Mount Slamet, January 2016. Pt 1 - Of the Departing

Mount Slamet is a volcano located in Central Java, Indonesia. Stands about 3,428 meters (11,247 ft)above sea levels, Mount Slamet is the second highest mountain in this most populated island in Indonesia.

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January 2016

        The weather betrays us. 'Us'? Yeah. Me and two of my friends whom I got acquaintance through the law of habitual meeting. A week difference, the mum wind is now hurling these dropping rain. Unfortunate, indeed. Should we refund our ticket? Surely we may. Perhaps a month from now the weather might be altered, and the sun might shine vividly. But nope. Nope. Something else is unable to be altered. Our spirit. This spirit beneath us might rebel for this longing of the splendour. Of beauty, of magnificence, of sublimity. Of mist, of cold, of dirt. Of cloud, of water, of sun.

        There we are. Submitting ourself to the will of our spirit. None turned back. Perhaps our spirits are somehow manifestations of certain common 'something'. Same will, same surrendering.

        The train departs at midnight. Eighty-five k per person, now we are heading to Purwokerto, Central Java. Not a pleasant trip, not much to hope for the trip cost. Serayu Malam, departs from Jakarta and destined to Purwokerto, pass through the City of Bandung, more precisely at Kiara Condong Station where we boards the train from. It's midnight but no twelve tolls can be heard. No such thing is common in this twenty-first century. The six hour hiking preparation allows me to take a quite sleep inside the stuffy economy class car. It's not that I'm not able to purchase the higher class carriage, the whole train consists of economy class car. This sleep might not bring me into nice expected dream. Nevertheless nothing's better than leaning my head toward this ninety degrees-shaped chair. Five minutes boarded and my friends are snoring.

        There blows a sudden breeze through my cheeks. The train doors are opened for the last time in our current trip. The cold air escapes the high pressure surrounding it and blows the heat inside this low pressure-stuffy hot car. It's not a common breeze. It's morning breeze. The seven o'clock morning breeze.