Climbing Mt Merapi

Every year around Christmas Sri Chinmoy escapes the bitterly cold New York winter to holiday in a warmer climate. It is an opportunity for his students from across the globe to spend time with their spiritual teacher renewing their aspiration and experiencing the culture and language of a different country.

In the 2003-4 we visited Indonesia spending several weeks in Yogyakarta in Central Java. Yogyakarta is possibly best known for its close proximity to the famous Borobudur Temple built between 750 and 842AD. Sri Chinmoy gave a most beautiful concert on the grounds of the temple during our visit, which was most memorable.

From our hotel in Yogyakarata we were every morning greeted with the stunning view of Mt Merapi looming in the skies on the horizon. Preparations were made with a local guide who later the next evening drove us to his simple house it the foothills of the great mountain. There were 9 of us in total 2 guides and 7 novices making up an international contingent with representation from Iceland, Israel, Germany, Canada and Australia.

After resting for a few hours on a large platform bed in the living room of our guides house we woke at 2AM and after a brief meditation and some breakfast we were soon out the door into the darkness.

The first section of the climb followed a narrow road which was straight and incredibly steep. Upon reaching the top of the road the heavens then opened up on us. Since there was little shelter available we kept moving. I had expected that the track up the mountain snake around the side of the mountain on a gradual incline to the top. Unfortunately I was badly mistaken. The narrow track just went straight up. At times we actually the climbing trees growing on the side of the mountain which provided better footholds than the track. And through all this time it just continued to rain.

Interestingly our guides were extremely adept to the conditions, and wearing just simple thongs on their feet and holding a torch in one had easily made their way up the mountain. At around 5AM after 2 1/2 hours of climbing the rain stopped and as we cleared the tree line we could see the lights of Yogyakarta in the distance.  At this point I knew we would make it.

The remaining 90 minutes was like climbing in a  barren lunar landscape as we clambered over boulder after boulder before reaching the summit just after dawn. The last 300m were particularly difficult as we began to feel the elevation effects of reduced oxygen. The whole summit area was rich in sulpher gas which was quite overpowering when you got too close to a vent. At 2974m Mt Merapi, which means 'Mountain of Fire' is considered to be one of the most dangerous volcanos in the world.

While the climb up had taken the best part of 4 1/2 hours our decent was completed in half the time. On our return down the mountain we passed many local villagers climbing up to till their plots of land cut into the sides of the mountain. The rich volcanic soil is very favourable for their crops. On our return to our guide's house we were greeted with warm a very warm welcome from the members of the guide's family and a hearty well earned breakfast. A most memorable and joyous experience.