Travel Journal: Climbing Mount Prau, Central Java, Indonesia Via Patak Banteng

Mount Prau, 2,565 masl, August 24-25, 2024

Hello loyal readers! This time I want to share an exciting experience from climbing Mount Prau that I did recently. Different from the usual open trip, this time I had the opportunity to do a solo trip with one old friend and two new friends.

So, this trip was my second hiking trip after last week to Papandayan, West Java. In the span of a week, I immediately moved to another mountain. Here is the full story:

This is a photo in the basecamp motorbike parking lot

 

August 24, 2024 - Journey to Basecamp

We started the journey at 5 am from Sokaraja, Purwokerto. By motorbike, we traveled for 3 hours to the basecamp of Mount Prau Via Patak Banteng. Leaving in the morning made the roads quiet, so the journey was quite smooth. However, it was different from the return trip which took longer, around 4 hours.

This is the view of the tracking area.

Upon arrival at the basecamp, we decided to have breakfast at one of the nearest stalls. We ordered rice and chicken that we would bring for lunch later. After that, at 11 am, we started climbing. The terrain we faced was quite steep with many ravines on the left and right sides. In addition, the track used many stairs, making this climb more challenging compared to Papandayan which was quite sloping.

 

This fog is already a ravine

Climbing to the Peak

During the climb, we often stopped to rest, because we were already a bit "old". The journey to the peak took about 6 hours, and we arrived at the peak at 6 pm. Fatigue and hunger had already gripped us because we missed lunch. Immediately after arriving, we set up a tent and then had dinner very heartily. Luckily, we brought instant Kentucky food which was practical so we didn't have to bother cooking.

 

this is post 2

Night at the Peak

After dinner, we immediately rested. However, it turned out that we fell asleep even though we had previously agreed to have coffee first. At midnight, around 11 am, one by one we woke up because we were cold and hungry. We decided to cook instant noodles with eggs and drink coffee. After we were full, we slept soundly again, the cold atmosphere was no longer felt after drinking coffee.

At the peak, there were no facilities such as toilets, stalls, electricity, or water. We had to pee behind a tree and clean our bodies with wet tissues. Of course, we collected the trash and brought it down, in accordance with the mountain children's motto: "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but traces."

 

this is post 3

Sunrise and Morning Activities

At 5 am, we woke up to enjoy the sunrise. Even though we didn't take a shower, we still put on makeup to get good photos. Next, from 8 to 10 am, we cooked a very complete menu of home-style food: scrambled eggs, fried chicken, meatballs, soup, sardines, and Indomie. Very complete, right?

 

Return Trip

At 11 am, we started to clean up and dismantle the tent. Then, we returned to the peak to take pictures around 11.30 am and started going down the mountain. The descent process took about 4 hours with lots of rest.

Around 4 pm, we returned to Purwokerto by motorbike. During the trip, our motorbike brakes suddenly failed. We stopped at the side of the road and thank God, there was a nearby repair shop. It turned out that the brake pads were thin and had to be replaced. After the repair, we continued our journey and suddenly it rained heavily, making us have to wait for more than an hour.

We arrived home around 7 pm, very hungry again. Instead of eating right away, we still had to return the rental equipment before 9 pm. With tired and hungry faces, we headed to the rental shop. Finally, at 10 pm we could eat and arrived home around 11 pm. It was really tiring, but very satisfying!

 

Additional Info

There are 3 posts on Mount Prau. From post 1 to the basecamp, you can use a motorbike taxi for 10 thousand rupiah. During the trip down, we used the motorbike taxi. These motorbike taxi drivers can get up to 100 passengers on weekends and 50 passengers on weekdays, operating from 6 am to 5 pm with a 5-time prayer break.

At posts 1 to 2, there are still coffee shops and snacks at affordable prices. However, at post 3 there are no more stalls because this post is a Perhutani area, and the government does not allow the establishment of stalls at the peak to maintain the cleanliness of the mountain.

During registration, we were also given plastic trash bags to carry trash while camping and throw it away at the basecamp. All of this is to maintain the cleanliness of the mountain.

That's all for the travel notes on climbing Mount Prau this time. See you on the next adventure!

Indonesia Version

Catatan Perjalanan Pendakian Gunung Prau Via Patak Banteng

Gunung Prau, 2.565 mdpl, 24-25 Agustus 2024

Halo pembaca setia! Kali ini aku ingin berbagi pengalaman seru dari pendakian ke Gunung Prau yang aku lakukan baru-baru ini. Berbeda dari biasanya yang biasanya ikut open trip, kali ini aku berkesempatan melakukan solo trip bersama satu teman lama dan dua teman baru.

Jadi, perjalanan ini adalah pendakian hikingku yang kedua setelah minggu lalu ke Papandayan, Jawa Barat. Dalam rentang seminggu, aku langsung pindah ke gunung lain. Berikut cerita lengkapnya:

 

24 Agustus 2024 - Perjalanan Menuju Basecamp

Kami memulai perjalanan pada pukul 5 pagi dari Sokaraja, Purwokerto. Dengan motor, kami menempuh perjalanan selama 3 jam menuju basecamp Gunung Prau Via Patak Banteng. Berangkat di pagi hari membuat jalanan sepi, sehingga perjalanan cukup lancar. Namun, berbeda dengan perjalanan pulang yang memakan waktu lebih lama, sekitar 4 jam.

