I tried to climb this moutain a couple of years ago but only had 2 days to do it. there 2 famous routes to the summit.The well known route from Kuningan, and the Oh My God! route.It is well advised to take the regular route if you are pressed for time. However The Oh my God route is very rewarding as it is filled with some of the most beautifully preserved jungle I have seen in that part of Java.

Do you have any recommendations for guides/places to stay nearby?

welcome to one of Misterous Mountain

In Apuy you can stay overnight in pak Ubuh’s house. Pak Ubuh also takes care of the registration. He and his son can take you to the summit.

Try to get to Apuy before 9:00 pm otherwise you could lose your way. No one to ask in the night.

At least along the Apuy trek to the summit, you are not supposed to name any animal with its name. If you talk about monkey, you do not say “monkey”. If you talk about snake, you do not say “snake”. And so on. Otherwise you would invite bad weather or some other obstacles.

Apuy approach is the shortest as Apuy is 1400m and the trek is straightforward.

Palutungan approach is longer as Palutungan is 1100m and the trek is meandering at places. Palutungan is close to Kuningan, and Kuningan is a sizeable town.

Linggarjati is 500m, but the trek is quite straightforward. Since the distance is not so far, you will know how steep it is.

We climbed Ciremai last weekend- 10th to 11th September- starting from Apuy and descending to Cibunar (Linggarjati).

On Friday we travelled by car from Jakarta to Majalengka via the Bandung toll road. This was about 4.5 hours journey- 2.5h to Cileunyi, a further 1h to Sumedang and another 1h plus to Majalengka, enigmaticaly described on the Nelles map of Java as a “nice town”. In Majalengka we stayed at Hotel Sederhana Baru, which has clean rooms for Rp250,000 or tatty rooms for Rp125,000. We just arrived in time to find the rumah makan Padang before 21.00, when everything in Majalengka seems to shut.

On Saturday morning we proceeded toward Maja- follow the main road through Majalengka and turn right at the roundabout (no sign) at the east end of town. From Majalengka to Maja is about 20 minutes. Turn left immediately after the bus terminal in Maja to ascend to Apuy. The road is good for 5km but then deteriorates- not good for sedans. At Argapura village continue straight rather than following the main road round to the left and cross the valley to reach Apuy. We took 40 minutes from Maja to Apuy (alt. 1220m).

In Apuy we paid Rp8,500 for the various tickets required from Pak Memeng and looked for guides/ porters. Getting here early would be an advantage; when we arrived at 08.00 we were told that many potential porters had already left to work in the fields. Eventually though we negotiated a price and set off with our guide Pak Jaja.

The first part of the climb followed a broad farm track, and then a path through vegetable fields until after an hour we reached Pos II, a solid stone shelter at 1654m, having somehow bypassed Pos I. Different websites seem to disagree about the altitudes of the various Pos; on our visit they were all marked with fresh-looking red-on yellow painted signs, so the altitudes should be accurate. Pos III was at 2156m, Pos IV 2321m, Pos V 2561m. All these are just campsites with no shelter.

The hike itself was a pleasant and typical Javanese forest hike on a good path, steep but seldom requiring use of hands and not slippery at all. The overcast sky kept the temperature cool, but never cold.

The birds in the forest were remarkably bold, often perching right beside the trail. We also heard a troop of lutung in the trees near pos III, though they remained hidden among the foliage. The forest undergoes the usual transition from leafy evergreens in the lower montane forest to dwarf shrubs and mosses on the upper slopes.

After Pos V the mountain’s volcanic nature becomes more apparent, with the trail emerging onto a ridge with ravines on either side and the top fleetingly visible among the swirling clouds. The old trail appears to have subsided and a new path is being worn above the edges of the old path, requiring more careful foot placement than on the lower slopes.

