Bali Echo Magazine Edition 52 | Mountain Mysticism


a lot of sugar and caffeine. As it turned out l didn't even open them. From Kopeng you must head to the starting point, which is really a simple village with a building just for climbers. You can walk about an hour) through the pine forest or you can charter a vehicle. We walked and spent two or three hours in the village. An old lady cooked up rice and vegetable, which we mixed with the noodles and a few eggs There was a huge pile of corn on the cob which we roasted on the open fire. Delicious l opened a packet of cigarettes, which are strong enough
to burn the back of your throat and we set off. It's a peculiar feeling as you set off 10 at night knowing ahead of you is an exhausting trip of about twelve hours. I was given a little map and some information at the village and focused on Post which was an hour or two away l had on a T-shirt, but was soon drenched in sweat. We made good progress and were having a good time, with a few jokes. Not that l under stood too much as they usually spoke

Javanese to each other. l only understand I've got a sore bum" (so there's no isunderstanding, l learnt this useful phrase on the motorbike trip from Bali to Java). This rarely comes up in conversation. As we got higher the air cooled and l was grateful to finally escape the Indonesian heat. After stopping l quickly felt cold as my shirt was drenched in sweat. There are several posts on the way up, but they are only a flat place to sit down and not much else. The idea was to keep changing shirts, using the dry one for breaks, but l was too lazy to change. The wee torch l bought in Salatiga W'as great, much better than the big think the others brought. We follow the narrow path, which had become rockier and steeper. The first section had been past vegetables fields and forests (as l saw more Cleary on the way down), but we were now on rocks and at times needed our hand to scramble up. At one point the path cleared an we could stop to look back and enjoy the view of the lights way down below. It's fantastic looking back, seeing the lights of the towns and villages below. There were villages almost every where. suddenly, something strange happened. A gamelan band struck up way off to our left. It sounded not so near, but not so far either. Impossible to know on the millennium it floated clearly through the cool night air. it was about two o'clock in the morning. I asked the others what village it was coming from. "There's no village there, came the brief replay. I persisted asking if people were hiking over there (with a full band) or if could be a radio. No-one said too much and we turned around to continue the climb. the music must have stopped or l did not notice it any more. It was only when we got back that ari and his brother Dwi told me of the stories from Merbabu. The gamelan music comes from spirits who lure unsuspecting hikers
	towards the sound as if in a trance. They leave the path and are never seen again. That explained why they were so reticent at the time. This is similar to another story, whereby a beautiful maiden lures hypnotized men to their deaths by leading them over cliffs. Entirely more plausible. Ari and Dwi told me many fascinating stories later when we were back in Salatiga. He later recounted that at one point when we, were crossing a little stream, jumping from stone to stone, one of
our group slipped and got foot in the water. Nothing aremarkable, but Ari said he saw a ghostly apparition pull on Bagus' shoulder putting him off balance. It was an old man he saw vanishing into the forest. Why the spirit picked on the clumsiest member l don't know. We made it up to Post Four, which isn't too far from the summit and camped down to get some hot food and some sleep. We had passed a few people on the way, the friendly Javanese greeting each other with "monggo, monggo" and a few words of conversation. Another group of men had already camped down and were getting some shut eye. As soon as l stopped l felt cold and tired. l put on all my clothes and shivered as Ari cooked noodles in his T-shirt and shorts. After some food l tried to get some sleep and got about an hour of craved sleep before being given a nudge. "Do you still want to go the top?" Well, of course l did. Three of us set off in the cold