Rinjani Trekking

0 Shares
0
0
0

After two wonderful weeks at Villa Gem, where we fully immersed ourselves in luxury, it was time to leave our comfortable bubble and take on a new challenge: climbing a volcano.

I thought I was fit enough to go up this mountain without any problems, and was momentarily knocked off my feet. It was awesome, but also very tough. We chose to hike for three days. Below you can read my experience.

Read more about the different packages, tips and a packing list for Rinjani here.

Climbing Mount Rinjani

Unsuspecting and in good spirits, we are picked up from Kuta in a nice car. After just under three hours’ drive, we arrive at our lodge (https://g.co/kgs/AJebMP4), where we spend the night. The lodge is disappointing — very primitive — and I find it hard to switch off after being overly comfortable. I sleep little and this is going to break me, I find out later. Read my review of the lodge here.

Senaru Lombok

We have a bite to eat at Cafe Rifka — highly recommended! I had delicious Urab Urab here. A good base for the climb. The next morning, we eat a plate of rice and are picked up. We leave our bags behind and take only the essentials. Indeed, for the next three days, we walk with this luggage on our backs.

Tip: Are you going to climb Rinjani? Pack as little gear as possible. Check out my packing list here.

Rinjani Hike day 1

After a perilous ride in the back of a small truck, we enter the park and start our first hike towards Basecamp, around 8:30am. Our Guide Tagu tells us that we have 3 stops along the way. The first stop is pretty quick. We are joined by cows and given a candy bar. At our second stop (10:00), we eat a delicious lunch of chicken, vegetables (Tjap tjai) and rice with fresh fruit.

Whereas the first part was still quite flat and relaxed, now the real work begins. We start gaining real altitude and it starts raining. I cover my backpack with my poncho to prevent my clean clothes from getting wet on the first day. At the second stop, we wait for the worst of the rain to pass. We’re still motivated and hike bravely until we reach basecamp around 14:00.

We took 3.5 hours on the total hike (not counting breaks), climbing 1,600 metres.

Rinjani Basecamp

The view is beautiful and after we shoot a few enviable pictures, I look for a tree to empty my bladder in the open air.

This takes some swallowing. The basecamp is visited by many people every day and waste disposal is an issue in Indonesia. There are no showers/toilets and no waste bins. So people just do their defecation behind a tree. The spot I picked is popular and I nearly slipped on human waste. Very rancid, but you get the complete, unfiltered experience from me.

That it is not a hygienic place is evidenced by the fact that there are many mice, flies and monkeys that aggressively approach you when you walk around with food. Our private chef serves us fried bananas and then a delicious curry which we enjoy during sunset.

On the thin camping mattress, I sleep for a maximum of 1.5 hours and by 1:00 I am wide awake. We slip into our warm clothes, drink an instant coffee (I am not a fan of Indonesian coffee so I always carry small bags with me when travelling) and eat a toasted white roll with salt, sugar and chocolate spread. Extraordinary combo, but it tasted fine. At 2:00 we set off into the dead of night, with a torch on our heads.

Rinjani Summit

We walk in a procession of ~50 people, all lights following each other up the mountain. You have no idea where you are walking along because you can only see a few metres in front of you. What you do see are the lights above you, showing how steep the mountain is and how much you still have to climb. Mind on 0 and keep going.

final climb through the volcanic dust

The first stretch is climbing and scrambling. The second stretch is slightly flatter, with a path leading up via the mountain peak. The last stretch is the most notorious. Anyone who has climbed Rinjani will tell you how tough this is. You toil up a steep slope through the stiff volcanic dust. After each step up, you sink back two steps. You scramble for over an hour and over your left shoulder you see undulations of the rising sun. You push through for just a moment longer so as not to miss that sunrise atop the mountain.

When you are not the first, the mountain is fairly crowded. Everyone throngs to the edge to take photos. Somehow it is cosy; after all, you are part of a select group who have gone through the same thing to get here. We shoot some photos, try to enjoy the view in the moment and take a picture with the famous sign.

