CHAPTER 1

DEPARTURE

On a Saturday morning in June, I got up from my bed to get ready for a trip that I
thought would forever remain a dream. Back to 4 days earlier, on Tuesday to be precise,
when my friend and I had just returned from watching a movie. When we finished watching
the movie, we planned to find dinner, and that's when my friend named Andri said in a joking
tone,

“What if we go to Dieng?” Andri, who also happens to be Wonosobo, had an idea at

“You’re joking right??” I said.

“Let's go; let's invite others as well,” she said.

She’s not joking right now, I said in my mind. Since the beginning of our college
life, she is always ask us to go to dieng for a trip, but it never happened. After that, we started
contacting some friends to invite them to have dinner together outside, as well as wanting to
invite them to go to Dieng.

The five of us gathered together for dinner at one of the places to eat not far from our
mall. While we were eating, Andri told us about her invitation to go to Dieng during this
semester break. Suddenly, my other friends were surprised by the suddenness of this
invitation. It was natural because, previously, I had not expected there to be an invitation as
sudden as this. After being quiet for a while, 2 of my friends said they couldn't come this time
because it was so sudden, and one of my friends wanted to come. Finally, it was decided that
the ones who would come on this trip were me, Andri, and Nana.

Back to the present, the clock showed half past four, and I began to prepare my
luggage, such as clothes and medicines, just in case something happened during our trip but I
hope everything will be alright. I heard that Dieng is a very cold place compared to
Semarang, so I brought several jackets to anticipate the temperature change. After 04.30, I
left to go to Nana’s home, in Pamularsih. It took 25 minutes from my home in Pucang
Gading. After approaching Nana, we went straight to Sekaran to visit Andri, who was at the
boarding house. We arrived at Sekaran at half past 6am and prepared to leave for Dieng.
Andri led the way because she was very familiar with the route that we would pass, By the
way, because it was already entering the semester break, Andri also returned to her home,
carrying items in her boarding house to bring home.

We waited Andri in one of minimarket near her boarding house, we waited for 5
minute.

“shall we go?” said Andri

“did you get kicked out?” Nana said jokingly

“yeah, I’m homeless right now” Replied Andri.

After that we finally started our trip today. The route we took was not an urban road
as I had imagined, Andri said that this route was better than having to pass through the city,
and sure enough during the trip, we enjoyed the natural beauty that we could not possibly
find in Semarang. we passed through a beautiful stretch of tea gardens, passing through
winding roads with mountain views all around. is this maybe the Heavenly Trail, I thought as
I rode my motorbike through this beautiful road. There was one interesting moment when we
passed the road, namely we saw a flower that I personally had never seen, and when I asked
Andri when in the middle of the road she replied that the flower was known as “Lonte
sore”( in english it called Common Daisy) which in English lonte means whore. me and nana
who heard this were a little dumbfounded. but after that Andri kept riding like there was
nothing wrong with what she said. After an hour and a half of driving through various road
terrains, we decided to stop at a minimarket in the Temanggung area to refill our body fluids
and energy intake.

“So why is it called the Lonte Sore?” I asked about the flower we had just seen.

“That's what it is” Andri replied jokingly. both of us could only stare at Andri with a
look of disappointment. “Okay, I'll explain,” said Andri. “So it's called Lonte Sore because
the flower is beautiful but only blooms in the afternoon, that's why it's called lonte Sore”
continued Andri.

“Then why does it have to be a whore, like there's no other word” I replied.

“well, you know whore right? They are beautiful but only active at night, just like this
flower it’s beautiful but only blooms in the afternoon, that’s why it’s called Lonte Sore” said
Andri.
 “Is Dieng still far away?” asked Nana, who had been enjoying her bread.

