Mt. Rinjani

I have the habit to tell my mum only at the last minute when I'm off travelling. Usually that happens about a few days before departure. And like all mothers she would ask a dozen questions before she gives me a final ok. Not that she would ask me to stay home. Even if I was to go to Afghanistan mum would still give me her blessing, but I guess the questions are standard procedure. Much like completing a landing card, I suppose.

Where to ? What will you be doing ? Who's coming with you ? etc. I said I was going to Lombok to climb Mt. Rinjani and Elle was coming with me. Mum's reaction though was not the usual "send me a postcard", this time she was serious. Questions followed soon after. "Climb Mt. Rinjani ?" My Indonesian mum knew very well which mountain I was talking about. "With Elle ?" .. "You should go with a guide. Do you have a guide ? You do have a guide, don't you ?" Of course I have a guide. Did she really think I was going to climb my first mountain without someone experienced showing me the way ? So "Yes mum, we have a guide" .. "Oh good, cause you're taking someone's daughter up that volcano" ... ???... My dearest mother was scared I would talk Elle into doing reckless things and something bad would happen to us. I've been known to do stupid things in the past (e.g. losing my passport) so I guess the reaction was justified. Anyway, I'm sure anyone having a close relationship with their mother has heard this before "Mum is always right". Yes, mum was right, I was reckless (sort of) and I am now suffering for it. Read on.

Day 1
The day we headed off to the trek we woke up really early as it takes about 1,5 hours to get to the village of Sembalun Lawang at the foot of the mountain where we would meet our guide and porters. They were the ones who would be carrying all the food and tents as all we were allowed to bring was 5 kgs worth of clean undies and toiletry. On our way to the village we stopped at a local market to get a bit of food as we didn't have breakfast when we left the guesthouse. We couldn't get much cause there wasn't a lot of choice but I managed to get us some snake fruit and biscuits. Yummie ! Once we signed the insurance, we headed off following our tourguide who was, midgets excluded, easily the tiniest man I've ever met. His name was Anum and he had a girlfriend who obviously loved him a lot cause she kept calling and sending him ringtunes to his cellphone until it went dead up on the rim. Hillarious really, you should've seen the tricks he did trying to revive the bloody thing, keeping it near the fire and all. Inventive, but unfortunately it didn't work. Lol.

The first bit of the trek wasn't very hard, it was mostly just a walk behind the villagers' gardens, though flat lands etc. Nonetheless it was a really hot day and the sun was burning our skin. After a few hours we reached post 1 where we stopped for a short break to drink and rest a bit. Then we headed straight to post 3, skipping post 2, for lunch. When we finally got there, we had to find shelter beneath an old bridge as it started gushing from the skies. In spite of the rain lunch was beautiful and we enjoyed it in the company of monkeys. Elle and I loved the idea but kept them at a distance anyway as we didn't really fancy one of them attacking us for a slice of pineapple.

Contrary to the first half of the day, the way to the rim was murder. Mount Rinjani is not the highest mountain in SE Asia, and you don't need to master special climbing skills to go up it, but it definitely was not an easy task for the likes of Elle and myself. Compared to our porters we were wimps! You should see these guys. Skinny Indonesian men each carrying 2 heavy baskets on their shoulders containing our tents and food and drinks for 3 days. They go up and down this mountain on a pair of flip flops ! Isn't that mad ? And they didn't even stop once to catch their breaths. Pretty hardcore, let me tell ya. Elle and I on the other hand, we had to stop several times cause we weren't used to the thin air, which made it so exhausting to climb hills after hills after hills. But we forgot all about that when we got on the rim as we gazed in awe over the lake and watched the sun disappear behind the mountain. That sunset was definitely one I will never forget and made the hard trip up worth every effort.

Day 2
The next day, as we descended towards the lake I slipped over some gravel, banged my right shin against a rock and fell on a hard surface, spraining my right ankle and unabling myself to move on. It was too risky to proceed with the descent as it would've been pretty much impossible for me to get back up on the rim afterwards cause I couldn't support on my right foot anymore. To our dissapointment we couldn't do much else than slowly make our way back to the village. So day 2 consisted mainly of walking half the trail we did on day 1, but in reverse order. We descended until we got to post 2 where we set up camp for the night.

Day 3
On day 3 we continued our walk to the village and reached Sembalun Lawang after 5 hours. Walking along with us was a dog we saw on the rim. Elle and I gave him much attention while we were there and apparently he followed us at a distance when we moved on. He kept us company until we got to the village border. This dog was really cute, in a way he kept me going and distracted me from the pain each time he walked by my side looking for affection.

All in all Mt. Rinjani was a good experience and I don't regret falling down. It was just another interesting adventure, just a pity that it hurt quite a bit. Lol. But I wasn't afraid at any point cause we were in good hands. I must say, the guide and porters were really helpful and took good care of us all the way. Shame we couldn't do what was initially planned but there are worse things, I suppose. Ah well, better luck next time!

After 3 days on the mountain we spent one more night in Senggigi, mainly because we arrived too late for the last boat to the Gilis. If you remember what happened several days before in our homestay in this same town, you'd probably know why we have opted for a slightly cleaner place to stay this time. Raja's bungalow was tucked deep into a side street from the main road, but what a gem ! There were four bungalows, all with a terrace and open air bathroom. Very charming indeed. And the room itself was very clean and spatious. The only drawback was the staff being quite pushy talking us into a buffet dinner, which in the end was just a large dinner they cooked for the 2 of us. It was lovely though, so fair enough.

Anyway, we've now based ourselves on a small island off the northwest coast of Lombok called Gili Trawangan and will be staying here for at least 4 days. It looks like a very relaxing place catered for backpackers and it's where you'd want to go if you're into diving. I was planning on signing up for a dive course, but with my injured ankle I don't think I'd be able to do much in the water. Bummer ! But ah well, I suppose some relaxation is enough for now. More on Gili T later.

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