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Published: October 5th 2008
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Ganung Rinjani and Crater Lake
The summit is on the left of the photo, this photo was taken from the crater rim. Notice the smaller volcano peak that pops out of the lake, only 2100 yrs lod, I'm told. I think it was Friedriche Nietzsche (I'm sure Imangled the spelling here) that said, "Little maketh the best happiness." Well, seeing the sunrise from the top of a volcanic mountain certainly validates that claim. My last few days on the island of Lombok have been spent trekking the area around Ganung (Mount)
Rinjani, a 3,700-meter (11,000-ft) inactive volcano whose crater is now a lake measuring about 3 to 4 km in diameter.
But first, a word about extended travelling: It's not wall-to-wall excitement. In fact, for every day spent doing something really special and exhilarating, there's almost as much time spent in transit, waiting for transportation, or just taking care of mundane tasks like washing one's clothes in the shower or checking up on email (or writing travel blogs that may never be read!). This may be compounded by the constant assault of street hawkers aggresively trying to sell $5 Rolex fakes or other useless crap that no one would ever want. A few days in a row like this and one might begin to question why one decided to hit the road in the first place. But all of those misgivings quickly wash away when one takes part in
Waterfall near Gangga
This was a pretty fun day out. Kevin, Vianney, and Gilles making their ways from the pool inside the cave up to the elvevated pool and 20-meter fall on the other side. something like this Rinjani trek, although it could be something as simple as taking a walk through a small village and meeting a few folks.
I spent a few uneventful days in the beach town of Senggigi - a nice place, but a bit of a one-horse town, which becomes especially apparent after a few days. I was waiting for this trek to begin and had to wait a few days as the Idri Fitri holidays here basically means that everything is shut down as all the devout Muslims who observed Ramadan are now able to break our the whiskey, cigars, and poker chips again. For the first couple of days I hung out with Gilles (who you might recall from my last blog entry) and a couple of other guys from Belgium. Vianney and Kevin were two world travellers and were also good guys whom I enjoyed meeting, and had a lot of fun hanging around with. The four of us rented scooters ($6/day) one morning and took a trip to a waterfall out in the forest, not too difficult to get too, but not too many folks go there. We had a guide show us how to
Local Kids
These kids couldn't get enough of seeing their images on the LCD displays of the camera. get to the most secluded fall, which included a hop accross a small gorge via a makeshift bamboo bridge. He was sure to tell us to be careful crossing the bridge - as it was just a few bamboo stalks draped accross the gorge from one rock to a rock on the other side. Somewhere in his safety brief he casually made us aware of the presence of a poisonous snake that lived inside the bamboo. It was something like, "you need to go fast, and don't anger the snake... very dangerous." Well, We all lived to tell about it without incident. The falls were very nice and included a cave where we could climb by ladder into an elevated pool being fed by a 30-meter fall. It was pretty cool and I hope the picture that I attached does it some justice. I also met Lisa, a very smart, pretty, and down to earth, auburn-headed girl from Holland. She also was signed up to do the Rinjani trek but with a different group. I spent a day or two hanging around with her and her friend, Maleeka (also from Holland) as they were a lot of fun, and it
Rinjani from afar
It may not look like much from here, but getting to the top of it wasn't easy. never hurts to hang out with two attractive women!
The Rinjani trek began the following day. I signed up for an expedition with a local trekking company (there are many and some definitely are pretty shady) and was teamed up with our guide, Sinah, and four other guys: Peter (aka "Boss Chocolate") from Germany but now living/working in Jakarta; Theunis, also from Germany but living/working in Beijing; James, who grew up in Jakarta and is now living in New York; and Leo, the athlete of the group, from France. All very good guys with adventurous spirits, and we had a lot of fun hiking and camping together. We were all strangers to each other at the beginning, but all got along really well, quickly became friends, and worked well together as a team, which as a military guy I have a particular appreciation for. Our trek was 3-days. The first was a hike to our base camp where we spent a brief, cold, and fitfull night before waking up at 2:30 am for the 3-4 hr hike to the summit. The night before, one of us, I think it was James, said to me, "The guide said we're only
I Made It!
Yet another dorky picture of me... this time at the summit just after sunrise. one kilometer away from the summit!" This was welcome news to me especially after just having trekked 8-hrs uphill to the first camp. This excitement was short-lived , however, when I checked my GPS altimeter and determined that (based on our present elevation) that the one kilometer that the guides were referring to meant one kilometer in a vertical direction. I bet they get a lot of humor from that joke. Nevertheless, we awoke early and hoofed it to the top and were justly rewarded. It was hard, dirty work, like walking up a huge sand pile, but worth every agonizing step and fall. It was absolutely beautiful up there... and cold! That afternoon we hiked down to the crater lake which looked a lot like Lake Tahoe, beautiful, and indulged in the 104 F hot springs. The next day was our hike out to some more spectacular views as we climbed back up to the crater rim and down the othe side. Theunis and James stayed and hiked/camped for an extra day as Leo, Peter and I headed back to Senggigi. In Senggigi, there are several budget (<$9 US) to choose from, but the common fault among all of
Looking Down Towards Camp
On the way down, I noticed our camp site. I thought it made for a nice photo. them in this price range is that on one end of the strip you will hear thethrice (at least) daily Muslim calls to prayer - which sound akin to the noises a young cow makes when being fire-branded, slowly - while at the other end you will be serenaded by the distressed, tone-deaf wailings of the well-lubed karaoke bar patrons. Which is worse, I really couldn't say. So for me, hot, dirty, tired, and generally sore, I decided to splash out on a deluxe hotel room away from the noise: a beachfront bungalow with a/c, a big comfy bed, hot water, free breakfast, and even a TV that happened to broadcast the 2008 NBA finals (?), which was a treat for me since the Celtics won: $21 US. Money well spent, I think.
I'll wrap things up here, I guess I could sum up my last few days by saying that the hiking, camping, scenery was all very exhilarating and truly made me happy to be exactly where I was, when I was; but I think that the real underlying joy of travelling, just as much so as seeing and participating in interesting things, is meeting and sharing experiences
Looking for a Free Lunch
Along the way we encountered a lot of these little guys, all of whom were looking for a free meal. This guy was at our first camp site, just in time for breakfast. This one is actually as close to me as he appears. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. with the people one meets along the way. I've been lucky so far to have met some really great people, both travellers and local folks, and form some friendships with folks with whom I hope I'll cross paths again someday. I think that's probably the most rewarding aspect of getting off the couch and hitting the road. The best part about it is that you don't need to go half way around the world (like I did) to experience that... but it's a lot more interesting when you do.
Gotta go... my flight to Java leaves in a few hours and I need to get to the airport. Thanks for checking in on me. I hope you enjoy the photos.
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Liz
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Been there, done that! Cool trip ehe! ;-) Congrats! Go to Gili to relax a bit now!