Saturday, December 22, 2012

Enjoying The View of 5 Mountains at Ketep Pass


One of the favorite travel destination in the Magelang, Indonesia is Ketep Pass. From here you can enjoy a panoramic view of five Mount in one place.  You can enjoy the scenery of Mount Merapi, Mount Merbabu, Mount Selamet, Mount Sindoro, and Mount Sumbing.
Ketep Pass situated at an altitude of 1200 meters above sea level, located 116.8 miles from the Dieng Plateau, and 26.2 km from the city of Magelang. From this location you enjoy an attractive panorama of Mount Merapi - Merbabu with terraced plantations and farms. Besides being able to enjoy the natural scenery with views of Mount Merapi, Merbabu, Mount Selamet, Mount Sindoro and Sumbing, you also got a great view of mountains that you can see from the Ketep Pass such as Telomoyo, Dieng, Andong and Menoreh hills.
Facilities in this place is quite complete and has been organized, Ketep Pass has a large parking area to accommodate motor vehicles, can also accommodate large bus commonly used for travel bus. One of the facilities you should visit is Ketep Volcano Theatre, located in the courtyard of the Panca Arga with admission fee 5000 Rupiah. In this theater you will be presented with a short movie that lasted about 25 minutes with the title "The Life of Merapi Land" telling about history and theory of the origin formation of Mount Merapi Volcano, research activities, climbing dan hiking activities and also history about the eruption of Mount Merapi.

If you recently visit Dieng Plateau you can take public bus from Mendolo Bus Station or Kretek Bus Station. In the middle of the journey toward from Wonosobo to Magelang  you will be presented as well as the views of the rice plantations where the locals from afar and could also see views of Mount Sindoro and Sumbing sturdy stand so beautiful to enjoy. If you have more time, we recommend to stop in Kledung Pass where this place is right in the middle position between Mount Sindoro and Sumbing. Accommodation here was relatively inexpensive and suitable for backpacker or budget traveler.
From Wonosobo city to Magelang it takes approximately 2 hours at a cost of about 10,000 Indonesian Rupiah. For the plan to Ketep Pass with public transportation, we recommended you to reach Ketep before dusk because the public transport of Magelang to Muntilan very limited until 4 or 5 PM. Buses from Magelang towards Muntilan cost approximately 3000 Rupiah, and then down at the T-junction Blabak before the paper mill, from here can go by bus or public transportation to the destination Telatar with costs approximately 3000 Rupiah.
The distance between Blabak and Telatar is around 15 km, with bus fare approximately 3000 Rupiah. If you come to Telatar already dusk about 5 PM, public transportation is rarely passing, therefore one existing transportation is involved hitchhiking mini truck to Ketep Pass.
In the pick up car/ truck carrying the local people with the majority of the mothers and grandmothers who carry a basket as a container for them to carry and sell the crop plantation or farm market. With their hospitality, along the way you can join for a chat in the Java language that will make you smile and laugh along with the truck on it, of course this is will be a very rarely experienced in big cities like Jakarta.

Hitchiking to Ketep Pass
If you intend to stay overnight in Ketep, you can find a Guesthouse at Dusun Dadapan were located not far from Ketep Pass. Lodging cost in here is very cheap only 40,000 Rupiah pernight, conditions at that guesthouse practically very simple, the architecture joglo on the inside of the building, some parts of the walls of the room using bamboo and the kitchen was still using firewood. The condition like this is perfect for those who want to experience the simple life in a village in rural and far from the frenetic urban atmosphere.

Sunrise From Ketep Pass, Magelang Central Java, Indonesia
Spending the night in one of the houses in a rural hamlet to be one exciting experience for those of you who get bored with urban life. In the evening the atmosphere was so quiet, the sound of wind and insects like crickets became accompanist chant lullabies. In the night the sky was a clear so you can enjoy the constellation that looks more bright and so beautiful. If you spend the night here, I recommended you to catch sunrise at Ketep Pass. Due to the still very early, usually there is no guards or ticketing staff, so you can get in for FREE of CHARGE.

Kedung Kayang Waterfall, Magelang Central Java, Indonesia

If you have enough time,  there is a waterfall called Kedung Kayang Waterfall, a distance of approximately 8 km which can be reached by public transportation or ride motorcycles from Ketep Pass. To reach Kedung Kayang Waterfall there is two pathways, namely via the top and bottom lines. From the upper path you can enjoy the beauty of the falls from the top, but if you want a shower or getting wet you need to walk through the paths through the bottom line, from Here you can enjoy the scenery of Mount Merapi.  If you are lucky you can see a bunch of wild monkeys that live in the surrounding trees. At this location is pretty neat, but arguably less maintenance because there are some parts of the fence were damaged and unkempt.

 
 Borobudur Temple, Magelang Central Java, Indonesia
 From Ketep Pass Magelang, you can continue the journey to the Borobudur Temple, from Muntilan bus station you can  take a bus with destination to Borobudur temple which is about 26.1 miles or about 1 hour 30 minutes using public transport. I hope you can enjoy your precious time at Central Java, Indonesia.
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