Trekking Mount Rinjani, Indonesia

After a few days of exploration in Kuta, Lombok, I was more anxious about being tired than actually being tired ! My legs felt tense and the head had a tingling ache this morning. It's the pickup day today to the Senaru village from where the Rinjani Trek starts.

Day 1 : Driving to Senaru

I met the gang at the airport in front of KFC at about 2pm in the afternoon. A round of introductions followed as we were all meeting for the first time. Funny enough, my niggles seemed to have disappeared now. Quite a lot of my issues are probably just mental!

We drove through the city for about an hour (with one short break in between when we got some rice cakes - a local delicacy which sadly eluded my taste buds the entire trip!) And then a distinct shift in scenery (it got greener and quieter) and temperature (it dropped) happened as we came closer to the Senaru village.

The campus where we stayed in Senaru

A group of local guides (Allenk, Nuri, Aam and a head guy whose name I can't recall now!), also Vivek, the main trek organizer from Trekkers@Heart and a campus of small cottages with a dining area greeted us. The dining area had a plate full of rice cakes again! We had a quick briefing, a small intro, a chatty dinner, a little stroll around the village and then settled into our cottages.

The night felt quite chilly, a sharp contrast to the otherwise heat in this island. I stepped out to get an extra duvet. And just before getting in the cottage, I looked up at the sky and wow! I didn't expect the milky way so soon but there it was in its glorious stardom! The twinkling lights from thousands of years' ago seemed to have locked my feet....

I should really sleep now and get a good rest for tomorrow...but maybe I can stay here a little longer and look at those shiny jewels of the sky before I doze off to darkness..

Day 2 : Trek to Sembalun Basecamp

I am generally known to be pretty well organized, thorough and neat. But on the morning of our actual start, when I simply opened the bathroom door and the lock broke, I took that as a bad omen! Trust me, I didn't try my Hulk grip on it! Then to annoy me further, my phone charging cable stopped working. And I had absolutely no hand (literally) in this. Luckily, Raja, a fellow trekker let me borrow his. Who knew this apparent selfless act would keep coming back with multiple reminders and demand for return favours!

A big mosque right opposite to the
Rinjani National Park entry checkpoint

We hopped on to a light truck and took a pitstop at a medical check point. This was a mandate for anyone attempting to trek Mt. Rinjani. The guides instructed us to "bring the bodies only into the checkpoint and leave the bags behind". 😁 We obeyed. All of us seemed to have either a perfect 120/80 or slightly lower blood pressure! Then we drove for about 30mins through a dusty, rugged uphill road. Mount Rinjani was visible all along and we could just about make out the tiny colourful tents in the basecamp which was our destination for the day.

Mount Rinjani - That's where we are going!

The trek started with a downhill and flattish walk. This is good, a gradual warm up - I was thinking. But when Izzat, our IndiaHikes lead slipped on a loose bit of soil, we got more cautious. Within a few metres into the trek, I got a first hand welcome from a stout, petite, short-tailed, greyish monkey with a mustache (very typical of this area) and a herd of cows!

The monkeys here are very shy...
quite a contrast to the Indian cheeky ones! :D

I got a bit carried away by the moo moos and suddenly found myself at the very end of the group. This however led to my friendship with Raja and Subho, two other fellow trekkers as I tried to catch up with the group. We shared a good laugh, told each other many stories and tried our intellect at various things in the surrounding nature. Time flew by in its own pace.

It's a moo gang! :D

The rest points were all named as POS1, POS2, POS3 & POS4. After two pauses at two such POSs, we had our lunch. Local food in here largely meant fried rice and fried chicken for all three meals of the day. It could be a bit hard but the juicy watermelon and pineapple slices always came to rescue.

Snakefruit!..At one such POS break :)

Post lunch, the real climb started. There were sections with loose gravely slopes, beautiful openings offering view of the valley beneath, makeshift ladders lifting us up to the next elevation - all this leading to a final climb that opened up with the much wanted view of the crater lake!

To gradually climbing up the slope...

I had left Raja behind on this climb as I was feeling quite cold if I paused longer and Subho probably just followed my lead. Of course, Raja reminded me of this selfish act of mine every chance he got. Especially after he let me borrow his charging cable, how could I! That's what good friends do! At the top of this climb, many camps were laid out and we assumed this was it. It wasn't, of course. It never is. However, the view was incredible, so we stayed there for a while, clicking photos, munching on snacks and in general, just catching up on breathing!

Camping with this view of the crater lake...Ah! 

After this, there were campsites every few metres and everytime we would think this was the one, only to be told that this was not. So, when we finally arrived at our campsite, I was skeptical and quite confidently marched on!

Our campsite was the last one on the row, right above the ridge looking over the crater lake. It was this beautiful calm blue water of the lake that made it all worthy.

A trail pic on the way to the campsite...

