Ranu Kumbolo Trip (Part II) : From Surabaya to Ranu Pani

So then.. Our journey started! We departed from Surabaya at 08.00 PM on a Friday night, sadly, with an empty stomach. We decided to stuff our tummy at the rest area and we choose to eat at KFC until 09.00 pm. After that, we drove to Malang for two hours. Around 11.00 pm we stopped at a friend’s house to re-pack our things and filled in the real backpack that we rent together. This is quite an important step, because in this step, you can decide who-brings-what as a group (you can take out all of your stuffs and arrange for example : the strongest guys bring all the heavy parts in the group, the weakest brings the least stuffs, etc) but since I didn’t really understand about what to bring, I knew nothing about hiking, and I didn’t really know that many people in the group, I have no choice but to carry all of the stuffs on my own (thank God I didn’t bring the tent by myself, lol).

We have one person in the group who hikes a lot and already know about Ranu Kumbolo. He helped most of us (including me) stuffing our bag properly (YES, there is a proper way to stuff your backpack so that you won’t get a backache while you hike, you can find it on google), and he also helped me bringing my tripod, so thanks a lot to him.

Done with our stuffs and adjusting our backpack (secure everything, make your back and your shoulder comfortable carrying the bag), at 12.30 am, some of us take a rest for one and a half hour while the others went out to get something to eat (again).

We departed again at 03.15 am from our friend’s house to Tumpang and it takes around one and a half hour from Malang to get there. We are also thankful that our friends were able to drive us to Tumpang, and picked us up again at Tumpang after we done with the hike. That way, we saved another penny because we didn’t have to pay a taxi or a travel car to Tumpang and we could also boarded out our cars at their house in Malang. So thanks a lot for them!

At 04.45 am, we arrived at Tumpang and we waited for our Jeep to come and picked us up to our next destination, which is Ranu Pani. To get to Ranu Pani, there are two options; either you’ll be carried by a truck (yes an ordinary truck), or  a Jeep. Both of them offer a painful trip I guess, but this time, we got the Jeep, and I can’t really tell if it’s an advantage or not, haha..

Our PitStop at Tumpang

To rent the Jeep or the Truck, you’d have to pay Rp. 600.000,- (one way), and we were 12 people at that time so each person had to pay Rp.50.000,- each ride. Alright, quite pricey, think back about the pain and the uncomfortable ride, but it’s still cheap though.. 🙂 So after drinking hot tea and eating some snacks until 05.15 am, we said goodbye to Tumpang and headed off to Ranu Pani. At this stage I have some important tips for you :

1. It’s a Jeep, so you’ll be standing at the back of the car, if you don’t think you can handle it, you can sit down (with your face facing those legs, or butts or balls, hahaha)

2. And that Jeep doesn’t have any cap or cover for you, so it’s going to be very windy and very cold (at least to me), so wear your jacket, or ask to sit in front with the driver, that’s going to be the safest way.

3. The trip from Tumpang to Ranu Pani will be pretty rough, you’ll be crashing your body to your friends’s body and to the side of the Jeep, and I’m telling you now, it’s going to be quite painful! I even got bruises around my tummy because of that. 🙁

4. On your way up, the sight will be VERY PRETTY on the RIGHT side, so if you’re going to record or take pictures of the scenery, choose to stand on the right side of the Jeep, and keep your camera on all the time. PLUS! secure your camera strap around your hand or your head, once again, the road is rocky, so you have to be prepared and be really careful so that you won’t drop or hit your camera.

5. Watch out for the branch or the leaves of the trees that might hit your face along the way. Usually, the driver will ride quite speedy, so I think it would be painful to get a slap on your face with those branches. lol;. 

Sadly, I didn’t know that we are going sight seeing, moreover the sight will be prettier on the right side, so I just jumped in and stood on the left side of the Jeep. But there will be one very pretty spot where you can see the sun coming up and usually, the Jeep driver will stop at this place, and let you enjoy these breath taking views. All I could say was just, “How Great Thou Art”

then, after another rocky trip, we finally arrived at Ranu Pani (06.45 AM)

We walked for five minutes to get to the base camp. Then we had to register and paid Rp.40.000,- /person (20k for each day) to have ourselves written on the list of the Ranu Kumbolo hikers (so in case if there’s something bad happened to us, it will be smoother and easier to get help faster if we are registered). It takes quite a long time to queue and register, so we decided to eat something first.

After done with everything, we prepared ourselves with some sunblock all over our body, and we walked again a little bit until we reached the gate that’s said, “Welcome The Hikers of Semeru Mountain” and then our journey officially begin………………