hi,
is it possible if i use motobike from jogja to dieng? i was plan just to visit the lake and villagers.

Residents in the Dieng area are being evacuated after the volcano spews poisonous gas…. http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/alert-raised-over-volcanos-deadly-gas/444182

Most visitors to Dieng Plateau would visit Gunung Sikunir for the sunrise. However when doing research using Google Earth, I found Gunung Prahu to be the tallest mountain in the region, offering a better view as well. Since this mountain is rarely visited, photos and reports are almost unavailable elsewhere on the net except on Gunung Bagging.

I arranged for a guide at Bu Djono’s Homestay on the second day at Dieng Plateau and started the hike at round 2pm, planning to stay overnight on the mountain. The starting point is just to the east of Dieng village. The hike was a 1.5 hours of ascend trough jungles followed by another 1 hour’s ridge walk (The summit rigion of the mountain is a long ridge). The ascending part was pretty slippery for my case since it rained like mad the previous day, and I can’t really comment on the view since I was shrouded in mist all the time. The ridge walk, though, was an easy and pleasant one through flower beds full of daisies.

The placed I camped is probably Gunung Patakbanteng as mentioned in Daniel’s trip report on Gunung Bagging. The place is marked with a short cement pillar and is the southern end of the summit ridge, further down southwest is PatakBanteng village. There are plenty of space to camp near the pillar, however the west is obstructed by a taller hill. The top of the hill is covered with tall trees with little space to camp. To get a bird’s eye view of the west, one has to climb up this hill. In terms of weather, it wasn’t as windy as those 3000m peaks in Java, but the relatively higher humidity made up for it.

The sunset was completely clouded out for my case, and my camp site was constantly shrouded in mist till midnight. It all cleared up after around 2am, and the sky was full of stars. Gunung Sindoro and Sumbing could be seen faintly lit up by starlight. The camp site offered a completely unobstructed view towards the east and south, and the morning view of Central Java peaks is unbelievable. Gunung Lawu, Merapi, Merbabu, Ungaran, as well as nearby Gunung Sumbing and Sindoro make for a surreal and incredibly photogenic sight. Rolling sea of clouds for my case further added to the view. To get a view of the west, I hiked up the small hill to the west mentioned earlier. The view as a pleasant surprise to me as smoking Gunung Slamet and distant Gunung Ciremai came into view, since I didn’t expect to view to be so extensive. The whole Dieng Plateau, numerous villages, craters, and even Arjuna Temple Complex could be seen. Major tourist attractions such as Kawah Sikidang (mud volcano) and Telega Warna (multi-hued lake) are impressive viewed from up above.

I chose to descend southwest to Patakbanteng village. The trail was similar to the ascending trail, taking less than 2 hours, again pretty slippery for my case. The view west and south was fantastic in open areas. Gunung Sumbing gradually went hidden behind Gunung Sindoro as I descended. There are freuquent buses to Dieng village stopping at Patakbanteng.

I could say that Gunung Prahu offers one of the best summit views in Java, and it will not dissappoint any hiker on a clear day. The hike is also less demanding with a mild camping condition, campared to those 3000m peaks in Java. I’m really surprised why this one is so rarely hiked. Rating? 10 out of 10.

Thanks very much for the great report Jia.
When I went, I climbed onto the north-west to south-east ridge that is Gunung Prau/Prahu via the mast above Dieng village at the north-west end. I didn’t descend to Patakbanteng so never got as far as the pillar you camped at at the south-eastern end of the ridge. Using my GPS I found the true summit to be an unmarked spot on the ridge between the pillar you camped at and the telehone mast at the north-western end of the ridge above Dieng village.
Many thanks for sending your great photos in too, we will be transferring all galleries over to Google’s Picasa in due course.
Cheers.