I am doing a bit of research for our upcoming trip to Yogyakarta, a large city located central-south of the Indonesian mainland of Java. We wanted to 1) get away during the Chinese New Year period, and 2) See Borobudur. For me, I wanted more than anything else to climb Merapi (literally Mountain Fire), a 3,000m high volcano. Bascially, I am dragging my husband along who is not entirely keen to re-live his army days. Getting ourselves fit is the main focus now, after my rather pathetic experience at Rinjani. It seems like the climb is shorter, probably due to the lower height, but more dangerous, as this climber described, due to the steepness and sharp rocks. Herman, who had also experienced Merapi, described it as an "ass-freezing experience" - not enough warm clothes high up in a mountain at 3am in the morning with whipping winds. This time, I am wiser - pack VERY light, and get into shape first. According to my research, the climb from the easier and shorter Selo route will start at midnight, taking about 4 hours (probably for speedy gonzalez) to reach the summit, in time to catch the sunrise. It will take another 4 hours to come back to firm ground. Generally the climb up and down should not take more than a day. February is supposed to be the wettest month; monsoon rains will most likely throw our Merapi plans into the wind. We'll see how it goes.
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