Gerbang Merapi Mountain View The Last Place I Expected to Open My Laptop

Attempting to take some breaks from the noise around me, I visited a dearest friend of mine @falminda, yes she's on Hive and has been around. Somehow, I never know when she posts 😄 but we often meet whenever I am in Jogja. And because she was working on the weekend, her sister took her time to take me around like I was a tourist. She was taking me to Mt. Merapi, an active volcano in Indonesia that's often erupting. I've never been to this side of area, let alone visiting the actual foothills of Merapi.

The road was meandering and was quite rocky but it was the adventure I was waiting for. It took about 30 minutes from the suburb of Yogyakarta to reach the so-called "Gate of Merapi Mountain". On the way there, we enjoyed the kind of view that you'd normally find in Ubud, Bali except this one is a lot less commercialized and still virgin.

But don't worry, this place is filled with plenty outdoor activities including an hour jeep ride through the valley surrounding Mt.Merapi as well as a closer look to the mountain itself. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day that we don't get to see the Mountain. We could only see its surrounding hills.

We stopped at a place where people gather to camp and enjoy a humble lunch. It's like a campsite mixed with commercialized viewing points of Merapi. We sat down there for about 3 hours and instead of enjoying the actual view, I opened my laptop😂. Even on Sunday I have 3 classes to teach from morning to evening. So, I still have to prepare the materials.

The menu at this campsite is quite humble. They only serve boiled/fried noodles, coffee grown from Merapi itself. They don't even use proper filter for the coffee but simply steep the coffee with hot water and added some milk to it. If I were them, I'd invest a bit in cheap filtering system like french press of V60 because the price wasn't even cheap. But, regardless of that, it was pretty okay and considering the view, definitely some of the best "office" view I get for a while.

In this area, they are also known for its sand mining. We can also see and hear the mining activities in this area. I guess, it has its own benefit for the people surrounding the place.

But in the end, it felt so numbing. I looked at the view as if wasn't so extraordinary while other visitors raising their camera in awe, smiling and truly enjoy the view. " well, it's just the kind of view I wake up to everyday a few months ago"- I said to Fal's sister. Perhaps, I've forgotten how to be amazed or maybe I need better view? I don't know. And maybe next time, I better leave my laptop at home 😂 and cancelled the weekend class.