“maybe in about an hour we will enter the dieng area” Andri replied. after resting for
about 10 minutes, we continued our journey, but before that we stopped by the gas station to
refuel, because I drank too much, I also went to the toilet at the gas station. while in the toilet,
I was surprised by how cold the water was there, it was very cold compared to the water in
Semarang. After that we continued our journey, our first destination was Andri's house. After
driving for approximately two and a half hours, we finally arrived at Andri's house in
Wonosobo.
 CHAPTER 2

NGAPAK LANGUAGE

We were greeted by Andri's parents when we got there, it seemed Andri had
informed us about our arrival. We also greeted them while introducing ourselves. My first
impression for Andri’s house is the floor is really cold, but fortunately there’s carpet that
make it warmer. Andri's parents have prepared breakfast for us, namely a typical Wonosobo
food called Nasi Megono, this food is a dish that includes rice with various kinds of
vegetables that I have never eaten before, and there is Tempe Kemul combined with a cup of
warm tea which is very suitable with the temperature here. With just only 10 minutes we in
here, I got flu I guess, my nose starts to get blocked and then snot starts to come out.

There was one interesting moment when Andri's mother started asking Andri in the
local language or known as Ngapak, when the two of them were chatting, Nana and I could
only smile while listening to what they were chatting about...we didn't understand at all what
they were saying, moreover they said it very quickly, only a few vocabulary that I could
catch, I also have a friend named Boni who sometimes accidentally uses ngapak language
when chatting with me, but I can still understand what he wants to say. It's hard to believe
that it's also a Javanese language, very different from the Javanese I usually speak. my
Semarang Javanese and Nana's Solo Javanese also sometimes have slight differences when
we talk, but we can still understand each other, but this one...... is very different, as if it's not
Javanese. Uniquely this ngapak language is historically believed to be the oldest Javanese
language on the island of Java.

After they finished talking and her mom started to go inside again, I started asking
“This is really Andri, right?” She just laughed at my question “I swear ndri, I don't
understand what you were just talking about” said Nana who also didn't understand the
conversation. Andri had never spoken ngapak before in front of us, so this was the first time
we heard her speak ngapak. I thought she was great too, because she could understand the
more common Javanese language that we used even though she had been surrounded by
ngapak language since childhood. Andri also said that in his family, even though they are
both ngapak, there are two side in the choice of ngapak, namely ngapak that emphasizes the
“A” vowel like her mother and ngapak that does not emphasize the “A” vowel like her father.
Andri himself prefers to be like her father while her brother chooses to be like her mother.
 CHAPTER 3

KAWAH SIKIDANG

After putting our luggage and resting for about an hour, we resumed our main
destination, namely to the Dieng area, from Andri's house to the Dieng area it was about half
an hour, it was quite close I thought, but this trip felt very long and far away, maybe because
of the winding road terrain that made this feel very far away. Along the way we encountered
many vehicles that were also heading to Dieng, through a path that coincided with a ravine.

The first place we visited was Sikidang crater. Sikidang Crater is a natural tourist spot
in which there are several naturally formed craters that have sulfur that always comes out
every time Before we got there, we got lost looking for a way to get there. Andri, who led the
trip this time, was confused. “So how is it Ndri? Which way?” I asked. We pulled over on the
shoulder of the road while looking at the maps on our cellphones. “ohhhh, we made a wrong
turn at the intersection earlier, we should have gone left up instead of left down” Andri
replied. After that we continued our journey by going through the road that we had seen on
the maps earlier.

We got lost again, when we passed the road directed by maps, apparently the road
was closed for culvert work. We were directed by workers there how the route we should go
through to Sikidang Crater. Finally after following the direction of the worker, and after pass
through many road terrain. We got to our first place.

