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Published: November 3rd 2013
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Mt Rinjani (20 Sep to 24 Sep)
Ali (the man who allowed me to sleep in his travel agency) came and gave me a present for my mum as well as the ticket back to Lombok. So after breakfast I headed off to the ferry port, trip back was a lot quicker with less waiting between buses and ferries. Thanks to my tablet and an app called Maps with me I was able to get off at Pringgabaya before dawn. From there I was going to get a bemo (mini bus) to Sapit but a man offered me a ride on an ojex (scooter) so I decided to take that instead. As luck would have it we had a flat tire around half way (that's the 3rd time in 3 scooter rides). He arranged an alternate scooter and I was able to finish the trip on that one. Once in Sapit I caught a truck for the rest of the way. An old man kept on putting his finger in his mouth and smiling and winking at me, I think he wanted me to buy him some cigarettes. I hope it wasn't something else. There is some stunning rainforest along
the way between Sapit and Sembalun Lawang, with Monkees on some of the trees. Eventually the road drops down and flattens out to a plain of crops and villages. Once we reached Sembalun Lawang the truck let me out and I went on a search for a guide and a place to stay. Unfortunately the first few guides I came across wanted to do a "package tour" which was very expensive 3,000,000, I found the ranger station and they where going to arrange a guide at 200,000 per day and I was to come back at midday. So I went back to my hotel and had a nap before going back, unfortunately the English speaking man wasn't there anymore and after waiting 4 hours they took me to a nearby hotel with an English speaker. He was able to find me a guide for 150,000 per day plus a bonus of 150,000 if he went to the summit with me (600,000 for the 3 days / 2 nights). We bought food for the next couple of days for around 350,000 plus hired a stove for 100,000 from the home stay which organized the guide.
The following day the guide
picked me up at 8am and after packing our items we set off on the scooter for his village which was to be the starting point of the trek. We passed through some farmland walking away from the village, soon this turned into open grassland. Eventually we reached a fairly short section of forest - spotted some Monkees here but they where quick to make their escape. More open grassland followed the forest before we reached a steeper section which would continue for the rest of the day, there was some tree cover here but it was still quite exposed. We passed quite a few Indonesian hikers, before reaching the plateau at around 3.30pm. The guide cooked dinner and we both retired to my one man tent for the night - two people in a one man tent doesn't make for a comfortable sleep.
Early start at 1:30am, guide made a quick breakfast and I was ready and keen to go for the summit. Unfortunately as there was no other people leaving he was reluctant to let me go as he was going to stay in the tent to make sure no one pinched anything. Eventually he ended up
coming with me for the first section before returning to the tent and I continued alone. First section had a lot of loose sand and rocks so it was slow going, this eventually flattened out and the ground was more packed so it was easier. It was very windy. Finally there was more loose stone and dirt, the wind here was very strong close to being able to knock me down. I tried to shelter behind a small rock but still ended up getting lots of dirt blown in my eyes. Eventually I decided to move down slightly as the wind wasn't slowing down, to find some better shelter. As I reached the rocks another group reached the same point and continued on, they kept on going so I decided to try again. This time I was able to continue on as the wind had died down slightly, I watched the spectacular sunrise part way up before finally reaching the summit about an hour after sunrise. Fantastic view from summit all around, the Gili islands can be seen in the distance. Going down was a lot easier, and I had a break for a couple of hours at the tent.
Guide at this point was keen to forget the 3rd day and head back to the village, at first it was because he thought I was tired but then he said that there where wild pigs by the lake so it would be dangerous to go down to the lake. Eventually he agreed to go to the lake, the first two hours where steep but it was all down hill. We had a break at a great grassed area where I spotted a mouse running in and out of the grass. We continued on to the lake where we setup camp and had dinner which was a great curry. This time I arranged the backpacks inside the tent so there was more room and a better nights sleep.
For the final day of the hike we got up at 4am and after packing the first hour of the hike back up to the plateau was in the dark. The next two hours where up the step crater wall up to where we camped the first night. There was a bunch of monkies there trying to steel food from the groups that where up there before the porters scared them
away with rocks. After lunch we descended back down to the village and the guide arranged for a bemo (mini bus) to come and get me. Along the way a lot of monkies where running up to the passanger side and I first thought they where going to jump into my window as I was sitting beside the driver, however people behind me where throwing food out to them. The next bus got stuck in traffic for a long time before we took a detour - seems like there was a crash on the road ahead. Finally made it to Mataran late in the afternoon before getting a scooter to Senggigi.
Sengiggi (25 Sep)
Hired a push bike for the day for 50,000, unfortunately it turned out to have a woobly back wheel. First destination was the temple of Pura Bato Balong. Series of chair alters, with some impressive statues around them. The temple does look somewhat rundown and not used, Lombok is a mostly Muslim island afterall. From there returned to Senggigi for lunch before continueing north. The scennery gets better the further out of Senggigi you get with less development, lots of palm trees and hills.
Reached the lookout at around 4pm and had a coconut and cooked corn on the cob with slightly too spicey sauce. Took a bunch of photos as the sun was going down, before returning back to Senggigi. Managed to overtake a scooter for a short run on one of the down hill sections, unfortunately the bike only had one geer working on the front cog.
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