Climbing the Mountain of Fire

Central Java's Mt Merapi is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. It has erupted several times in the last few years, and it often looks like it does on the poster I saw, probably depicting the situation four years ago. I even remember peering at it from a safe distance on a visit to Yogyakarta nearly three decades ago, and it looked like the poster then too!

When planning my Central Java trip the Merapi climb was the one thing I told everyone I was determined to do. So climb it I did. I found all the organised tours insisted that you do the night climb, ready for the view of the sunrise from the top. They pick you up from Jogja at 10pm, drive you to Selo village, give you a cup of coffee, a torch, and some guides, and up you go. I spent a day or two looking for someone who would do it to a slightly later timetable, thus allowing a bit of beauty sleep beforehand. They were all insistent though, that the standard timetable was the one to do.

It's a very steep and steady slog, ascending from 1500m to 2900m in four hours. Somehow the sleepless night wasn't a problem. The loose and slippery surfaces were though. We all slip-slided our way up in the volcanic dust, scree and sharp rocks, and it was like doing double the ascent. There were four rest stops along the way, and at one of them, just below the tree line, the guides lit a morale boosting fire to warm us and dry our sweaty backs.

At one of the seismic monitoring stations, one of the guides tried to contact the seismic HQ people for an up-to-date activity report, but couldn't get through. We can proceed anyway, he announced, "but careful". He told us later that he was seeing more sulphurous gas than usual coming out of the various fumeroles around the place, and he wasn't keen on spending longer up there than necessary.

We made it to the top with a few minutes to spare, and the views were magnificent - before, during, and after the sunrise. You perch on the knife edge of the crater below, and try not to move too quickly or pass too close to a fellow trekker in case you're accidently despatched. There's an amazing moonscape around you, and a new summit that you don't actually try to conquer. I gather that it appeared during the 2010 eruption, and increased the height of the mountain by 38m. Just to the north there's the spectacular Merbabu volcano, and looking either east or west you see a whole string of volcanoes peeking out of the cloud layer - the chain that forms the spine of this most volcanic island in the world.

Going down takes two hours only! That's because you can see where you're going, and because in the scree sections at least, it's almost impossible not to run! There were of course cuts, torn clothes, and at least one ankle sprain. The guides agreed that they do in fact have serious injuries too, and do get to take people to hospital sometimes.

Breakfasted in Selo, and back in Jogja by midday, I felt good about my Fire Mountain experience.