Throwback Tuesday: Sunrise on Punthuk Setumbu

Throwback Tuesday: Sunrise on Punthuk Setumbu

"What time is it, ma? My husband sleepily asked me behind his blanket
"Time to wake up", I replied with big smile on my face. 
And it was only 3 AM in the morning.
There was no sound other then the humming air conditioner in our room.
"Alright..give me 5 minutes. You get the kids ready" replied my hubby.
And there we were..waking up at 3 AM in the cold morning at Magelang, eager to catch sunrise at Punthuk Setumbu.
The idea of climbing up the hills at pitch black dawn to see the magnificent sunrise overlooking Mount Merapi and the famous Borobudur Temple is indeed tantalizing.

And here's our pictorial stories..

Our adventure at Punthuk Setumbu began as we decided to explore Yogyakarta during our summer break in Indonesia

It was back to 2013, when Bo et Obi were pretty young.

It took us around 40 minutes from our hotel in Magelang to Punthuk Setumbu.

We rent our car from Jogja and drove to Magelang to see the magnificent Borobudur Temple.

Good thing it came with the driver so what we did was enjoying the views, and some traditional food authentically sold in food stalls, along the way. 

The route was packed, with trucks, cars, motorcycles, people. 

But that's the beauty of the road trip, right.

Traffic is unavoidable, so try to embrace it :).

So, long story short, we arrived in Magelang in the evening.

Straight to the hotel after dinner, we have set our hearth on hiking up to Punthuk Setumbu the next morning.

Needless to say I have to convince my kids to come along with us.

I knew it was a bit too much to ask them to hike at 4 AM in the morning, 'just to see the sunrise' (as my son put it).

The compromise was they would come but stayed and slept again in the car.

So, at 3.30 AM we drove there and  apparently we could only park in one of the 'designated spots' in Karangrejo Village. The rest we have to take ojek, the motorcab, to certain area and continued with walking to the top. We paid Rp 150.000,- (around USD 12) per person for ojek and our 'tracking guide' plus the entrance fee. I didn't whether it was that expensive but it was pitch black and we didn't want to miss the sunrise.

We walked around 10 minuted to reach the top.
It was not that bad although it was a bit slippery.
I was so relieved I left my kids in the car with our driver.
Imagine sleepy heads tracking in slippery, muddy path up the hill.

When we got to the top, it was almost packed.
Almost.
But we managed to secure some spots and prepare our gears.
And the rest...
As you can see in the pictures.

All those early morning circus is worth it!

cheers...

If you see the misty part of some of the photos, that's Borobudur Temple.

Here are some of the snaps of Borobudur Temple, with Bo et Obi on it.

Happy to share more about this majestic Buddhist temple, one of the biggest in the world, to you all in another post.

For sure, Bo et Obi loved traveling to Jogjakarta, especially visiting Borobudur Temple.

They did explore the temple and run around the area near the temple.

Whenever I travel , I somehow remember my fellow traveler blogger, Elisa Koraag.

Mami Icha, our nickname for her, has been blogging for the last..I don't know how long LOL. She's been like a 'veteran' to us, blogging since years ago and still enjoying it up until now. She travels a lot as well, either with her beautiful children or with her lovely hubby. For sure, she traveled to many parts of Indonesia, including Jogja and Lampung, my hometown.

That's my sweet memories of Punthuk Setumbu.
What's your lovely throwback memory this week?

p.s : I will keep my Throwback Tuesday features but will post it every Wednesday or Thursday :).