Indonesia's Volcanoes


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August 15th 2006
Published: August 15th 2006
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I'm trying a new website after the Yahoo Geocities experiment was an unmitigated disaster. Feel free to comment through the email link.

The last month and a half has been spent doing a lot of fantastic trekking: 3 volcanoes in Indonesia and a short trek in Gunung Mulu National Park in Malaysian Borneo. Some pictures from the volcanoes and other treks. Kindly excuse the length of this blog entry. I'll try to write more frequently with short versions if needed.

First up was Gunung Rinjani on the island of Lombok. It took about 24 hours to go by ferry and bus from Labuanbanjo on the island of Flores to Senggigi on Lombok, cruising right across Sumbawa in the middle of the night. In Senggigi I was lucky enough to meet a Swiss trekker named Daniel who was also keen on Rinjani. We were quoted a complete package price of $US80/person which we thought was a bit high so we decided to try to arrange it on our own. Soon after we met our guide Firman on the beach while we were walking around town looking for information. After some back of the envelope calculations we figured it would cost ~$US50 each using public transportation which seemed like a good idea at the time because private transport is a killer in Indonesia compared to buses and bemos (mini vans, also called mikrolet, angkot, oplet, and probably more terms that I didn't pick up on - depends on which part of Indonesia you are in). Took care of our own shopping in Senggigi including the requisite cigarettes for the porter although my public health conscience drew the line buying them for the guide. Next day we took a bemo, a horse drawn cart (cidomo), a bus, and a ride in the back of a pickup truck to Sembulun Lawang high on the slopes of Rinjani where we met Firman's uncle who would be our porter. Got little sleep in between the howling and barking of the pack of wild dogs that took over the streets after dark.

Hit the trail around 7 am after a short ride on the back of a motorcycle taxi, or ojek. Trekked at a relaxed pace in the scorching heat for 7 or 8 hours arriving at the Sembalun crater rim camp, 2639 meters. The plan was to leave around 3 am to be on the 3726 meter summit at sunrise. The guide and porter (also our cook) were awesome and after they made us pancakes and coffee we set out just after 3 am under a cloudless sky. The going wasn't too bad on a pummiced ridge but there was one stretch where it got fairly steep and it was two steps forward, one step sliding back on loose crud. Took slightly more than 2½ hours to the top and it was surprisingly chilly. Good thing I've been lugging around a fleece hat and gloves all these hot and humid months. Sunrise was amazing and greatly appreciated so we could warm up. First into view was the island of Sumbawa then the Rinjani vapor shadow projected onto the clouds to the west and Gunung Agunug appeared. At 3041 m, Agung is the highest peak in Bali which I climbed about a week later.

The remainder of the day was a slog back to camp, down to the crater floor at 2000 m and Danau Segara Anak which to the best of my translating ability means Child Lake, back up to Senaru rim at 2641 m on the other side of the crater, and finally to our camp - Pos 3 Senaru at 2000 m. It was something like a 15 hour day but with a porter/cook doing most of the work and making endless cups of coffee it wasn't that bad. Day 3 seemed to go on forever even though the trek to Senaru village was only about 2 hours. This was when our fateful decision to use public transport would come back to haunt us since it took 6 hours to return to Senggigi by a short bemo ride from Senaru to Bayan, 2 buses to Mataram, and 2 more bemos from Mataram to Senggigi. It didn't help to speed matters up that the first bus driver decided to do his firewood and coconut shopping near Bayan since everything is cheaper in the upcountry villages. Also, public transport on Lombok is notorious for trying to overcharge tourists. Even though I was able to converse with other passengers about the proper fare it was a constant struggle negotiating once Firman left us. Most tourists use private buses or minivans traveling around Lombok and Bali. We could have gotten back from the trailhead in about 2 hours if we wanted to pay a price that was way out of line with what most goods and services cost in Indonesia but where's the fun and adventure (i.e., hassle and frustration) in that?

The Rinjani trip was probably the best thing I've done since Everest Base Camp. The guide and porter were great and I never ate better on a mountain trip. Going to be tough not to have fresh pineapples on my next Cascade climb.

Agung was a totally different type of trek but also excellent. It was stout a one day trip, 11 hours round trip from Besakih, 1000 m up on the mountain sloped. Got to the village from Ubud, Bali (which was very pleasant) and was shocked and chagrined when someone quoted me a guide fee of $US90. I could only laugh at that and the price dropped to $50 but that was still absurd given that we paid $60 each for everything on the 3 day Rinjani trek. It took a while but eventually I met Nide, a guide who would guide the trip for a little more than $20. He came by the hotel around midnight and we were cruising along, popping through the extreme humidity inducing cloud layer after a couple of hours. We were actually going too fast and rather than get to the summit more than one hour before sunrise and freeze our buns off we stopped on a ledge and made a fire using the large number of discarded, empty plastic water bottles as kindling. Along with Nide feeding the macaque monkey who befriended us, the fire was certainly not the most environmentally conscious thing to do but who am I to question what people do in their own country? However, many times I would like to comment as Indonesia suffers from a total lack of any environmental awareness which is unfortuante as the scenery is stunning. Anyway, we warmed up for an hour and got to the summit in time for sunrise coming up around Rinjani and great views into the adjacent Gunung Batur crater which is a much more popular trip than Agung. There were only 4 of us - 2 trekkers, 2 guides - on Agung's summit.

Semeru was possibly the most exciting trip I've ever done which was a great relief after the short trek to the Gunung Bromo viewpoint to where hundreds of people had driven. The view was great and little did I know I would find myself 48 hours later on the summit of the volcano on the other side of the Bromo crater. That was not part of the plan until I met Capucine, a French woman who asked if I wanted to climb Semeru while I was waiting for my bus to leave. That sounded more interesting than another smoke filled bus ride and there was no problem arranging the trip. After lunch the 2 of us along with Morl, our guide, were in a jeep crossing the crater floor to the village of Ranu Pani from where we would start the trek the following morning. Most of the way to camp there were views of the volcano and the ash eruptions every 20-30 minutes. I had to seriously question my sanity especially when we got near the summit and one eruption really spooked our guide who said we had to turn around. Summit fever took over and I rationalized continuing by asking a group of Indonesians who'd been to the summit many times if it were safe to continue. They said it was normal activity so we were not to be denied. Spent about an hour on the top and were rewarded with 3 eruptions from the crater about 100 m away and sweeping views of East and Central Java. I'm sure we could see Mt Merapi which you may have heard of as that eruption in June led to major evacuations.

I've got one more month in Indonesia - Sumatra exclusivley. Would have been nice to spend 3 continuous months there but they are strict about tourist visas, the max stay being 60 days and only obtainable in select embassies or consulates.

Thanks for reading this far! Take care.

Jon

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