The challenge (16 – 18 May 2013)
The 5 hikers-Valentina Suhendra, Yudhono Rawis, Hyang Augustiana, Soo Woon Loong and Hau Shio Wei began their trip by taking a flight to Surabaya. They were picked up to their stay for the night, in a simple housing, Homestay Pak Tasyip at Rano Pane village. The guide dropped by to explain them the next day activities.
17 May 2013
At 7am, they started their hike where they walked 10.5 KM to the beautiful Ranu Kumbolo lake and they had a simple lunch near the lake. After taking some rest, they climbed the steep Tanjakan Cinta. That was where they started to see memoriam of people who died while attempting to climb Semeru. After losing their breath from climbing Tanjakan Cinta, their eyes were entertained with a sea of purple (lavender-like) flowers. They were in awe. This area is called Oro-Oro Ombo. After passing through this amazing scenery, they found themselves inside a huge pine tree forest (Cemoro Kandang). They rested from time to time because the forest is uphill and it was exhausting. It rained a little too. After they successfully passing through the pine tree forest, They found themselves in Jambangan. It is called Jambangan because this area is like a flower vase full of flowers. And finally at 4pm, They reached their camping site safely in Kalimati. Overall, they have walked (mostly uphill) 20.5 KM where everyone was exhausted. So they rested in the campsite for a night.
18 May 2013
Their guide woke them up at 12am in the morning just to get everyone prepare for their journey hike up to the peak. Four of them took pain killers because their legs were hurt from the climb the day before prior to continuing their journey. Each of the ladies was assigned an individual guide, while the guys follow through. So at 1am, they start to walk and crossed a rather steep forest toward Arcopodo which is a vegetation border where they have to walk in the sand. When crossing the forest, there was a dust rain from the forest. Everyone reached the vegetation border at 3,000 mdpl. That is when the challenge moved up several levels because they had to walk uphill in the slippery dunes for another 3-4hours to reach the peak of Mt Semeru at 3,676mdpl.
Finally, the various corporate sponsor flag are spread on top of Mt Semeru(3,676mdppl) as promised. Yayasan Kechara Indonesia is proud to inform you that our team of hikers has completed the challenge and safely returned on May 19th, 2013. Overall, they think it was a very valuable experience for all of them and they were happy to take this challenge for a noble cause. It was a Herculean task for all the hikers as it challenges not only their physical but also their psychological level. The rainy days did not dampen their spirit of pushing themselves to their limit. Despite all these factors, Yayasan Kechara Indonesia flag finally was on top of Mt Semeru!
We could not have made this happen without your kind support.
