Before we left Gili Trewangan we treated ourselves to some lunchtime burgers, as it was Dan's birthday :-) We then got the public boat from Gili Trewangan to Lombok and were collected from the port and driven up to our hotel in the village of Senaru. When we arrived we had a short induction with our tour company; Rudy, the owner, is from Lombok and used to work as one of the porters up on the mountain. These are the guys who seem to have super-human strength and carry all the supplies your group needs for the trek. Many of them would like to eventually become trekking guides (who lead excursions) but in order to do this, they need to be at least bilingual. Although people visit Lombok from all over the world, the one language people tend to have in common is of course English, so this tends to be the number one requirement for guides. Gradually, Rudy practised and improved his English and after a few years he became a guide. He then saved enough money to start his own company, and he now owns and runs 'Rudy Trekkers' and employs around 30 guides and many more porters. He also now owns his own hotel, which is where customers stay on the first evening they arrive, the night before the trek starts.
After our induction we decided to visit the local waterfalls. We went with one of the trekking guides who had a bit of spare time and was eager to show us around and teach us a bit of the local dialect, Sasak. We didn't take to it like naturals but we gave it a good effort! The waterfalls are a popular spot and our guide had a lot of fun telling all the locals that Dan was the Liverpool footballer, James Milner. Lots of people actually believed him, which led to a frenzy of requests for photos with Dan - as James Milner's wife I was merely an accessory to my celebrity husband! The waterfalls were beautiful though and it was fun watching the local teenagers messing about and running in and out of the (very cold) water.
We were up bright and early at 6am the next morning to have breakfast and pack our bags ready for the beginning of our four day, three night trek. Fortunately we only had to carry our own personal belongings, as the porters carry food, water and camping equipment. There is no way we could have done our trek in four days if we'd had to carry everything ourselves! We were driven to the park headquarters in Sembalun and eagerly set off on our trek around 9am with our guide, Josh.
It was gorgeous weather but it was already quite warm and the humidity made the walking a lot more tough than we'd imagined. This picture shows where we started... and the summit we'd be trying to reach the next morning!
The porters sometimes carry up to 50kg each. The most amazing thing is that many of them do this in flip flops whilst smoking a fag and walking twice as fast as you.
We stopped for lunch and the porters cooked up the first of many delicious meals. By this time the clouds had started to come in, and we were already in amongst them:
We didn't take many pictures whilst walking, mainly because the walking was TOUGH and it was hard to concentrate on anything other than just trying to keep going. The first day was almost continuously uphill, starting at 1100m altitude and climbing to 2600m in temperatures of around 30 degrees. As we ascended it did eventually start to get cooler, which we were both thankful for, but by the end of our first day we were still completely knackered and drenched with sweat.
Despite having left after us, the porters reached our camping spot before us and managed to set up our tents before we'd even arrived. We had an incredible view of the lake and the summit and we had dinner while watching the sunset, before going to bed at around 8pm to prepare for the next day.
The second morning of our trip was the big one: the summit! We were woken by our guide at 2am (yes, you read that correctly), had a strange sandwich for breakfast, and began our ascent at 2.30am. The reason you have to begin at this ridiculous hour is that the weather closes in very quickly on the summit once the sun has risen, so you have to start early enough to make it to the top for sunrise. At this time in the morning it's less than five degrees, and it's obviously pitch black, so we set off in our cold weather gear, armed with headtorches and walking poles.
Getting to the top of Mount Rinjani is probably the most physically difficult thing I have ever done in my life. The ascent is relentless and takes about four hours in total. It didn't help that our legs were stiff from the previous day and the mountain is not at all forgiving to a slightly sore and fragile body. There are no smooth trails either - the terrain is quite difficult and you really have to watch your footing. For the first section we were almost climbing rather than walking, as it was so steep, and each step made your legs burn even more. But the part that was most difficult was the last hour or so trying to reach the summit. The ground underneath you is a mixture of loose rocks and volcanic sand and each time you take a couple of steps forward you slip backwards again. Of course this made the incline all the more difficult, and a lot of people were giving up as it was just so exhausting.
Fortunately we managed to keep going and we were rewarded with this amazing sunrise (and a can of Bintang beer).
It was freezing at the summit so we didn't stay for too long, and we began making our descent back down. This took a couple of hours and was very tough on your legs and knees, as it was downhill almost all the way. When we got back to our camp it was about 8.30am and the porters had made us a second breakfast, including some home made chips! Needless to say it tasted amazing and we wolfed it all down. We relaxed for a little while (the relief of removing my boots was indescribable!) but it wasn't long before we had to set off again towards the lake. It's at an altitude of 2000m so in one day we went from 2600m, up to 3726m, back to 2600m and down to 2000m. By the time we reached it we were shattered, especially having been up since 2.30am, and I crashed out in our tent for a late afternoon nap whilst Dan and Josh chatted. The lake was pretty but it was very busy with lots of locals camping and fishing. Because we were doing the four day trek, rather than the very popular three day package, this was fortunately the end of our day's trekking. Other groups on the three day trek had to carry on and climb back up to 2600m to camp at the crater rim! I'm not sure my legs could have done that.
After breakfast the next morning we took a short walk down to the hot springs nearby. Because we had camped overnight nearby we got there nice and early so it was very quiet. The water is about 45 degrees and it was like sitting in a milky bath. Bearing in mind we hadn't had a shower or even a wash during our whole trek, the springs felt like heaven and were so soothing on our skin. The green chalky mud that comes off the rocks is meant to be very good for you and the locals use it as a sort of face mask.
There were some points during the trek when I wished we hadn't signed up for this; when my legs were burning from the climbing at 5.00am, when the locals kept shouting at each other and keeping us awake in the middle of the night and when a whole group of Indonesian men watched me intensely, sniggering, as I went inside our 'toilet tent' that provided a lot less privacy than I'd hoped. But on our last night, when we were snuggled up inside our tent with hot chocolates and looking out on the summit and what we'd achieved, we knew it was something we'd remember forever.
We also enjoyed sharing our campsite with several friendly monkeys:
On our last day we were relived to be heading back down to the village. Although we loved our experience we were in desperate need of some proper showers and were looking forward to sleeping in a proper bed. We were also starting to get a little weary of the food; although our porters and guides did a fantastic job of cooking for us, the menu was inevitably a little limited by our situation and we calculated that we'd each consumed 18 eggs during our four day trip.
The hike back down to Senaru was quite slippery for the first hour or two but then entered into the jungle which was easier to negotiate. It took about six hours in total, including a stop for lunch (spaghetti... with a side of boiled egg!).
We made it!
(If you're interested in reading more about hiking trips on Mount Rinjani then this post here gives a good description, although we went with a different tour guide)
Looks like you guys had a blast!! Hopefully your legs are fully recovered now :) Awesome pictures too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking to our guide at the end!