Thursday, January 7, 2016

8 Things About Climbing In Indonesia

First of all, ALHAMDULILLAH for a new year and being able to add another year to my age yesterday. At the beginning of 2015, I made an Excel list of mountains to climb in Malaysia. After climbing a few with the toughest climb ever (for a newbie like me) of Mt Korbu; 2183mdpl and Gayong; 2173 mdpl, the 2nd and 4th highest mountain in West Malaysia respectively... I suddenly decided to look upon mountains in Indonesia.

Not having much experience with setting up my own tent and cooking my own meals during any of my hiking trips in Malaysia (as I followed a group of people who did those for me).. I finally tasted my first experience in Mt Talang of Solok West Sumatera. (Talang - Part 1, Talang - Part 2)

Ever since then, I started collecting camping equipment to prepare myself for future climbs. Here is a list of things I've learnt about climbing in Indonesia.

1. Tents : Unlike climbing in Malaysia where the hikers prefer setting up flysheet and ground to house up to 20 people under one roof... in Indonesia, they tend to set up tents! I've seen various high quality tents whilst climbing in Indonesia and impressed at how tough it stands the strong winds at the mountain tops! They even have local brands such as Rei and Eiger that makes pretty good tents.

Picture taken at Mt. Prau. I shot this tent found on top of a hill there, secured against the strong winds.