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Chapter 8. Finding Myself on the Trail.

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E very journey has a moment when the body finally rests but the mind keeps walking. For this Mount Ungaran climb, that moment came after we had returned to basecamp, put down our backpacks, and stretched out under the pine trees. The hardest work was over. The cool morning air moved gently through the branches above us, and the noise of other hikers faded into a soft background hum. Lying there, with tired legs and a quiet heart, the whole night and morning began to replay in my mind not as separate scenes, but as one woven story. Photos Taken by Nisa Arum What started as a simple plan for a tektok hike had become something much more personal. Before the trip, I had thought mostly about the practical details: what time to leave, what to pack, which route to take, how much the ticket would cost. During the climb, my focus shifted to the next step, the next post, the next breath. But in the calm after everything, the deeper questions finally had space to speak. Why did this mountain feel...
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Chapter 7. Laughing Our Way Back Down.

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Photos Taken by Nisa Arum G oing down a mountain is often described as “the easy part,” but anyone who has felt their legs shake on a steep descent knows that is only half true. After spending some time at Puncak Botak, enjoying the view and taking our photos, it was finally time to head back down toward basecamp. The excitement of reaching the summit slowly shifted into a different kind of energy: a mix of relief, tiredness, and the quiet satisfaction of knowing that the hardest climbing was behind us. We adjusted our backpacks, tightened our shoelaces, and turned our faces away from the sky and back toward the trail that had brought us up. The first few steps down felt almost too easy. Gravity, which we had been fighting all night and morning, now worked in our favor. Our feet moved more quickly, and our bodies relaxed a little. But very soon, the reality of descent made itself clear. The same steep sections that had made us breathe hard on the way up now tested our knees and thighs ...
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Chapter 6. Puncak Botak and the Wide, Quiet Sky.

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Photos Taken by Nisa Arum L eaving Bondolan felt a bit like leaving a warm living room to step back into the open air. Our bodies had already tasted rest and sunrise, but the journey was not over yet. Ahead of us waited Puncak Botak, one of Mount Ungaran’s main peaks and the highest point of our climb. As we packed our snacks, tightened our shoes again, and stood up from our mat, a small wave of laziness passed through the group. The sun was already up, the view was already beautiful so why not just stay here? But that thought lasted only a moment. We had promised ourselves we would reach the top, and now it was time to honour that promise. The trail from Bondolan to Puncak Botak quickly reminded us that the mountain still had challenges to offer. The air grew noticeably colder as we climbed higher, even though the sun was already shining. The wind became stronger and sharper, slipping through any small gaps in our jackets. I pulled my zipper all the way up, put on my beanie again, and...
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Chapter 5. Sunrise at Bondolan: When the Mountain Wakes Up

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  Photos Taken by Nisa Arum T he first hint of sunrise always feels like a secret shared between the mountain and those who wake early enough to see it. As we climbed past Pos 2 and moved closer to Bondolan, the sky slowly began to change. The heavy black of night softened into a deep blue, and the sharp beams of our headlamps no longer felt as necessary as before. The air grew colder, but in that cold there was a quiet promise: soon, the darkness would lift, and the world around us would reveal itself. Our steps, which had felt heavier in the middle of the night, started to feel a little lighter with every sign of the coming dawn. The path to Bondolan demanded one last wave of effort. The slope rose more steadily, and our breaths turned into visible clouds in the chilly air. We walked in a line, sometimes talking, sometimes just focusing on the rhythm of our steps. In the distance, we could already see a faint glow behind the silhouettes of other hills. That glow did not yet show ...
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Chapter 4. Stepping Into the Dark

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  Photos Taken by Nisa Arum  A t 2:30 AM, the moment finally arrived to trade the safety of basecamp for the mystery of the trail. The world around us was mostly silent, broken only by low conversations and the occasional clink of trekking poles. We tightened our backpacks one last time, switched on our headlamps, and lined up at the start of the path. The small circles of light in front of our feet felt like gateways, guiding us into the darkness that hid everything beyond a few meters. With our first steps, the night swallowed the sounds of basecamp behind us and opened into a new, quieter world. The cool mountain air immediately wrapped around us, sharper than the air at basecamp. Each breath felt cleaner and a little colder, rising in small white clouds when we laughed or spoke. Walking in the dark required more attention than walking in daylight. The trail that might seem obvious under the sun became a thin, uncertain line under our headlamps. We moved slowly, finding a r...
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Chapter 3. From City Lights to Basecamp

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  Photos taken by  Travel Story L eaving the city for the mountains always feels like stepping through a doorway between two worlds. One moment, there are traffic lights, busy streets, and the glow of shop signs. A few hours later, everything is darker, quieter, and somehow simpler. For this Mount Ungaran climb, that transition began on a regular evening in Yogyakarta. While many people were getting ready for bed, my cousin, two friends, and I were tightening backpack straps, zipping jackets, and preparing ourselves for a night on the road. Our goal was clear: reach Perantunan basecamp around midnight, rest a little, and start the climb before dawn. We set off around 8 PM, each of us riding a motorbike. The air was still warm when we left the city, but it grew cooler as we moved farther away from the lights and deeper into the quiet of Central Java’s smaller roads. Streetlamps became less frequent, and the darkness around us slowly thickened. The familiar sound of the engine a...
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Chapter 2. Climbing Mount Ungaran Adventure: Preparing for a Tektok Night Hike

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  Photos taken by Nisa Arum P reparing for a mountain is not only about choosing a date on the calendar. It is about slowly building a small conversation between your body, your mind, and the trail you are about to walk. After deciding that Mount Ungaran would be my destination and that I would do a tektok hike, the next big step was preparation. A tektok sounds simple because it is “just one day,” but in reality it demands careful planning. There is no tent to hide in if something goes wrong, and there is no extra day to “fix” mistakes. Everything you need must be ready from the moment you leave home until you return to basecamp. Understanding The Route and Timing The first part of preparation was understanding the route and timing. Tektok means going up and down in a single push, usually starting late at night so that you reach the summit or main viewpoints around sunrise. I looked at other hikers’ experiences and roughly estimated how many hours it might take to reach spots like...
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