We’d just arrived in Indonesia and I jumped in a bit prematurely to join this hike. We needed to pack our lunch and provide negative Covid antigen test results before joining the group. For anyone else, that doesn’t seem too challenging, but our cupboards were bare, and I did not bring any antigen tests in our suitcases.
Well, I was able to download an app that would deliver some bread and fruit to the house so I could pack a lunch.
Finding the test kits proved to be a bit more challenging. I asked at work and they did not have extras for personal use. I asked the house helper to purchase them while I was at work. She advised that she could not purchase them without a passport. Time was running out and someone suggested using another app to order the test kits and to have them delivered to the house, or I could book a clinic to come to the house and test us. I could not get the app to work. I was out of energy and did not want to deal with trying to book a clinic to come to the house. I do not speak the local language, and it was about 7pm the night before the hike. I finally cried UNCLE and called to cancel our plans. I’m still not sure if I was lucky or unlucky, but the person organizing the hike had extra test kits and had her driver deliver them to me! We were back in the game!
Up and out the door at 5:30am on a Saturday morning, we met at the rendezvous point for a 6am departure. 2.5 hours later, we arrived at the other end, to meet our guides. We used the ‘toilet’…Jackson’s first experience with a ‘squatty potty’! We stretched, re-boarded the bus and made our way to the starting point. Water and walking sticks were distributed. There was a mention that there might be a McDonald’s at the end of the trail, so the kids were awake and ready to hike.
Over little bamboo bridges, up stony hills, past the Indonesian military doing their drills, an hour and a half later, we made it to the top of the mountain. The intrepid adventurers continued down the other side of the mountain and were rewarded with views of a lovely waterfall. (I was not one of them…and stayed on top of the mountain with the park ranger and the bees)
The pack leader led Jackson back up the mountain to me (apparently some of the bees stayed with him), and we headed back to the cars, while the others splashed around in the river for a bit.
It was just as challenging going down the slippery stones as it was climbing up. Jackson slipped and busted his knee while fighting off the bees. We encountered the Indonesian military hiding in the bushes at several junctions. I’m sure they had a good laugh as we poked our way out of their jungle.
After the hike, the parents popped into a coffee shop for a boost to survive the 3-hour journey home. I stayed on the bus with a sleeping kid (not mine), but I’m told they had to pay to enter the coffee shop and there were familiar toilets available! I did get an iced coffee, and it was just like Starbucks!
We met up with our ‘escort’ that helped us navigate the horrendous traffic on the way back into Jakarta. It was still a three-hour journey and I can’t imagine what the trip would have been like without our escort!
This was really hard, but we did it!! (and in case you were wondering, there was NO McDonald’s on the mountain.)
Mount Salak (Indonesian: Gunung Salak, Sundanese: Gunung Salak) is an eroded volcano in West Java, Indonesia. It has several satellite cones on its southeast flank and the northern foot, along with two additional craters at the summit. Mount Salak has been evaluated for geothermal power development.[1] According to a popular belief, the name “Salak” is derived from salak, a tropical fruit with scaly skin; however, according to Sundanese tradition, the name was derived from the Sanskrit word Salaka which means “silver“. Mount Salak can be translated to “Silver Mountain” or “Mount Silver”.