For the ticket price, since we came during the weekend, each person was charged
Rp10,000. This is quite affordable for a tourist attraction. Even though the place was cold, the
sunlight was as strong as ever. As we began to explore the area, the smell of sulfur like rotten
eggs stung from all directions. I tried to get used to the smell, but still the smell was so
pungent that it still made me feel uncomfortable too long near the area, its quiet crowded at
that time. We took photos together with the crater as the background, and I don’t why but
everywhere I go, there’s always some people ask me to take a photo for them. And it
happened again in this place, are people seeing me as a person who can take a great photo for
them? Well I don’t know, but what I know is when I took a photo, it’s often become blur, so I
feel sorry for those people. We explored the place for about half an hour and then found a
gazebo that was intended as a place to rest, and spent the place for another half hour.
 After half an hour we rested, we then continued our journey to get out of the place,
the exit of this tourist spot was filled with people selling food and goods typical of Dieng, we
walked almost took 10 minutes to actually arrive at the exit, because the road this exit was
made winding. Near the exit, we came across a buskers who had such a beautiful voice, when
we passed by he was singing a song by ST12 called “putri iklan”, his slightly hoarse voice
reminded me of the original singer of this song, Charly van Houten. “If the busker is like this,
I'm willing to give anything” said Nana who seemed to be completely hypnotized by his
voice.
 CHAPTER 4

TELAGA WARNA

After that, we returned to the parking lot to continue our journey to the next
destination. What we wanted to go to this time was the lake of colors. Andri recommended us
to visit this place, he said this place was different from the previous one, this place gave a
very calm impression where there were many trees along the lake object. When we came to
Telaga Warna, this tourist attraction was quite quiet, there were only a few visitors when we
came. Maybe it's because of the effect of the large place that makes this place look quiet, not
crowded with visitors even on weekends. We walked around every corner of the place,
although the main object of this place is a lake, there is also a crater in the corner of this
tourist spot. There is also caves in this tourist attraction, although it is not a big cave anyway.

“Is that an offering?” Nana asked.

“Yes, there are still people here who believe in things like this” said Andri

“Who is this offering shown to?” I asked.

“I don't know, I don't know either” Andri answered back. “they say, this offering is
for ngelarung child dreadlocks” she added.

I dont understand it but okay. We continued down Telaga Warna, we spent about 1
hour exploring the place. After feeling enough, we decided to rest at the food court in Telaga
Warna, the place is quite comfortable with a beautiful view, which is facing directly to the
vast lake.

We ordered some snacks to enjoy together while enjoying this natural beauty. We
spent our time chatting about how our trip was. We chatted for almost an hour in that place.
“Let's go out” I asked. “Okay, let's go” they both replied.

It was already late afternoon, and before returning to Andri's house, we were invited
by Andri to her cousin's house which is close to the area. Her cousin is a Dieng souvenir
seller, and when we got there, her cousin had unexpectedly prepared souvenirs for us. Had
she also informed us of our arrival, I wondered. We thanked Andri's cousin and continued
our way to back to Andri's house.
 CHAPTER 5

HOME SWEET HOME

Arriving at Andri's house, Andri's parents have prepared a meal for us, this time the
dish is a home-cooked dish that we often encounter daily. We rested while enjoying the food
that had been prepared. The floor of this house is still very cold, I thought. We went back to
talking about our trip today with Andri's parents.

It was already four o'clock in the afternoon. Andri offered us to stay overnight at her
place because we must have been too tired that day. Since I was the only guy on this trip, I
honestly declined the offer even though I was also feeling very tired that day. If it was just
me, I would have immediately refused when I received this offer. However, this time I was
with other person, I couldn't decide this matter by myself. If Nana wanted to rest and stay
overnight, then I would accept her decision, especially since she was my responsibility on
this trip. If anything happens on our way home, what should I tell to her parents. I look at
Nana and said “how Naa? Want to stay?”. But Nana's response was beyond my expectations,
I thought Nana would happily accept the offer, because as I said before, we must be tired. But
Nana said “It’s up to you, whether you want to stay or not, I'm ok with both choices”. After
reconfirming her answer, I decided to decline Andri's offer to stay overnight and thanked her
for this trip. After saying goodbye to Andri's parents, we prepared for our journey home.
Before continuing our journey, I asked Andri which route we should take.

