PATUHA MOUNT

Gunung Patuha is just over 40km from Bandung city, near Sugih village in the district of Pasir Jambu. It is the highest peak in the large highland area between the Gede-Pangrango massif and the mountains of Garut. The word ‘patuha’ apparently comes from the words “Pak Tua” (old man). It’s actually a twin volcano – with two summit craters of very different character. The forest-covered north crater is the highest of the two and has been dormant for many centuries. The south crater, known as Kawah Putih (white crater), is a leading local tourist attraction. It is very popular with visitors at weekends and was first written about by Dr. Franz Wihelm Junghuhn (1809-1864), a Dutch botanist from Germany. He found that the high density of sulphur was making birds reluctant to fly over the crater. Locals still regard the area as haunted and the atmosphere is definitely one of eerie calm. During the 20th century, the Dutch built a sulfur mine which was later controlled by the Japanese military. Sulphur mine tunnels and the remanants of old buildings still exist to this day. There are also several ancient graves in the area. The car park is at an elevation of 2,200m so it’s a very easy climb to the top – there and back in less than two hours!

From Bandung, there are plenty of angkots serving the main road south-west to Soreang and Ciwidey and it is an easy day-trip from Bandung. However, you will have to change vehicle at least once so it is much better to avoid the waiting around and hire a taxi/private car. It takes approximately 90 minutes from the centre of Bandung to the top of the road at Kawah Putih. Beyond Ciwidey, the road is lined with strawberry fields, plants for sale and related produce. From this point, Kawah Putih is well signposted and it is very hard to miss the entrance gates. Since 1987 Kawah Putih has been an official tourist site and has an information centre and cafe. Entrance tickets are a very reasonable Rp. 12,000 and it is open from 7am until 5pm. Beyond the entrance gates, the road climbs up over 5km through delightful eucalyptus plantation to the crater car park. There are several places worth stopping at briefly to admire the view of other forested peaks in the distance.

When you reach the top of the road, there is a large area for vehicles and small warungs (shops), and some excellent places for having a picnic. Kawah Putih itself is very impressive – a misty turquoise crater lake surrounded by white rocks and sand. There is a smell of sulphur but it is not overpowering. To reach the summit of Gunung Patuha, leave the car park at the stone tree trunk and continue up through the forest on a well-defined path to the right of Kawah Putih. The trail is very clear although not many Kawah Putih visitors hike this way. After less than 30 minutes of ascent through the forest the edge of the old forested crater is reached. There is a flat area occasionally used for camping. From this point you can look down over the edge to the swampy, dormant northern crater floor. Apparently there were eruptions here several hundred years ago. From the camping spot, follow the less well-defined path leading left (west) through the forest along the edge of the crater. The trail ascends and descends and ascends again before you reach another flat, open area suitable for camping. This is the true summit and there is a small collection of rocks which could well be a grave of some sort. Sadly, views are very limited due to the density of the forest. According to local people, this summit area was used in the past as a meeting place of the ancestors of South Bandung and it is certainly a great place for quiet contemplation.

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BONGKOK MOUNT

The steep and impressive Gunung Bongkok (sometimes mis-spelt ‘Bangkok’) lies just to the south of the equally imposing Gunung Parang. They are both of great interest to rock climbers as there are various vertical rock faces on their slopes. Despite being just a couple of hours from Jakarta, they are not often visited except by local villagers and occasional student hikers. Both peaks are stunning and it must surely only be a matter of time before these mountains become much more well-known.

Both peaks lie to the east of the large Jatiluhur reservoir near Purwakarta. The starting point for Gunung Bongkok is Cisarua, which is best accessed via Plered because the small farm roads from Purwakarta are incredibly bumpy and rocky and it would take at least 20 minutes just to get from Pasangrahan (starting point for Parang) to Cisarua. If in doubt, as for the school (sekolah) in Cisarua. It is best to allow 2 hours for the journey from Purakarta to Cisarua.

