Hiking on Eid

Eid Mubarak!

After a month fasting minus a three-day period (it was a short period, normal for me during a fast), I decided to do a light exercise to get back on my shape. Then I decided to go hiking. It has been a long time doing any dry exercises (except yoga) since I had changed my exercise to swimming for a year.

Since it was impossible to swim during Ramadhan, I hardly exercised. In the end, I totally became such a chubby pig who did nothing but laziness. That was when I thought that a hike would be a perfect light exercise for me on Eid.

There were two mountains that I, accompanied by my dad and my brother(s), would hike. They were Mt. Panderman and Mt. Ijen.

Mt. Panderman was located very close to Malang, near my grandmother's house. That made Mt. Panderman the perfect choice to hike on Eid. The trail was not that difficult. Even though the half of the trail was rocky and more inclines, it was perfect for a moderate hike. We hiked for two and half hours, did some eating at the peak, then went back down. 

The best part was, although it was only 2,045 metres above sea levels, the landscape was picturesque. The other mountains, Mt. Arjuna and his friends, were seen right across the Panderman. It was very beautiful with white clouds hanging around. The bad side was... so many aggressive monkeys trying to steal our food... We had to be careful when eating and I was really scared of monkey lol.

Three days after Mt. Panderman hiking, my dad made a reservation on a travel agent to bring us to the beautiful Mt. Ijen!

It was easier to travel with agent since it would be a long and difficult drive from Malang to Banyuwangi or Bondowoso. The travel agent managed to reserve an accommodation for stay as well. We stayed at a simple homestay in Blawan, Bondowoso. The location was an area of tea plantation as well as coffee and other plantation agriculture. It was nice to stay there. The air was fresh and it is very hard to find such air in busy cities. The plus side is the area have waterfall! Either mini or real one lol. 

At 1 a.m in the morning, we headed to Mt. Ijen to see blue fire. We arrived one and a half hours later. It was very cold when I got off the car. Luckily I wore a thick coat, yeah! We then hiked. The road was already paved so it should not be tricky to hike at midnight or very early morning. However... I don't know but I think it was harder to hike on a paved road than a rocky road with tree roots everywhere. The feeling was like... where would I be going? What was with all of this? Where was I? 😆 Or maybe because I hiked on my first day of period... Stomach cramps, and low blood pressure... What a torture lol.

But after drinking a warm sweet tea on a last base, I somehow became energized 💪💥

Anyway, for those who might not be able to hike for one to two hours, don't worry. There were taxi. The taxis were a kind of manual taxi; a wheeled-box pushed and pulled by three locals. It would take the passenger safely in a short time to Kawah Ijen, 2,386 metres above sea level. My mother rode that anyway lol.

Taken on my way down

I could see the blue fire clearly but unfortunately we couldn't go down because the gas level was very high. It would be poisonous if we went down and breathe the gas. I could only see it from above and it looked very small... It would be so much different if it was seen from below. The guide said it would look like a garden of blue fire...

Because we couldn't see the blue fire closely, we chose to go higher, to the peak of Mt. Ijen to see sunrise. The peak was about 2,799 metres above sea levels. My mother waited on the other side of the crater because she couldn't hike. It was windy and cold when hiking to the peak. However, when the sun rose... The color was very beautiful! I could see Mountain Baluran and the sea across, from up there!

And when it was completely bright, the crater was so worth the cold, the hike and everything! I love the color very much. The color of the sunrise, the sky, the crater, the grass, the crater smoke... 💗💗💗 I was so beyond grateful.

Side note: 

I am sorry if the photos were taken badly 😅 I am not good at taking pictures... But I mean it when I said it was beautiful! The other side was magnificent as well. The beautiful white clouds were hanging around the other mountains.

Second side note:

Finally managed to take family picture on crater lol

Third side note:

The hiking on Eid was super fun! It made me miss about the old days...

