1001 Horror Stories

Getting Lost on Mount Ciremai

That day, my cousin Alfin and I planned to climb Mount Ciremai for the first time after climbing Mount Salak and Mount Sumbing. Coincidentally we have a friend of the Kuningan, Irma her name. We met Irma at an underground music concert in the Bekasi area.

After going to the cafe to find information about Mount Ciremai (our HP certificate was still the brand of*ia). We departed from Jakarta to Kuningan who had previously cheated Irma and she agreed to accompany us to climb

We arrived at the Kuningan terminal around 5 pm and Irma was waiting for us to arrive with her friend Hendra, then directly to Irma's house which turned out to be right at the foot of Mount Ciremai but funny even though living at the foot of Mount Ciremai, it was, Irma and Hendra have never climbed Mount Ciremai because they are not climbers like us.

After being satisfied with a long chat we decided to start the climb without saying goodbye to Irma's mother because Irma's mother went to the mosque and said Irma had used to go without saying goodbye.

We're heading to the nearest licensing post. But Hendra suggested we don't need to go to the licensing post on the grounds that he's a villager here. Alfin and I finally did it.

I took out the compass as a benchmark direction indicating the peak is in the east direction. The journey in the beginning of Hendra led the way through the fields of residents and through the pine forest filled with bushes that Hendra slashed using a machete that he brought from Irma's house and it turned out to be directly penetrated into the main route via Palutungan precisely before post 3 Pangguyungan Badak and continue to climb to post 4 after finding flat land we decided to open a tent around post 4.

After coffee and eating snacks we decided to sleep but because the tent we brought was only enough for 2 people finally me and Hendra decided to sleep in front of the tent. That night my eyes could not be closed yet I saw the clock in my hand showing pkl.00.30 I decided to sit down and light a cigarette, I said, I saw Hendra who had entered the dreamland marked by his snoring and suddenly a voice like a man walking from the bushes in front of me.

Suddenly I got goosebumps then I took a flashlight to the bushes and looked like a hunchbacked granny wearing a kebaya walking with a stick towards me. I immediately threw a cigarette in my hand and went into the tent to wake Alfin up to switch positions but did not say that I had just seen the grandmothers.

The morning came after breakfast we continued our journey to the top, but none of the climbers we met along the way to the top. Maybe because it was a work day. Finally about 6 hours drive we arrived at the top and there was no one at all. About half an hour at the top then there were 1 group from Bandung totaling 6 who joined with us and got acquainted. In the middle of the conversation I asked the existence of edelweiss flowers on this mountain. And having explained, we hurried to the edelweiss fields and went down.

Until we were in the edelweiss fields, Irma and Hendra turned out to have seen the flower for the first time. Hendra and I also explained with sotoy about the edelweiss flower and all the myths .

Satisfied in the edelweiss fields, we continued our journey to get down at about 15:00 then we arrived at the intersection of Linggarjati and Palutungan. We take the path to Palutungan until it gets dark we have not found the same path that we passed when we went up but we still have not thought about it because we think it is the main route via The trough is still far away finally around pkl.19.00 we decided to open the tent and then continue the journey the next day.

The morning arrived around pkl.06.00 we began to continue the journey down almost 3 hours we walked but have not yet found the path that we went through the time up. Surprisingly there was a lizard that kept following us from when. I started to worry at that time and was convinced that we were lost because the path we passed was cut off there was only a 1 meter high back bush in front of us.

We stopped and deliberated whether to continue down or go back to the top finally decided we were all back to the top.

The lizard kept following us. Curious, Hendra tried to get close to the lizard and hit his feet right in front of him. But the lizard still did not go as if challenging Hendra.Alfin also suggested we keep walking regardless of the lizard.

Until the afternoon, we had not come out of the forest dominated by large trees. I also tried to tie a rope of blue rapia to a thing that I always carry with me every go hiking as a sign. And strangely we always went back past the mark I put up, plus the lizard that still just kept following us.

The day is dark. We re-open the tent and make dinner, for our supplies are still quite a lot, especially biscuits. The water we brought was still a lot. One 5-liter water conductor is also intact.

Satisfied filling our stomachs decided to sleep the atmosphere this time was so quiet there was no sound of forest beasts at all as usual. I began to sleep outside the tent until Hendra woke me up because he saw a light like a flashlight, without waking Alfin and Irma. We immediately ran towards the light that was about 200m away while shouting as loud as possible.

It seemed like they did not hear our screams and just kept walking but we continued to run towards the light source. There was little hope in my heart to get out of this forest. Instead of the help we got, Hendra justrus fell into a hole as deep as approximately 4 meters.