In Cisarua, there is a small warung where a couple of vehicles can be left. The local people are very friendly and would be more than willing to guide you to the top for a very modest fee. Cisarua is at an elevation of approximately 450m so it’s just 520 metres of ascent to reach the top, which can easily be done in 2 hours by most fit people. Building work is currently going on and there is a new track leading up from Cisarua towards the mountain itself. From here, in good weather you will be able to spot the huge gilstening andesite boulders which crown the peak of Bongkok.

Soon you will reach the end of where building work is underway and this is where a guide becomes essential. The farm trail leads up the hillside and follows a pleasant grassy strip for some distance. It’s a beautiful area – mango trees, cattle roaming freely and great views back down towards the huge reservoir.

After about 30 minutes of fairly standard upland farm hiking, you will reach the crest of the hill (650m) and this is where you must turn left onto the shoulder of the mountain. The area is full of bamboo trees and occasional large boulders. The trail soon gets much steeper and there are several rather tricky places where you will need to use both hands to ascend/descend large rocks and steep muddy areas. There is not much of a view here because of the trees, but think of this as a blessing because it would be oppressively hot outside the shade.

Soon you will reach the true summit ridge, where you turn left, pass an ancient grave and then finally spot the summit boulders of this superb mountain. Because of the size of the boulders, no trees can grow at the top of the mountain and so the views are absolutely stunning – the vastness of the Jatiluhur reservoir below, the phenomenal shape of neighbouring Gunung Parang, the vertical drops back down to the villages and the holy mountain of Gunung Sanggabuana on the other side of the reservoir. It is truly breathtaking.

The boulders are easily climbed so – unlike the densely vegetated Gn Parang – Bongkok can be bagged very easily. Do take great care however because a fall here would mean falling several hundred metres down the cliff face of the mountain. There is much animal life here – swallows love to swoop round the peak and in sunny conditions you will probably be able to see a few eagles soaring below you. There are also a number of flying ants so make sure to check for them every few minutes.

After enjoying an hour or two in the shade of the huge boulders, simply follow the trail back down to Cisarua. Because of a few steep, difficult sections of the trail it takes a little longer to descend that to climb. Allow 2 hours.

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PAPANDAYAN MOUNT

Mount Papandayan is a complex stratovolcano, located in Garut Regency, West Java, Indonesia. At the summit, there are four large craters, and it contains active fumarole fields. The 1772 eruption caused the northeast flank to collapse, producing a catastrophic debris avalanche that destroyed 40 villages and killed nearly 3000 people. It truncated the volcano into a broad shape with two peaks and a flat 1.1 km wide of Alun-Alun crater in the middle, making it look like a twin volcano. One of the peaks is called Papandayan and the other is Mount Puntang. Since 1772, only small phreatic eruptions had occurred prior to an explosive eruption that began in November 2002.

Mount Papandayan is a large composite volcano. It is constructed of alternating layers of lava and ash, and other fragmental volcanic rock debris formed by explosive eruptions over the past several hundred years. A large horseshoe-shape crater extended to the northeast resulting in an avalanche deposit consisted of intermixed volcanic debris and alternated rocks, with steep-sided crater walls. Numerous small vents within the crater, known as Kawah Mas, Kawah Baru, Kawah Nangklak, Kawah Manuk and many other with solfataras emitting smoke and hot fumes from its inner sides.

The Mount Papandayan area is a popular touristic area. Tourists can walk across the crater and view phenomena such as bubbling mud pools, steam vents and sulfur deposits. The bubbling yellow crater (Kawah Papandayan or "Papandayan Crater") is a popular sight. Above the crater is the elfin forest and several meadows with the Javanese edelweiss

A visit to Mt. Papandayan is one of the most spectacular outings to an active volcano you can make. Golden sulphur crystals, hissing steam, boiling mud and water, blue and black creeks, all set in a large crater with a commanding view over the Garut Plain make this outing an unforgettable experience.

Access to the mountain is easy with any vehicle. Public buses take you only to within 9 km of the crater, so you either have to walk the rest of the way or take an ojek (private motorbike with driver).

Though you can drive directly to the rim of the crater, keep in mind that your safety is not guaranteed—hot steam and boiling water and mud can scald you badly, and many of the sharp-edged rocks are rather loose. Do be careful.