All’s well that ends well. Time for the descent, and it is punishing. The ascent was tough, but at least I had a goal in sight. Descending is tough on me mentally and physically. It almost feels like skiing as I descend, and because of the crowds, I sometimes have to dodge the stones that people behind me accidentally roll in front of my feet. The way back is beautiful, but there seems to be no end in sight. I have burned through my reserves and two nights without sleep are breaking me.

I am closer to crying than laughing, but we get back to camp in one piece. We get a cup of coffee and breakfast; fried egg and chips. After no more than half an hour, it’s time to pack our gear again for that day’s next hike. I am exhausted, but hoist the backpack on my back and with my molars clenched follow our guide.

We left at 2:00 and are back at Basecamp by 9:00. Up to the summit, we climb another 1,142 metres.

Rinjani Hike day 2

When you climb the volcano, you can choose between two routes. We choose the route with the fewest people, seeing 3 waterfalls. The second hike starts with a steep descent via rocks. There used to be a staircase here, creating a sort of shortcut. Unfortunately, the staircase was destroyed by the 2018 earthquake.

The trek is tough and little by little I am losing the joy of trekking. I catch myself feeling a twinge of jealous; some people hike all the way down and sleep in their own beds tonight.

Tip: Are you going to climb Rinjani? Pack as little gear as possible. Check out my packing list here.

Rinjani Lake

After a brisk descent in which I slow things down considerably, we arrive at Lake Rinjani at 13:00, where once again a delicious lunch is provided by Dandi (spicy noodles). I feel dirty and want to take a dip in the lake, but it’s chilly and unfortunately a lot of rubbish is left behind here too. Swiftly we continue our hike to the hotspring, a small – but glowing hot lake. Under the watchful eye of a dozen or so monkeys, I lower myself into the hot water, clothes and all, and feel my body relax. It is very cool after all.

The second camp

A full stomach and half an hour of relaxation do me good. With fresh energy, we continue our way to the second camp. The route is beautiful and I intensely enjoy every moment. Via the river, we hike at our leisure to the second camp. This camp is a relief from the relatively dirty basecamp next to the summit. It is clean, there are no tents around us and we can wash with water coming from the mountain. I brush my teeth for the first time since we left. We enjoy a delicious nasi goreng and dive into our tent after sunset.

From Basecamp to the second camp, we are on the road for a total of over seven hours (including breaks).

Rinjani Hike day 3

After a long night (20:00 to 6:00), we have breakfast with a salty-sweet cheap factory white bread and a tasty banana pancake. Then it’s time for our final hike. With 1 stopover, we walk a total of 6 hours to the park entrance, where our taxi awaits us.

Although this should be a relatively easy hike, I still spend 2 hours plodding, climbing and scrambling. I try to enjoy the last few hours, but am also glad that this trip will soon be over. Dandi serves us one last meal: spaghetti with boiled egg. After a short stop for the suitcases (and a pit stop at the Starbucks in Mataram ;)), we arrive back in Kuta by 18:00, tired but satisfied.

Do you have any questions about Rinjani? Send me a message via the contact form or on Instagram 🙂

How expensive is Rinjani?

I paid €220.00 for Rinjani. This included the following:

  • Taxi from Kuta to Senara (fine, large car with air conditioning)
  • Overnight in Senara
  • Pickup to National Park
  • Entrance to National Park
  • 3 Meals a day (really tasty meals)
  • Unlimited water/tea/coffee
  • Fruit after meals
  • Unlimited snacks (mainly packaged biscuits)
  • Guide
  • Porter
  • Tent + mattress + sleeping bag
  • Plastic tent (hole in the ground with a tent around it)
  • You can leave your suitcases at the lodge in Senaru
  • Taxi back to Kuta with stopover to pick up suitcases (nice, big car with air conditioning)

Tip: Are you going to climb Rinjani? Pack as little gear as possible. Check out my packing list here.

0 Shares
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.