Year 2016 was quite a memorable year to me since I had quite a lot of ups and downs. The downs happened mostly at the beginning of the year, but thankfully it got better to the end. No matter how hard life gets, I believe that it is our decision to make it a lesson or just do non-stop complaining then do nothing. Well I’m not a perfect person and I do also complain and cry when I got overwhelmed some times, but I can confidently say that at the end of the day I always try to take it as a lesson.
It was around the end of December 2016, and I just had to do something awesome to wrap the year. There was this one thing I have been eye-ing for so long, and it is hammocking on top of a stone mountain, Gunung Masigit, Bandung.
I’ve seen people posting it on Instagram couple of times, and it looked so awesome!!! I thought about “How did they climb to it? The mountain looked so high…” But I thought again, well I took picture in Yogyakarta’s Kalibiru, it looked so high but turned it it was all about the angle. This can’t be that hard laaah. *me being cocky*
So it was decided, after celebrating Christmas in Jakarta, me and my family would go to Bandung as an after Christmas day trip. My brother was on holiday from his school in Banyuwangi, so he joined this family trip too. As the most nagging sister ever, of course I persuaded him to accompany me to do hammocking HAHA (well I paid his hammock fee so really it was mutualistic symbiosis).
A simple research on Instagram brought me to Kang Gocay Uliners. We communicated through DM, and I got lucky cause he was available on the day that I planned to go.
If you have ever heard about Stone Garden, then Gunung Masigit is located just beside it. The height is no joke though! It was around 2000 m high, and you need to literally CLIMB it, there was no human-made stair or anything to help you climb. To be honest, I almost bailed out because I didn’t believe I could climb it. FYI, I am a no sport kind of girl who barely do exercise, which I am ashamed of, but really… I could have passed out on the way to go up there with this weak body of mine. Even worse, I haven’t got any breakfast that day, only had some fruit, so not only my-weak-body-who-never-does-exercise, but also my-weak-body-who-never-does-exercise-with-an-empty-stomach.
Kang Gocay and his friends, also my brother, convinced me though that it would be okay. He promised will go slow for me and told me to take a break whenever I want to hahaha, so there I was sold.
Long story short, I made it to the top. Was it easy for me? NO! I stopped for like 4 times? With around 10 minutes break every stop hahaha. We departed quite late too from Jakarta, so it was already around noon when we got to Masigit, please imagine the sun on top of our head. Once I made it to the top, I sat there for a good 20 minutes just to gather my soul…
But it was all worth it! The view from up there was INCREDIBLE. If only I was a little earlier, it won’t be as sunny as it was. But the positive part is, better lighting for taking photo, so yeah *always look for the positive side*
I may have weak body because I barely exercise, but thankfully I have no fear of height. Getting into the hammock is really a fun thing to do for me! I tried the hammock by myself, then I also did it tandem with my brother. Yay! Bucket list checked!
I encourage you guys to also try this since this is very fun to do and cool at the same time, but please do make a plan first with Kang Gocay. When I went down from the top of the mountain, I met a couple of visitor who climbed up to Masigit also to do the hammock but they did not make any reservation first. Kang Gocay unfortunately had to turn them down because he had work to do that evening, and also the sky was getting cloudy.
My tips:
- Do make a reservation! The hammock people (I’m sorry I don’t know the right name to call them haha) are not always available there all the time, so please make plan first.
- Prepare yourself for some climbing. Do some exercise at least couple of days before the day (don’t be a lazy ass like me), and do not go there with an empty stomach.
- Wear something appropriate for climbing. You do not need to wear climbing gear, but please no-skirt, no-heels. Try to find something comfortable for climbing but still pretty for a photo :p
- Go in the morning, the earlier the better so the heat of the sun won’t bother you.
Hammocking in Gunung Masigit
Fee: Rp 250.000/person
Contact Person: Kang Gocay (087825256625)
Hye, how long did it take u to hike up there? And how is the trail? Is it consistent hike or just free and easy kind of trail? Planning to go there if the condition suits me. I’m also not a very active person 😜
I hiked for probably around 30-45 minutes. My brother climbed way faster than me though, maybe only 20 minutes! It is a consistent hike, the path is quite steep. Try to exercise a bit before going here. It is very do-able though 🙂