There are two routes to Mt. Papandayan: one from the Garut area in the east and the other from the west via Pengalengan. Note that the two routes do not connect—not even a jeep can drive the 1 km across the crater.

from the east

The eastern approach from Garut is by far the easiest. Good roads take you right to the lower edge of the crater. Between Cipanas and Garut is the Tarogong roundabout, 42 km from the Cileunyi toll road exit. When you come from the north (Bandung or Cipanas), head toward Garut and Papandayan at the Tarogong roundabout. Half a kilometer past the roundabout, turn off to the right to bypass Garut and follow the Papandayan road sign. Continue on past the turnoffs to Kamojang (7km) and Darajat (9 km). Some 15 km from Tarogong the road connects with the main Garut-Cikajang road. After another 7 km, in Cisurupan, where the main road takes a sharp turn to the left, you go straight up the hill. From here it’s 9 km to the crater.

The road winds up the mountain, at times steeply, but is reasonably well surfaced and should not pose a problem for any car. At the car park, parking and admission fees are required.

Approaching Mt. Papandayan across the Garut Plain, you can see the horseshoe shaped crater with a gaping hole to the northeast. This open side resulted when, on 11 August 1772, a terrible eruption shook the mountain and the whole Garut area. What had once been a solid mountain flank exploded sideways across the Garut Plain.

papandayan-2Geologists estimate that several cubic kilometers, or several thousand million tons, of rock mass were blown out that night. If trucks were loaded with that mass and lined up bumper-to-bumper, they would encircle the earth three dozen times! Small wonder that more than 3,000 people lost their lives during that eruption.

From the car park it’s a 20-minute walk to the middle of the crater, and now you see why it is sometimes called the “Golden Crater’s its central part is a dome of yellow sulphur. Sulphur vapor hisses out of many small fissures in the dome to form columns visible from far away.

Shining yellow crystals of crystallized steam are everywhere, and in one place have collected to form a statue like figure more than 2 meters high. In earlier times local people channeled the steam through pipes to control this crystallization process to be used for commercial purposes. Be extremely careful not to step on one of these old brittle pipes, for it is likely to break and release scalding steam.

You may wish to take a few samples of sulphur with you as souvenirs, but it would be best to wrap them first sulphuric acid may form and burn holes in fabrics. Apart from sulphur deposits, boiling springs and streams flow in dark blue and gray colors. Be sure to avoid the soft patch- es of ground.

Through the open northwestern side of the crater a fantastic view stretches before you across the whole Garut Plain and as far as Mt. Ciremai near Cirebon, 80 km away The Mt. Papandayan crater is truly a visual feast.

from the west

The western route takes you to the upper crater rim through some memorable scenery. Be forewarned, how- ever, that long sections of the road are often in poor repair and only passable with a jeep. Public transportation is unreliable. You can drive up either the Cisangkuy Valley or the Citarum Valley to the village of Santosa and then on to Mt. Papandayan (see the relevant sections in “South of Bandung”). From Bandung you may need about four hours to reach the crater on this route.

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CIREMEI MOUNT

Mount Ciremai National Park is located in the province of West Java, Indonesia. Some endemic or endangered flora and fauna are being protected in this national park, such as Pinus merkusii, Castanopsis javanica, Fragraera blumii, Villubrunes rubescens, Macaranga denticulatan, Lithocarpus sundaicus, Elaeocarpus stipularis, Ardisia cymosa, Platea latifolia, Leopard, Javan Muntjac, Zaglossus bruijni[citation needed], Javan Surili, Javan Hawk-eagle and Python species.
Mount Ceremai is adminis tratively included in the three districts, namely Kabupaten Cirebon, Kuningan and Majalengka Regency, West Java Province. The geographical position of the peak is located at 6 ° 53 '30 "latitude and 108 ° 24' 00" east, with an altitude of 3078 m above sea level. This mountain is the highest mountain in West Java.
This mountain has a double crater. Western crater radius is truncated by a crater 400 m east of radius 600 m. At an altitude of about 2900 m on the southern slope there are ex-point eruption Gowa called Swallow.
Now G. Ciremei included in the National Park area of Mount Ciremei (TNGC), which has a total area of approximately 15,000 hectares.
The name is derived from the word mountain Ciremei (Phyllanthus acidus, a type of plant small shrubs with rada sour fruit), but it is often called Ciremei, a symptom hiperkorek due to the many place names in the region Pasundan that use the prefix 'ci-' for the naming of places.