I got a whole tent to myself! I was the only one to have this luxury (or bad luck, however you want to see). I was sitting outside the tent, just thinking if I would be scared at night. (It turned out to be really convenient!) Probably seeing my lousy face, Raja and Subho who I had buddied up on the route came to my tent and started chitchatting. Then the doctor couple in our group, Nive and Sagar joined, soon followed by Aunukul Dada, the uncle-trekker of the gang which was then further followed by Vivek, the organiser himself. My tent kept finding space as more and more people joined in and the empty tent suddenly turned into this huge buzzing, cosy area as we shared munchies and laughs.

To a beautiful sunset...

We witnessed a beautiful sunset in the evening as the fiery ball made its way down at the backdrop of the crater lake and the rugged volcanic edges. The tip of the Mount Rinjani cast its spell on us as we observed a few headlights moving around in the far distance...super enthusiastic trekkers or local guides?! We never got to know.

As we prepared for an early rest, the Milky Way appeared in the night sky! Even on a full moon night, you couldn't deny its looming magical spread! This is why I trek, for this is how I get to get so close to Nature...to magic!

Nive's first attempt to click the Milky Way...

Day 3: Summit Mt. Rinjani!

We all retired in our tents early the last night. Eager to get a good few hours sleep, I tucked myself in the sleeping bag and forced my eyes shut. Where are my gaiters! My eyes shot open right away! I had tied them to the side of the bag a porter was carrying but I didn't get it back! Oh shoot! It was only 10 PM but already very quiet in the campsite. So I laid there letting my imagination take away the last chance of any sleep. What if there were no extra gaiters? What if I didn't get the chance for summit push? Oh gawd!

I got ready very early and came out of the tent at about 1230 in the morning. Still very quiet. The full moon had flooded the night with a soft glow. I called out to the guides' tent and explained my nightmare. I found my voice trembling a bit, thinking of me having to stay back in the camp because of no gaiters. I cursed myself for not checking on it earlier, for not carrying it myself, for just being me in general! After another hour of silent cursing and quivering, the guides found me a pair. Phew! Now, I could focus on the summit push!

And then we set off!

I gulped down the bread and jam that was offered for breakfast and did some moving of hands and feet which might not qualify as warm up but what could you do! The big bold volcano stared at us from the top as we started the trek.

The path turned steep very quickly with a couple of tricky areas involving ropes and slippery, gravelly slope. The gravels at this part were small and smooth, more like sand. I had to stop quite a bit in the beginning. Kedarkantha summit push was flashing bright in my memories (It was a similar start in the dark on the summit day, everything else was different though) and with that, a slight concern on my ever troubling morning business(Which touch wood, wasn't an issue this time)! Anyway, I kept trudging on. 

Pic taken whilst climbing down the same way we went up...

Then, I don't know what exactly happened. After what felt like ages, the slippery steep part got over, I looked up and suddenly saw this narrow steep trail in front of me and not a single person around. I did see a line of beady headlights in the distance...apart from that, nothing...just darkness. I must have fallen behind or have crossed everyone. The latter seemed impossible, so I decided on the former. The sky looked beautiful. Even with the bright full moon, the stars were flashy.

Only during the descent in the morning light,
we realised the gradient of the slope
and the narrow trail in some parts
(visible in this pic in the distance)

The terrain at this point was easier than the initial part but the wind was fierce. With no other human body to shield, I felt the wind was trying to throw me out of balance. I had my woolly hat on but I needed a second layer to protect the ears. I couldn't pull my jacket hood over the head. I could feel a sharp piercing pain inside the ears as the wind blew free. Energy started dropping down by now. I fumbled through my bag, only one Snickers bar was all I had to my aid. I had forgotten to put any snacks in my bag, courtesy of me getting overtly panicky about the gaiters! I did have a tiny bottle of jaggery powder. I kept having bits of that powder and thought I could trick my brain into thinking it was Snickers dust! This useless trickery went on. My brain now got confused about the route, approaching the crater lake rather than the summit! Well, can't blame it, it was working its best out of jaggery!

These gravels and that wind :D

I figured it out though, and then the terrain suddenly changed again! And this time, it drastically turned into a very steep slope of loose gravels of all shapes and sizes along with sand! I felt like a character from those Disney cartoons where you keep flapping your legs and arms to run but you are tied by the waist and not really going anywhere. I would place my feet two steps up and the sand would slide me back to the initial position. It was you against the sand! Finally, I got the trick. You got to place your feet right above the footstep of the person in front. This would have the sandy gravel settle down a bit in those stepped-on areas and you get a better footing. But by the time, my super smart brain figured this out, my body had already run out of energy, even jaggery powder was not doing its magic anymore and I could see the horizon turn orange from the first ray of the Sun.

In the first ray of the Sun

I was still only half way through the last gravel part (Part 3, as they call it). The idea was to watch the sunrise from the top. But here I was on the last slope, not knowing whether I could reach the summit, not having any food, not seeing anyone from our group. I choked. There might have been a few drops of tears too. (There you go - tiny bits of salt loss from the body!) Okay, I know it's funny. I generally have an excuse for everything, so I will go ahead and blame those tears on my hormones. It was after all that time of the month. But I did feel very lonely at that moment. I stopped to watch the sunrise which looked a bit hazy. An old-ish man was sitting on the slope. He looked equally tired but he told me, "just a bit more. Go on". And so I continued.