Setibanya di basecamp, kami memutuskan untuk sarapan di salah satu warung terdekat. Kami memesan nasi dan ayam yang akan kami bawa sebagai makan siang nanti. Setelah itu, pada pukul 11 siang, kami mulai mendaki. Medan yang kami hadapi cukup menanjak dengan banyak jurang di sisi kiri dan kanan. Selain itu, treknya banyak menggunakan tangga, membuat pendakian kali ini lebih menantang dibandingkan dengan Papandayan yang cukup banyak melandai.

 

Pendakian Menuju Puncak

Selama pendakian, kami sering berhenti untuk istirahat, maklumlah, kami sudah agak "jompo". Perjalanan menuju puncak memakan waktu sekitar 6 jam, dan kami tiba di puncak pada pukul 6 sore. Kelelahan dan kelaparan sudah menyergap kami karena kami terlewat makan siang. Segera setelah tiba, kami mendirikan tenda dan kemudian makan malam dengan sangat lahap. Untungnya, kami membawa makanan kentucky instan yang praktis sehingga tidak perlu repot-repot memasak.

 

Malam di Puncak

Setelah makan malam, kami langsung beristirahat. Namun, ternyata kami malah ketiduran padahal sebelumnya sudah sepakat untuk ngopi dulu. Tengah malam, sekitar pukul 11, satu per satu dari kami bangun karena kedinginan dan kelaparan. Kami memutuskan untuk memasak indomie telur dan ngopi. Setelah kenyang, kami tidur lagi dengan nyenyak, suasana dingin tidak terasa lagi setelah ngopi.

Di puncak, tidak ada fasilitas seperti toilet, warung, listrik, atau air. Kami harus buang air kecil di balik pohon dan membersihkan badan dengan tissue basah. Tentu saja, sampahny kami kumpulkan dan bawa turun, sesuai dengan motto anak gunung: "Jangan ambil sesuatu kecuali gambar, jangan tinggalkan sesuatu kecuali jejak."

 

Sunrise dan Aktivitas Pagi

Pukul 5 pagi, kami bangun untuk menikmati sunrise. Walaupun tidak mandi, kami tetap on make up untuk mendapatkan foto yang bagus. Selanjutnya, dari pukul 8 hingga 10 pagi, kami memasak menu yang sangat lengkap ala makanan rumahan: telur orek, ayam goreng, bakso, sup, sarden, dan Indomie. Lengkap banget kan?

 

Perjalanan Pulang

Jam 11 siang, kami mulai beres-beres dan bongkar tenda. Kemudian, kami kembali ke puncak untuk berfoto-foto sekitar pukul 11.30 dan mulai turun gunung. Proses turun memakan waktu sekitar 4 jam dengan banyak istirahat.

Sekitar pukul 4 sore, kami kembali ke Purwokerto dengan motor. Selama perjalanan, rem motor kami tiba-tiba blong. Kami berhenti di pinggir jalan dan puji Tuhan, ada bengkel terdekat. Ternyata ampas rem sudah tipis dan harus diganti. Setelah perbaikan, kami melanjutkan perjalanan dan tiba-tiba hujan deras, membuat kami harus menunggu lebih dari sejam.

Kami tiba di rumah sekitar pukul 7 malam, sangat lapar lagi. Bukannya langsung makan, kami masih harus mengembalikan alat rental sebelum pukul 9 malam. Dengan wajah lelah dan lapar, kami menuju toko rental. Akhirnya, pukul 10 malam kami bisa makan dan sampai di rumah sekitar jam 11 malam. Sungguh melelahkan, tapi sangat memuaskan!

 

Info Tambahan

Di Gunung Prau ada 3 pos. Dari pos 1 menuju basecamp, kamu bisa menggunakan ojek motor dengan harga 10 ribu rupiah. Selama perjalanan turun, kami menggunakan ojek motor tersebut. Para driver ojek ini bisa mendapatkan hingga 100 penumpang di akhir pekan dan 50 penumpang di hari kerja, beroperasi dari jam 6 pagi hingga 5 sore dengan istirahat sholat 5 waktu.

Di pos 1 hingga pos 2, masih ada warung kopi dan jajanan dengan harga terjangkau. Namun, di pos 3 sudah tidak ada warung lagi karena pos ini merupakan wilayah Perhutani, dan pemerintah tidak mengizinkan pendirian warung di puncak untuk menjaga kebersihan gunung.

Saat registrasi, kami juga diberi trash bag plastic untuk membawa sampah selama ngecamp dan membuangnya di basecamp. Semua ini demi menjaga kebersihan gunung.

Sekian catatan perjalanan pendakian Gunung Prau kali ini. Sampai jumpa di petualangan berikutnya!