For various reasons, this active volcano was chosen as Malapi volcano in West Sumatra, Indonesia. These reasons are: proximity, proximity, and proximity.
Indonesia is simply a group of islands, and has been known as the “Land of a Thousand Islands”. The most important islands are Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and New Guinea. As Indonesia is located in the Pacific Rim seismic zone, the crust between the plates is very active, so Indonesia has a large number of volcanoes, ranking first in the world. Among them, there are more than 120 active volcanoes, accounting for one-sixth of the number of active volcanoes in the world. This time we went to Gunung Marapi, the second largest volcano in Sumatra.
Marapi is about half an hour’s drive from the small town of Bukittinggi. It is the most active volcano on Sumatra, rising 2,891 meters above sea level. There have been more than 50 recorded eruptions since the late 18th century, with the most recent eruption in August 2011. That night we contacted our mountain guide through our hotel and confirmed our trip to climb the active volcano and camp the next day. Here are a few pictures of the view after the summit to calm down the scene.
After lunch that day, our guide drove us to the base of Malapi Volcano. At the beginning, it was just a routine registration: record the name, gender, nationality, contact information, climbing time, expected return date and so on. This is so that the authorities can get more accurate information in case of any accidents and take appropriate measures.
Along the way, I sporadically met some local people going up and down the mountain. Why do I know they are locals and not tourists? Just look at the speed of the walking. There are also some locals who set up tents at the foot of the mountain. Usually, they will smile at you. I always feel that the more small places people tend to be more warm and welcoming. People in big cities are usually exhausted by all kinds of relationships and are more indifferent.
The biggest difference between an active volcano and other mountains is probably that it can erupt at any time. Because of this occasional eruption, it is always in a state of flux. The path you take today may not be there the next time. The view and the experience of going up the mountain is different for everyone. The path of an active volcano is always alternating between a process of constant formation and destruction. So many local residents go up and down many times to help the road form. In addition, due to the various debris and ash brought by the active volcano, climbing an active volcano is undoubtedly a very waste of shoes. You should be prepared to lose a pair of shoes.
At the beginning, the road on the mountain is always quiet and beautiful. Then it gets steeper and steeper and tougher. To say more are tears, climbing an active volcano this thing, who climb who knows. It is purely self-abuse. From the beginning with the slope of the path, to the back of more than 60 degrees of slope under the hands and feet to find their own way down the foot. After more than four hours of trekking, finally reached the top of the mountain and about an hour away from the place to set up camp. Because of the late start, I was not able to catch the sunset. By the time we reached the camping site, it was already dark and we had to use flashlights to set up our tents. Overlooking the village at the foot of the mountain, the fires were lit, much more beautiful than I thought.
Four people huddled in the tent to eat dinner, drinking tea and chatting over the campfire. The moon was standing round on the top of the mountain on the other side. The composition could not be more perfect. The stars were twinkling in the sky, everything was good, except for the lack of a tripod, nothing could be photographed. However, I really can’t afford to carry a tripod up the mountain.
The night is cold and windy, the peer of the almighty Tinker Bell pulled out the baby warmer. So for the first time in my life, I saw a baby warmer. Not afraid of cold partners in the wind outside to think about life, afraid of cold partners (such as me) are in the sleeping bag when the caterpillar play cell phone. The most impressive is the toilet session. To find a place to go to the toilet in the pile of tents at the top of the volcano, which was about to go bald, was still quite difficult. Thankfully we were a combination of two men and two women. The two girls were able to cover each other when they went to the toilet. Looking back on it, I always feel a little subtle.
In the morning, we got up around five o’clock and continued to climb in the dark. This part of the trail was a little better than the previous one. At least there was a large flat section near the crater. Everyone was freezing like dogs all morning. Since we can’t leave our sleeping bags, everyone was wrapped in sleeping bags and went up the mountain. Sleeping bag brand poncho cum scarf, you deserve to have it.
In the early morning light, follow the shadow in front of you, step by step towards the top of the mountain. When the sun finally came out, even if it was sniffling and shivering, it was well worth it. While climbing the mountain we all comforted each other that the meaning of climbing was in this second. After watching the sunrise, the mountain guide took us to the crater. You can lie on the boulder and look down, you can smell the strong smell of sulfur. Due to my fear of heights and death and weak legs. The only photo is only this effect, please use your own imagination.
Then we all took pictures at the 2891m marker at the top of the mountain. Afterwards, it was proven that every photo was unkempt and gray, ugly. So much so that when I posted the photos in my friends circle, I silently used doge to cover each of our faces.
Then we continued to wrap sleeping bags back to the camp tent to eat breakfast and drink tea. It took a lot of effort to climb up here, so we must enjoy it a little more to make it worthwhile.
Line up to go down the mountain
Finally is the collection of tents and trash pick-up session. When we started from the hotel, we participated in the climb clean west sumatra activity. The innkeeper gave us two garbage bags. We picked up a bunch of plastic bottles and other non-biodegradable garbage and brought it back to the innkeeper. The owner was very happy after seeing it. He pulled us to take a photo together and again. He also gave us mineral water and bananas. Then we realized that we seemed to be the first tourists to pick up garbage on the mountain. It made them feel very happy. They wanted to take more photos for promotion and publicity. Thinking about it is also a kind of strange encounter.
