2022-08-26 - Indonesia - Java - Gunung Merbabu - Gunung Syarif - ruta Weskas - ida y vuelta

Night ascent to a peak of Gunung Merbabu to see the sunrise. I went the Weskas route.

It is quite steep and in some sections you have to use your hands.
The biggest difficulty, for me, is doing it at night since I have instability in the dark, I recommend a powerful headlamp.

It seems that night hiking here is very popular, it's the standard, the bonus is the views at sunrise. Maybe it's because during the day it gets cloudy and you don't see anything, but it's a theory of mine that needs to be verified.

I did it with a guide, but it really wouldn't be necessary. It was not clear to me if doing it with a guide was mandatory or not.
It was a bit difficult for me to find a guide in Yogjakarta, because some told me that it was closed, finally I contacted the national park and the tourist office and they gave me a contact. In some places they recommend going to the beginning of the route and there is the guide office.

I was charged 1850,000 with pickup/delivery in Surakarta (only). It seemed expensive to me, but I was desperate to go hiking.
To put it in perspective, in Bali for trekking similar to Gunung Agung they ask for 900,000-1100,000 plus transfer (another 400-600,000 more). Also for one. Normally it is the same price for one, as for two (it is divided between two and maybe they add a little).
On the 3 day treks in Lombok for Rinjani, they ask 240-300 (single) and much less for shared. And includes tent, porter, hot meals, etc.

Time
We leave at 00:00 and finish around 10:00
4h ascent
2h 50m descent
In the total time we must factor that we reached the summit at 04:05 and then waited for sunrise and took photos, starting the descent around 7:15-7:30

Notes on the route:
I think that the Weskas route is not the most popular, but the guide told me that it was the easiest. He didn't take me to the actual Gunung Merbabu either. I suspect that perhaps the other routes would be more interesting. Still the views at the top were spectacular.