Even more surprising it turns out that about 10 meters from the hole is a chasm that is somehow several tens of meters deep in other words the long light like a flashlight that is not from humans because it drifts through the abyss if only Hendra had not been mired in the hole maybe we both had gone into the abyss.

I immediately went back to the hole where Hendra and then Kusorot Hendra with a flashlight in my hand luckily he did not have a serious injury. I told him to wait a little while then I went back to the tent to wake Alfin up and take the webbing rope . Finally Hendra could we lift up but unfortunately hendra's hip was torn about 5 cm, Alfin and I immediately embraced Hendra towards the tent and immediately took out a box of P3K to treat the wound on Hendra's hip.

The three of us apologized and requested that the grandmother get out of Irma's body but Irma still screamed sambik laugh occasionally. We read prayers that we memorized but showed no change.

Because I was upset I told Alfin and Hendra to hold Irma tightly and I occupied Irma's legs and bit our thumbs Irma, Irma's cry slowly began to weaken until she finally fully realized. I immediately gave him a drink and Irma told him that she dreamed of being taken by the grandmothers to a place in the cave.

We all started to panic and thought we wouldn't be able to get out of that strange forest . At 02.00 I decided to pray tahajud (honestly before mandatory prayer I rarely do ). The three of them also participated in the tahajud prayer with water ablution in the derigen that we brought. We pray to get out of this forest and if we have to die we will.

The atmosphere became haru as we unconsciously dripped the four of us. After praying and praying we decided to go back to sleep and continue the journey when the day was bright.

Around 08:00, the three of us woke up except for Hendra who was still asleep. When Alfin touched Hendra's head, his body felt very hot. Probably because of a wound to his hip. After breakfast, we restarted the trip to the top very slowly because Hendra was quite worrisome at the time.

An hour later we arrived at a fairly wide flat land and rested, Alfin walked alone to look for directions, after half an hour he came back and said that he saw the village in the north direction. We went back down towards the north.

Our water stock is only 2 bottles of size 600ml left. Before dark, we should have reached the village that Alfin saw. Four hours we had walked but the village Alfin saw above had not yet met. Damn the rapia rope sign I put up deep down.

Back we passed even though we had walked very far towards the top and walked against from the direction we put the sign.

I thought I was going to die on this mountain. But my family and friends in Jakarta keep me optimistic that I can get out of this forest. It was dark again and we were still in a forest dominated by giant tree trees. We opened the tent and filled our stomachs and went to sleep. This time it was Alfin and I who slept outside the tent.

But it seemed that Alfin could not sleep what he was thinking. He just closed his eyes while reciting prayers like a frightened person but did not want to say what really happened. I continued to observe Alfin while occasionally looking around. Then Alfin got up and told us to continue on.

It was about 21:00 I advised Alfin to continue the journey when it was light but Alfin still insisted on continuing the journey. Finally we all obeyed Alfin's will because we were afraid that Alfin might see something that could harm us.

With a confused feeling we followed Alfin back to the top until he met the flat land we met earlier this afternoon. Strangely this afternoon we traveled about 7 hours from flat land to get to where we opened the tent, this time it only took about 30 minutes we reached the place. We continued walking from the flat ground area then back down into the forest but this time Alfin took the east direction through the darkness.

I don't know what we have passed because the light source is only from the flashlight in Alfin's hands until about 2 hours of travel we have come out of the forest and clearly visible lights from home people around from a distance. Until they meet the people's fields. Irma also recognized the area not far from her village. Eventually Irma took over in the front position in place of Alfin.

We finally arrived at Irma's house at about 01:30. We immediately bowed our thanks in front of Irma's house and I asked Alfin where he knew his way home. Alfin told me that when we decided to go to sleep, a grandfather came and said if we wanted to get out of the forest, we had to follow him immediately. And we began to tell stories about what we experienced while in Mount Ciremai.

It turns out that since the beginning of the climb when entering the pine forest area, Alfin has indeed felt followed by grandmothers. Unlike Irma who felt often see a large black body with red eyes when lost in the forest, only Hendra claimed to see nothing. But we can't believe it because it looks like it's covering something up .

Finally Irma went in to wake her mother who was asleep then immediately hugged her mother tightly and told her that we had just lost in Mount Ciremai. Irma's mother immediately berated us all she said that her villagers no one dared to climb Mount Ciremai except to find certain sciences.

We are grateful to be able to return safely and will not be careless again to climb the mountain illegally.

**SAI**