Mount Ciremei including Quaternary active volcano, type A (ie, magmatic volcanoes is still active since 1600), and shaped strato. This mountain is a volcano solitary, separated by a Fault Zone Cilacap - Brass from the group of West Java volcanoes east (ie row Galunggung Mountain, Thunder Mountain, the volcano, Mount Patuha to Mount Tangkuban Boat) located in Bandung Zone.

Ceremai is the third generation volcano. The first generation is a Pleistocene volcano located next to G. Ciremei, as an advanced Plio-Pleistocene volcanism above Tertiary rocks. Volcanism second generation is Mount Gegerhalang, which before the collapse to form Gegerhalang Caldera. And volcanism third generation in Holocene time form of G. Ciremei that grows on the north side Gegerhalang Caldera, which is estimated to occur in about 7,000 years ago (Situmorang 1991).

Eruption G. Ciremei recorded since 1698 and the last time occurred in 1937 with the shortest rest interval of 3 years and the longest 112 years. Three eruptions in 1772, 1775 and 1805 occurred in the central crater, but did not cause significant damage. The eruption of sulfur steam and copy the new fumaroles at the center of the crater wall occurred in 1917 and 1924. On June 24, 1937 - January 7, 1938 freatik eruption in the central crater and radial cracks. Distribution of ash reached an area of 52.500 square km (Kusumadinata, 1971). In 1947, 1955 and 1973 tectonic earthquake that struck the southwestern G. Ciremei presumably related to the fault structure trending southeast - northwest. Genesis quake damaged several buildings in the area west of Maja and Talaga G. Ciremei occurred in 1990 and 2001. Tremors felt in the east to the Village Cilimus G. Ciremei.

The forests are still experienced at Mount Ceremai stay longer at the top. On the bottom, especially in areas which in the past managed as production forests Perhutanioffice, these forests have been converted to pine forest (Pinus), or shrubs, which are formed due to repeated fires and grazing. Now, most of the forests under the height... m above sea level. managed in the form of agro-forestry (agro forests) by the local community.

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IJEN MOUNT

The Ijen volcano complex is a group of stratovolcanoes, in East Java, Indonesia. It is inside a larger caldera Ijen, which is about 20 kilometers wide. The Gunung Merapi stratovolcano is the highest point of that complex.

West of Gunung Merapi is the Ijen volcano, which has a one-kilometer-wide turquoise-colored acid crater lake. The lake is the site of a labor-intensive sulfur mining operation, in which sulfur-laden baskets are carried by hand from the crater floor. Many other post-caldera cones and craters are located within the caldera or along its rim. The largest concentration of post-caldera cones forms an E-W-trending zone across the southern side of the caldera. The active crater at Kawah Ijen has an equivalent radius of 361 meters, a surface of 41 × 106 square meters. It is 200 meters deep and has a volume of 36 × 106 cubic meters. 

In 2008, explorer George Kourounis took a small rubber boat out onto the acid lake to measure its acidity. The pH of the sulfuric acid in the crater was measured to be 0.5.

An active vent at the edge of the lake is a source of elemental sulfur, and supports a mining operation. Escaping volcanic gasses are channeled through a network of ceramic pipes, resulting in condensation of molten sulfur. The sulfur, which is deep red in color when molten, pours slowly from the ends of these pipes and pools on the ground, turning bright yellow as it cools. The cooled material is broken into large pieces and carried out in baskets by the miners.

Typical loads range from 70–100 kilograms, and must be carried to the crater rim approximately 200 meters above before being carried several kilometers down the mountain. Most miners make this journey twice a day. The miners are paid by a nearby sugar refinery by the weight of sulfur transported; as of September 2010 the typical daily earnings were equivalent to approximately $13.00 US. The miners often use insufficient protection while working around the volcano and are susceptible to numerous respiratory complaints.

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