained with him before coming here. It was dangerous to hike alone, this is not Japanese mountain.

If we are lucky, we can see many wildflowers along the trail. But we were not, unfortunately.

After few hours of ascending, we finally reached the campsite. There were few hikers packing up stuffs and getting ready to descend. We exchanged greetings and had small talks. They gave us few information about the mountain, the trail and warned us about pigs (about how we should be very careful with our belongings because the pigs were quite wild) before they went down.

We set our tent right away. I rarely used tent for camping and I had some issue on setting it. Thank God my partner helped me. We still couldn’t decide whether to summit to the peak now or in the morning. So, we decided to have our lunch first and think later. Not long after that, two hikers came, both of them from Tasik Malaya.


It was just four of us at the mountain and all of us decided to go for summit attack in the morning. But I was still undecided because of the weather. Coldness is my biggest weakness. I told them that I will decide later. We slept early, but I could not sleep at all. The temperature dropped, it was quite windy and freezing cold. And my ultralight tent, just make it worst. It's a one season tent, very light and thin. And I regretted my decision to bring this instead of the Kathmandu's, which I left at Kirin's because of its weight. Yes, sometimes Izza can be pretty stupid.


With this kind of temperature, I decided not to summit. Firstly, because of my pace. Those  guys are pretty fast and I don't want to be a burden. If I go with them, they might have to wait for me (if they want to wait for me, but what if they don't want to? I don't want to hike alone in the dark). Secondly, it was very cold and my body will not functioning well (thus, the slow pace). Do I regret this? Yes. But since I know my body well, I thought to myself that it's better to not take the risk, especially when I just recovered from severe gastric attack. It's not worth it.

Week 1.2 : Where The Nightmare Began...

Bogor - Bandung

Goodbye Bogor. Hello Bandung!

Bogor in the morning. Kurang macetnya.

Jangan lupa sarapan, karena sarapan itu lebih penting dari harapan.

We left Bogor in the morning and continued our journey to Bandung, the creative city, my favorite city of all. I contacted Kirin months ago, telling her that I'm coming to Bandung for a short while. She welcomed us with big happy smile as we arrived. I didn't meet her for quite some time because both of us were super busy with life. Haha. Kirin is currently pursuing her study at Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), doing her Part 2 in Sekolah Arkisektur, Perencanaan dan Pengembangan Kebijakan.

Meet, Kirin.

She brought us touring around campus, showing us her faculty, her studio, where all the cool kids lepak and stuff. We met some new friendly friends from Kumpulan Gamelan Sunda ITB (because Kirin knew I play Gamelan and she thought it would be good idea to bring me there). So, we grabbed the chance to learn about Gamelan Sunda that night. They showed and taught us how to play. It does feel good though to meet other Gamelan players from other country and able to share our interest. 

But, my happiness didn't last long. I threw up on the sidewalk as soon as we left ITB. My condition worsen the moment we reached Kirin's kosan (rented room). I got diarrhea and kept vomiting non-stop. Things got out of control when the pain hit stomach. I often get gastric but this one was the worst by far. The worst I've ever had.

Nahhhh...ini puncanya. Siomay pedas setan.

Kirin immediately called the Grab car and brought me to hospital nearby. I was admitted to Emergency Room at Rumah Sakit Santo Borromeuse. Since, pills no longer work, I got a jab instead. The doctor told me to wait for awhile and monitored my condition from time to time. If my condition gets better, I can go home. But if it's not, then I have to be warded. And it was the latter. But due to the crowdiness, I had to go back to kosan.

It costed me almost 80,000 rupiah.

I did bring my own first aid kit in case of emergency. Unfortunately, it was not enough to cure my illness :(

Thank God, Kirin was there to help me dealing with everything when I literally had nobody around to depend on. Kirin was the one who saw me crying like mad, holding her hand while I fought against the pain. It was so painful to the point I gave up living. I felt like dying (not exaggerating, it was extremely painful). And also, thanks to those who were concerned about my health. Though you guys were far away at the moment, it did help in lessen the pain, if not, a bit.

P/S : Once the video issue settles, I'll upload all the Gamelan videos. -.-"