At 2823m altitude, the Apuy trail joins up with the Palatungan trail coming from the south, then continues to pos VI at 2948m. At Pos VI there are several flat, though somewhat gravelly pitches, where we set up our tent. Goa Walet is directly below Pos VI; although it looks sheltered, some campers who had slept there the night before reported that it was a wind funnel.

Total distance climbing time, including long stops and lunch, was 7 hours from Apuy to Pos VI, but fast movers could easily cut that by a couple of hours.

We enjoyed a cold, but clear night with a full moon, beautiful stars and about a dozen camping companions.

After breaking camp just before dawn, we set out at 5.20 Sunday morning for the crater. From Pos VI it’s only 20 minutes to the rim. The trail is steep but hand supports are available and there is none of the volcanic scree that makes the summit sections of mountains like Slamet and Rinjani such a challenge.

After sunrise at 5.45, we cooked a leisurely, wind-free breakfast on a broad, flat section of the crater rim and admired the view. While the nearby villages were visible the far distance was hidden under cloud cover, with only a handful of mountains peeking out. To the southwest was what I took to be Gunung Sawal, with several other Tasikmalaya area mountains nearby, and in the western distance what I guess were the 2000m mountains north of Bandung. Toward central Java, only Slamet was visible, imposing itself far above the cloud line.

The crater of Ciremai itself is not the most spectacular, but it does have craggy sides, active fumaroles and a small milky white lake to provide good color contrast.

The Apuy path emerges on the west edge of the crater, while the Linggarjati path emerges on the east. We toured anti-clockwise around the south edge of the crater to reach it. The rim path sometimes stays on the rocky edge or sometimes dips down into the vegetation outside the crater rim, avoiding the knife-edge parts!

After 40 minutes and 1,8km we reached the painted signs at the top of the Linggarjati path, only to realise that the actual summit of the mountain is atop a hump on the north side of the crater. With true Gunungbagging style dedication, we therefore continued around the crater rim to bag the summit, a rather rougher section of path seemingly much less trodden- perhaps the approach around the north west edge is more used.

At the northeast corner of the crater rim is a small campsite, after which the trail drops down about 20m outside the lip. You have the option of staying on the lower path, which drops annoyingly a full 50m below the rim, or climbing back up to the crater edge, which involves a jagged rock section for 20 or 30 meters but then improves. We went to the summit on the lower path and returned on the upper path; either way it’s about 30 minutes from the top of the Linggarjati path to the summit. On the north side of Ciremai you get to see the range of jagged and intriguing hills that lie between Rajaguluh and the Java Sea.

The first section of the descent on the Linggarjati path made a bad impression, a steep, dusty drop down a stony gulley with frequent need for hand support. Although the dust and gradient gradually become less severe once you enter the forest at about 2600m altitude, the path still compares unfavorably to the Apuy trail; it’s steeper, dustier, messier and strewn with litter at the campsites that crop up every 100m or so of descent. Even once you enter the pleasant pine forest and cacao plantation at about 1000m altitude, civilization still lies far below you. Only after a further 200m descent to Cibunar do you finally get to guzzle mineral water to your heart’s content and find an ojek down to Linggarjati. Descent time from the crater rim to Cibunar was 5 hours.

The one advantage on the Linggarjati side is that you can visit the hot springs resort at Sangkanhurip to rest your weary limbs. Sangkan Indah is a nice hotel with a pool open to the public for Rp10,000; Alinda is a good Sundanese restaurant (but bring your own beer from the hotel or from a shop in the village.)

Overall, Ciremai, if you climb from the Apuy side, can be recommended as a rewarding weekend- with pleasant forest, a good trail and a scenic crater. The trail on the Linggarjati side though, had less appeal. From any side, keep in mind the absence of water sources. We carried 3 liters each, which was barely sufficient for the two days.

i’ve climbed this mountain on june 2010, linggarjati trail was really tough, i’m also have to bring 8 litres of water, what a hell for skinny senior high school student like me.. haha!

Hi – does anyone have the mobile number for a guide for ciremay please?