Story behind a Journey

Go somewhere. Learn something new, meet new people, get new experience, and witness something unusual.

(rega_deta)

I've traveled several times and got many things from it. And the greatest thing I got is all about how to be grateful. I had one journey and it was really something, and after that journey my perspective changed a bit.

The Plan is more than just important

Well, since I love going somewhere a lot, I have a list of some places I wanna visit. And Dringo Lake is the chosen destination for that time. My husby and I set the plan. I remember it was long weekend since I didn't have to work from Thursday to Sunday. At the first time we decided to spend two days and we would start on Friday and back home on Sunday. Unfortunately, it was rain all day long on Friday and we had to change the plan. I was glad since we had alternative plan. Well, from that time I will always keep in my mind that additional plan is always necessary (more than two plans will be better). Finally we started the journey on Saturday morning, it took more than five hours to get there. It was rain, no it was downpour along the journey.

Give up is not the way out

The heavy rain and the long-exhausting journey almost made us stop and go back. Yeah, it was a hard journey since we just rode our motorcycle and we had to carry the heavy outdoor gears. We didn't know exactly where the place was, we used the guide from the travel blog reviewed about that place. When we arrived at the gate of Dieng to pay the entrance fee, we asked the guard the location of Dringo Lake. When we said that we wanted to camp there he just gave us his disbelief expression. He might think we were crazy, cause Dringo is the farthest lake from the gate, it was almost dark and the weather was not good at all. We thanked him for the information and we continued our journey. We bought a bottle of water in Dieng, again, we asked the shop owner about Dringo Lake, and her answer surprised me a lot! She said that no one would visit that place, Dringo has no access way to get there and she also told me that place is haunted. Oh-my-God! I felt so desperate and (honestly) a lil' bit scared, but my husby didn't wanna change the plan. We had to go there, no matter what!

Far from the comfort zone will force you to fight against your fear

We followed the signs to that mysterious lake attached in every junction, however we still misguided. We passed two women who carried a bunch or straw and we asked them about the lake, they told us that the lake was far from where we were. OK, another spirit breaker for us, but we were too far to go back. Along the journey, I saw no body, no houses, no light, just foggy twilight (for a sec, I thought I was in Silent Hill). NICE. We didn't expect we would meet another Dringo Lake "hunter" on our way, they were two women and one man. Thank God! I thought my husby and I were the only crazy people who wanted to camp in a haunted lake in a foggy weather. They said they wanted to go back to Dieng, cause they were not sure about Dringo Lake (actually we met in a T junction, and all of us had no idea which way to go).  I tried to convince them to continue their journey (actually I just looked for more people to join with us, the bigger group the better) aaaand... they're gone. Yup, the two women decided to give up, and said good bye was the only way, phew...

Then my husby and I continued that unexpected journey and from the T junction we just made our lucky guess, but it wasn't. Yeah, we misguided. Fortunately, we arrived in a quiet village and met the villagers: a man and a woman, they might be a young couple since they were holding hand when they walked. We asked about the lake and they said we took the wrong direction from the junction. The good news was the lake is not far from that place, and it is the last village of Dieng plateau. We didn't realize that we almost crossed the border of Dieng and Batang Regency. Then we got something: the couple offered a shelter for us, they said we'd better stay in their house cause it had already dark. They didn't even know me and my husby but they wanted to give us shelter and even a cup of hot tea! That's amazing. The pure kindness of these people cannot be found in every place, especially in a big-modern city.

Treasure is something hard to be obtained

Since we knew that the destination was not far, we continued the journey. I just can't believe how we could be so tough that time. However due to the night and bad weather, if we lost again we had to go back to Dieng (it would be dangerous for us if we could not find the lake, so that was our emergency plan). Then, we met an old man who walked alone along the street in the dark without any light (amazing and so brave!) we asked him and he knew exactly the location of the lake. YAY! We finally found the way to get the lake! All of sudden there were a group of people (I didn't notice from where they came) looked for the same lake. I was glad, so glad! (to be honest, I was a lil' bit scared if my husby and I had to camp alone near the mysterious lake in a foggy day) 

I was shocked, when I saw the path way to the lake. It was muddy and slippery. The motor cycle couldn't run well there. My husby and those people who appeared from nowhere tried so hard to lift their vehicle from the mud, and some of them even fell down. It was just 200 meters, but took more than 20 minutes to pass it. Phew, finally we arrived. Yeah, we arrived at more or less 6.30 pm. It was dark everywhere and we could see nothing but darkness. In fact there were more than two domes and many people who had already camped there. Those people might be as crazy as me and husby, but I bet their journey is totally different with ours. I was so grateful when we finally set up the dome and made ourselves a glass of hot chocolate milk. That was the happiest time of the day!

Then the three persons I met in the junction came to my mind, they were actually close enough to the lake. What a shame, they came from far away. But they gave up too soon, if they forced themselves little bit further they would find it.

No gloomy day lasts forever

It was disappointed when we could not see the lake clearly in the morning. The rumor says this lake looks like Ranukumbolo in Semeru Mountain. But all we could do were staying in the dome, cooking some food and waiting for the sun. Thank God, at around 8 am the fog was gone and we could see the lake, Dringo Lake (some local people called it Sedringo Lake). Indeed, it is so beautiful, great, amazing and awesome! We felt like we just found a hidden treasure. The hard journey we had on the previous day was well paid.

Dringo Lake that morning

Trying to enjoy the foggy morning

It was totally cold and we could see more than 100 meters

Sunny or gloomy, just try to enjoy it together :)

Gloomy day won't last forever

We might not have good picts, but we have witnessed it by our own eyes.
They captured much better than the camera.

Ewwww...

No pain no gain!

That was my amazing journey. I learned and got so many things from it, things that can't be found in my daily life. The beauty, the nature, the kindness of local people, and the experience itself.

The worst thing about it was the garbage left by the people next dome. Hopefully this natural place will not turn into mass destination and will turn into "hell". Anywhere we go, make sure we leave nothing but our own trace. The nature has given us great thing, then we have to pay it back, agree? :)

rega_deta

Sedringo Lake, January 2015