Before the hike I had quite a low expection on this mountain, since the owner of one homestay in Solo told me there’s nothing to see there. The guy also told me the hike is a easy one with well mantained stone path all the way to the summit, not requiring a guide. Upon seeing the clear weather the following morning, I decided to try my luck on this 3000m peak.

The starting point Cemoro Sewu couldn’t be reached from Solo directly by public transport. I took a 1.5-hour bus ride to Tawangmangu first, but couldn’t find a cheap way to get to Cemoro Sewu. The only transport I could find was some minibuses, all asking for Rp.50,000, five times the cost from Solo to Tawangmangu! A bit pissed off, I reached Cemoro Sewu at around 9:30am, only to find most of the warungs closed and very few people around. With very limited Bahasa proficiency, I simply gave up the idea of finding a guide. After packing two packs of Nasi Goreng for lunch and dinner, I set off.

The first stretch of the trail was along some jungle and farmlands. There are some nice cole flower plantations along the way, as well as some other vegetable plantations, all added to a scenic gentle ascend. However, the trail started to get steeper after the farmlands ended. I was alone for the first 3 hours of the hike, probably because it was a weekday. Up to this point the trail was not very scenic in terms of mountain views, what I saw most of the time was simply a sea of clouds. With the 15kg backpack and loneliness, it started to get tiring. Then, I met a group of 8 Indonesian hikers. With a few simple greetings in Bahasa and body languages, they friendly invited me to join them. With this group of cheerful hikers, it became more fun and less tiring.

After hitting 3100m, the trail became gentle and unpaved. But the view became very extensive towards the east. However, with thick haze below, no distant peaks could be seen. The are a few cottages, a warung and a drinking water source before the last stretch of the trail. I was stupid enough to carry two packs of cold food with me. The group of Indonesian hiker decided to spend the night the cottages, while I decided to spend the night camping on the summit.

The summit was reached after another 20 minutes’ walk. The cement pillar marking the summit had been rebuilt into much taller one. However, the summit area had pretty little space to set up a tent, and it was VERY windy. A few steps down there is a small cottage and an Indonesian guard who was about to leave. He showed me a bushy and less windy place near the cottage where I set up my tent.

About half an hour before sunset, low clouds began to clear up, allowing me to see Gunung Merapi and Merbabu to the west. At the same time, the huge shadow of the mountain started to stretch to the east. I got busy shooting in all directions with my camera. I was lucky enough to have the sun setting on a cloud free horizon, and saw the mountain shadow stretching infinitely to the pinkish eastern horizon. Western horizon started to show magical colours after sunset, soaking inside the silhouettes of Gunung Merapi and Gunung Merababu. city lights from Solo started to peek through the dissappearing haze, shining like stars. Echoing from up above, four of the major planets, Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Mars lined up in the row above the horizon. The view was beyond heavenly. It will remain in my memory forever. The only regret is probably that I couldn’t share the view with anyone, the group of Indonesian hikers didn’t went up to the summit for sunset.

It was constantly windy on the summit throughout the night. It was already quite bad at my camp site. Couldn’t imagine what it would have been like if I camped on the actual summit. Tired, alone, and cold, it was a real pain to wake up at 4:30 to catch the sunrise. Should’ve brought up some cooking gear to get some hot drinks. However, after all the struggle, the view didn’t let me down. The ground down below as well as the sky above were breathtakingly starry. Numerous East Java peaks, including 3000m peaks Gunung Welirang, Arjuno, and Semeru, could be seen against brigtening eastern horizon. Gunung Welirang was smoking in the distance. Gunung Semeru, however, was quiet. As the sun rised, the shadow of the mountained appeared again on western horizon. Central and West Java peaks such as Gunung Merapi, Merbabu, Sumbing, Sindoro, (Dieng)Prahu, Ungaran, and Slamet could be seen nicely lit up by the golden sunlight. The view at this moment was incredibly extensive, I could see peaks 200km away to the east (Gunung Semeru) as well as the west (Gunung Slamet). SEVEN 3000m peaks excluding Gunung Lawu itself could be seen, including Gunung Slamet, Sumbing, Sindoro, Merbabu, Welirang, Arjuno and Semeru. WOW!

The howling wind and excitment made my hands so shaky, thus blurred out so many of my photos. The new cement pillar on the summit is almost 3 meter tall, I couldn’t place the camera on it for long exposures like what I did on Gunung (Dieng) Prahu. Only at this moment did I realize I haven’t taken any photos of myself, and there were nobody around! Then, thank God, three of the Indonesian hikers came as rescue. We help each other take photos and celebrated such magical moments on the summit.

I was really reluctant to leave the summit, so I stayed for some more time while my Indonesian friends went downhill first. As low clouds started forming to block distant mountains, I gotta pack up and hurry back to Cemoro Sewu by 4pm to catch the bus back to Solo. It was a dry and pleasant descend without worries of slipping. I made it back to Cemoro Sewu in less than 4 hours. I noticed quite a variety of birds on the way down. Bird watchers might want to come here for some bird watch.

This mountain can be amazing on a clear day, offering an uncomparable extensive mountain view. However, if weather condition is not favarouble, it might turn out dissapointing since even the nearest peaks are standing over 50km away. Besides, it might be a crowded hike filled with locals on weekends; if you hate it, try to visit on a weekday if possible. Decent camping gear and wind protective cloths are a must if one decides to camp near the summit. Clear skies to all those visiting this beautiful in future.

Lawu is an amazing hike.The road to the National Park will take you out of Solo and into Tawangmangu which is gorgous tapestry of mountainous jungle and classical Javanese terraced rice fields, no doubt ancient in their own right. Twangmanggu is worth exploration itself.
From Tawangmanggu you go to the park’s entrance at Cemoro Sewu. Once you enter the part you immediately start ascending and steadily gaining altitude. As usual the Volcano is used for farming uintil transforming into its own exotic wonderland.The higher you go the more breathtaking the views; and if you stay overnight.
You will be greeted to an amazing sunrise standing nearly 10,000 feet at POS 3 which is just a bunch of ample flat spots to camp at.
Once you arrive at the summit you will be treated to a vast arrays of volcanic ranges and Stratovolcano “Hall of Famers” such as Semeru,Arjuna,Merapi and Merbabu to name a few. Enjoy. The best part is that the road to Cemero Sewu is world class for Indonesian standards and their are manmade ande natural steps almost all the way to the top. You may also meet some cheerful locals making a spiritual trek to the summit!

Was on Ceto’s route heading up to Lawu on the 13th March 2010. Were making good progress and arrived at Post 3 late in the afternoon only to find a 5 days old corpse. Went back down to report and SAR brought a female corpse down. Apparently there’s foul play suspected so the plan to bury her up on Post 3 was cancelled. Oh well, see you next time Lawu.

I felt tired when climbing this mountain, because the road is long and far. But you should try it, hehehe..