“Taking the route like when we went here is okay, but it's poorly lit and deserted, but
if you can get there before 7 o'clock it shouldn't be a problem.” Andri replied.

Then I checked the clock once more and it was almost half past five. “Which other
route would be better, the one that is crowded and well-lit?” I asked.

“Then you better take the urban route, which is definitely crowded and well-lit. But it
will take more time” Andri replied.

The urban route seemed to be the safest option I thought, moreover the route when
we went here earlier was still too unfamiliar to me, I was not familiar with the road, and
because I was with Nana, it was better to choose a safe route. I asked Nana, which route
should we take “through the city is fine” Nana replied, apparently we thought the same thing.
After that we decided to go through the city streets.

We enjoyed the city streets while listening to music, it took almost half an hour to
reach the city route to Semarang. It was the right decision to choose this route, I thought.
Because it was impossible for us to reach the departure route at 7pm. As soon as we got out
of Wonosobo city, we felt the cold and the foggy road when the clock was almost 6 o'clock.

“It's really cold. Do you want to wear another jacket?” I said.

“Yeah I want” Nana replied,

we finally decided to stop for a moment to get jackets in our bags. I was already wearing two
jackets, but Nana was only wearing one, so I thought it was still too cold to wear just one.

After that we continued our journey, enjoying the beautiful night with the moon
shining down to earth. The cold air also enlivened this calm atmosphere. My music playlist
somehow sounded very suitable for the atmosphere tonight. Ahh this is a beautiful night I
thought. We continued our journey leisurely while enjoying the dark night of the city. Every
now and then we also took a break at the minimarket, either just to relax our bodies or buy
energy drinks. Our first stop was at one of the minimarkets that I don't know where it is, but
it's definitely still in the city of Temanggung. It was already 7pm, we bought some drinks and
rested there for about 15 minutes.

We continued our journey. Finally we arrived at the city of Temanggung, multi-storey

“how come the streets are so quiet” I said.

“Yes, it's really quiet, even though it's Saturday night” said Nana.

Nana also seemed to feel the same way, “There's no way it's this quiet in Semarang
on a Saturday night” I said.

“Hahahaha, yes. Is it because it's cold here, which makes people not want to go out at
night?” asked Nana.
 “hahahhaha it could be. But isn't it strange that people here aren't used to this kind of
temperature?” I asked again.

“Hahahhaha, who knows if they can't stand temperatures like this,” replied Nana. We
continued this small talk throughout the trip.

After riding for a few hours, we finally almost reached Semarang City. We took a
break at a minimarket in the Ungaran after getting stuck in traffic in the Ambarawa area. This
was really tiring I thought, we were always side by side with buses and trucks that made the
trip feel very heavy. I looked at Nana's face who looked very tired. “If you know this, it's
better to stay overnight” I said, Nana could only smile at my words, she was too tired like I
thought. After resting for 15 minutes we continued our journey home. Nana offered to take
turns riding if I got tired, but I refused. It’s okay for me, and we were almost there.

Finally we arrived in Semarang City, we went straight to Nana's house, to take her
home. After arriving at her house I immediately continued my journey to go home, even
though I was also offered to rest first. I continued my journey home and saw that the city was
still so crowded even though it was later than when we were in Temanggung. Although the
trip was exciting, the atmosphere of our own city has nothing to beat, especially the sparkling
city lights that soothe the heart. When I finally arrived home, I immediately took out all my
luggage and hurried to clean myself. I saw that the clock was already 10pm. Its crazy, I was
on the road for almost 5 hours, I thought, this is very inversely proportional to our departure
time which is only approximately 2.5 hours away. After that, I started to tell them both that I
had arrived home and thanked them both for this fun trip. Hope we can travel together like
this next time. How about Jogja next time. isn’t bad, isn’t ?