Tanpa Prasangka

Untuk mempelajari suatu ilmu, seseorang lebih baik tidak dianjurkan untuk telah menjadi ahli dalam bidang tersebut. LOL, obviously. Malah, alangkah lebih baiknya jika ia datang tanpa prasangka. Itu akan jadi sangat berguna untuk menghindari bias dan prejudice dalam menuntut ilmu. Jika seseorang datang untuk belajar dengan membawa prasangka-prasangkanya sendiri, justru akan menjadi penghalang dalam memahami ilmu. 

Hal tersebut mengingatkanku pada unggahan seorang teman yang berkeluh kesah di media sosial perihal studi lanjut. Ia mengeluhkan orangtuanya yang menyarankannya untuk mengambil studi lanjut dalam bidang Islamic Studies sementara ia tidak menaruh simpati sama sekali pada agama. Menurutnya, hal yang paling buruk yang ada dalam dunia ini adalah agama. Kemudian aku membalasnya dengan saran persis seperti yang ku tulis itu. Hanya saran, karena keputusan sepenuhnya adalah milik yang akan menuntut ilmu hehe. Itu pula yang mengingatkanku dengan teman-temanku yang ku kenal sekarang dalam studi pascasarjana ini. Diawali dengan insiden yang membuatku mengenal teman-teman BIPA (Bahasa Indonesia untuk Penutur Asing), aku mengenal seseorang dari Meksiko yang jauh-jauh datang ke Indonesia untuk mempelajari Islamic History (Sejarah Islam). Ia bukan seorang Muslim. Ia bukan juga seorang religius. Ia cuma penasaran dengan suatu agama yang memiliki penganut terbesar di dunia ini dan "terlihat" menjadi suatu alasan atas banyak hal-hal yang terjadi di dunia ini. Begitu pula dengan temanku yang lain, seorang Ph.D dari Amerika yang sedang meneliti bahasa Sunda. Bahasa Sunda tentu adalah konsep yang asing sama sekali baginya. Namun, ia mempelajarinya tanpa prasangka dan siapa sangka ia justru dapat menemukan hal-hal yang selama ini luput dari peneliti bahasa Sunda lainnya yang memang sudah jago bahasa Sunda sebagai bahasa kesehariannya.

Wah, ilmu itu memang sesuatu yang tanpa batas sama sekali. Itu pun yang ku alami setelah tanpa sengaja tercebur di dalam dunia academia. Aku selalu diwanti-wanti oleh dosenku jika ingin melakukan penelitian lapangan, "Datanglah tanpa prasangka sama sekali. Meleburlah tapi tetap membatasi diri bahwa kamu sedang melakukan suatu penelitian." Hal tersebut juga yang mengingatkanku pada academia yang terlalu angkuh melabeli dirinya sebagai "ahli ini", "ahli itu", dan sebagainya. Makanya di dunia academia ada istilah "doktor baru" layaknya orang kaya baru hehe. Itu juga yang mengingatkanku pada banyak tulisan-tulisan di media sosial yang seringkali membuatku jemu. Mengapa harus menyampaikan pendapat seolah ia yang paling benar dan kesalahan adalah milik yang lainnya? Baik kubu X, kubu Y, kubu 1, kubu 2, dan semuanya seringkali terlihat sama saja....

Kenapa tidak menyampaikan pendapat dengan mengakui pendapat lainnya dan menambahkan pendapatnya dalam bagian yang kosong yang dapat dilengkapinya. Atau mungkin memahami mengapa seseorang tersebut dapat mengeluarkan pendapat seperti itu? Alih-alih sepenuhnya menyalahkan. Aku pun belajar hal tersebut melalui academia hehe. Di dunia akademis, ada yang namanya celah penelitian yang rumpangnya dapat diisi oleh penelitian kita. Alih-alih mengatakan penelitian tersebut sepenuhnya salah dan bodoh. Dengan itulah, dunia keilmuan menjadi berkembang. Bukankah begitu juga dengan perspektif kita sebagai manusia tempatnya salah?