Another weekend, another camping trip. We finally went up the volcano we've been living under for the last month and a half. This trip was only for a night, but there was a lot more walking involved. We started near the bottom. We were told that there would be a hike to the top, and then we could set up camp in the park. That was sort of right. A few members of the group can't hike for long, so they went to the top to wait for us. The rest were dropped off near the bottom of the mountain. it was a long climb, abnout 3 hrs. But instead of a hike through the wildrness, we were walking on a road through town. It wasn't to exciting, though the hill's were steep. Good exercise, but also just a long walk through the town giving people a chance to call out to us, stare, and take pictures. Then it started raining.
It's the rainy season, we've been experiencing it for a few weeks now. It rains from about 12 to 8, and not always lightly. I have bought an umbrella, which has gone missing, and a rain coat which also went missing. I managed to borrow a poncho from someone else in the group for the walk, which was good because it poured. For awhile. Even with the poncho, I was wet. It did not make for a good start to the trip. But we kept marching up. After an hr, it let up and we were able to take off the rain gear. And the houses started to disapear, and the road got steeper. We had to take more breaks, we were tired, but considering how little exercise we've gotten and the higher altitudes, we did pretty well. We finally rerached the camp site, or rather the entrance to the park.
We got there and hoped to find food ready to eat, at this time it was a little after l;unch and we were pretty hungry. Unfortunately, the peiople that took the van to the top didn't do any cooking. We rested for a bit, people bought snacks from the vendors that were around. There are always a few little stores selling coffee and food. We were then informed that the site where we were top be camping was a further 2 hrs up the mountain. We had to take an extra guide up to the site, despite bringing 2 of our own, but finally we were in the park and exploring the volcano.
It was a touristy spot, well worn trail, and a few people wandering around taking pictures. We even found a couple from Holland there on vacation. But it was still very pretty. We started off where the volcano was semi actrive, and had destroyed about 8 yrs ago. We didn't see any magma, but there was plenty of steam from bubbling pits of water, and the air smelled of sulfur which pained huge yellow scars across the canyon. We carried all our gear, so we were pretty weighted down, but I took a bunch of pictures regardless. The rain came and went, and there seemed to be a constant curtain of mist surrounding the mountain tops, preventing any real sunshine, but there was enough light to see the surrounding area. Most of the tops were covered in trees, and they came in handy when we had to climb up at steeper places. The well worn poath was slick with mud, and the switchback path proved a little to much for some of our group. I had a blast, climbing back and forth helping people up and seeing the sights. We got to our campsite around 5, 6 hrs of hiking later.
By this point, everyone was tired, and we set up camp as quickly as possible. Somehow, we had opnly brought 2 tents , one of which was really only the fly of a tent, that we folded a tarp under to sleep on. Everything and everyone was wet, and the rain started again when we were all at the top. The supper we made was mostly pre-made, I'm glad I thought to make spaghetti sauce before going up, because we didn't have many flashlights, and those were needed elsewhere. One of the tents was a girls only tent again, and that fit 5 people. The other tent was only a 10 perosn, but considering the temperature was around 10 C and it was raining, we fit everyone else in. Sort of. 15 people semi slept the night on a tarp the only kept part of the water out. The morning did not come quickly.
We were slow to leave the next day, people were tired and wanted to go but there were snags. One was a small earthquake, maybe a 1 on the Richter scale, my first one. But after the camp was cleaned up, and the garbage was burned, and after we were sure that the tremor we felt wasn't the volcano going off or a precursor of a bigger shake, we made our way back down. It was a long wait for the bus once we completed the much less treacherous path down. BUt it gave me time to eat, which I did in abundance. Guess it took it's toll. I had a good time, I enjoyied the hike and the scenery, which was beautiful. I have lots of pictures. But the way we do these things is so unorganized, with so few people taking responsibility for their own stuff, much less the groups, its very dissatisfying. I don't think I'd like to take another trip like this with this group.
On to other aspects of life here. I still haven't started work yet. Today we werre supposed to start at las, bu the principal didn't show up. Apparently this is common, many people here don't work when they don't want to, let alone show up anywhere on time. So we were told to try again tomorrow, as we need her permission to teach. This means that I'm only goind to be working for about 17 days, if every other day we can.
This weekend is mid-project, we leave for an area just outside Bandung. The governemnt here apparently has lots planned, which worries me. I don't like when they "plan" things for us to do.
We also have a bunch of evaluation stuff we have to do, as well as some things we want to talk about, like comparing Antigonish and Cikajang. I'm not looking forward to that any more than the other things planned. I'd like a couple days off from everything, but mid-project is supposed to be 4 days, so not much chance of that. Maybe we can have some free time to explore the town and shop though. And the other crew may nearby, for better or worse.
on that note, it's raining hard here now, the roof above me is leaking and my back is wet. The roof of my room did the same thing last week, soaking one corner of my bed which I've since avoided. Nothing here feels dry, my shoes which got soaked on the mountain hike have yet to dry and have started to smell like they are rotting. I need to get a new pair when I get back to Canada, nothing they make here will fit me. So on that note, I sign off.
Justin