Just a few more steps to the top...

The Sun was up and about by now. It was broad daylight. People had started climbing down. Is there any more point going up? I stood there, head hung low, thinking to myself as the loose sand kept sliding me back down. A French girl puckered me up. She was on her way down. She called out to me and said, "15 more mins. Don't give up. One step at a time." And with that, just one more step ...one more...and one more, I made it to the summit! Finally!

Need no caption! ^_^

I was so happy! I was grinning by myself! I was glad I didn't give up even though there were times when I felt really alone. I felt blessed that I could see through that. I let the foolish grin get plastered on my face for a bit longer. I saw Vivek, our trek organiser and Abhijeet, another fellow trekker up there. I still hadn't caught my breath. Vivek offered me a chikki, I took two. Better be greedy than be dead! They exchanged a quick cheer and started their climb down. I sat at the summit, absorbing the moment, soaking in the view and just grinning.

Beautiful lake view from the top.

The lovely blue of the lake surrounded by the rugged slopes looked out of the world! The other side of the summit offered a view of a deep dry crater, quite intimidating. The edges of the summit and also the slope all along was dotted with little yellow edelweiss flowers. (There is some local belief for which you are not allowed to pluck these flowers.)

Slope dotted with edelweiss flower stubs

It is a funny feeling when you are so happy and you wish there was someone to share that with you. I looked around, also because I wanted someone to take a photo for me. Everybody in our group must have already climbed down. I sat there, wondering. A kind man approached and offered to take a photo. He must have seen my struggle with selfies! Super happy, I gave him my phone. What followed was a generous photoshoot, all thanks to him! And I don't even know his name!

Summit view on the other side of the lake

As I was thinking of starting the climb down, Izzat, our India hikes representative arrived! Allenk, one of our guides was with her. Another bout of cheer! Oh, I was so happy! So happy, to see known faces after hours! We hugged! They not only brought smiles, but, brought food and water and Allenk's keen eyes for photography. Ah, life!

Summit celebration...
with 1 Snicker bar split into 3! Perfect! :D

Apparently, it is only 3KM up and 3KM down. The 3KM can be thought of as 3 parts...Part-1 with the loose gravel sand, Part-2 - the easiest with a moderate slope and good grip, and the last part, Part-3 - the toughest with big rolling gravels and loose sand. I will believe the SI system but trust me, it felt so much longer than just 3KM. The last part was only 300m approx. and yet it took me an hour probably or could me more! I have no idea. I wasn't in my best mathematical state!

Starting the climb down...

What followed next was the climb down. Everyone had talked about the summit push but no one had ever mentioned about the climbing down! Pretty obvious if you have gone up, you got to come down. But it was like letting your legs slide through the dusty sandy slope until you slip and fall on your back! I fell four times within a 1000m slope! My record so far! Quite possibly because, I really didn't fuel my body properly (a mistake no one should ever do) and it was just following gravity!

Through lava formations

The gravels made their way inside the shoes despite the much chased after gaiters. Imagine what would happen if I didn't have any gaiters! The path down felt really long! We couldn't believe that we had really come up the same way! In fact, it was while climbing down that we discovered the many overlooking valleys, ruggedness of the volcano, the rock formations left from the lava flow, the various strata on the slopes, the tiny caves (which acted as shelters from the wind when going up), the changing colours of the lake water and so on...

Various shades of the Volcano!

Whilst summiting was a lonely pursuit, climbing down made me two buddies, Izzat and Allenk! I got to know about Izzat's atom bombs (nutty balls of energy - her trek snack that she prepares herself), discussed India hikes training techniques and visions, gave Allenk a bit of a scolding cause of his non stop smoking (which seemed like a common issue there). It was a nice, chatty, slippery climb down. I kept remembering the snow slides of the Himalayas! How terribly did I miss them now!

Focus...cause I will be slipping soon!

Day 3 : Afternoon Trek to Segara Anak Lake Campsite

Izzat and I were the last to come back to the basecamp after the Mt. Rinjani summit. Thanks to us, people got a very long rest whilst I longed for rest. It was almost lunch time when I had my due breakfast - a much needed big bowl of spicy poha (Thanks to Sagar who decided to stay back at the camp and make us poha rather than the crazy push up the slope) !

By the time I had my fill of breakfast, repacked my bag, attempted to have some lunch, it was already time to be back on the trail again. I really wanted some rest. But c'est la vie. It sounded like a really fun walk down to the lake, would be over quick - was what I thought. But uh uh..it was a proper trek.

The amazing porters...this is how they carry all the stuff,
balancing the baskets  full of bags, food, etc.
hanging from the two ends of a bamboo.

It would be a fun route had I not been this tired. With big tricky bits to step down and ropes to hang from, my body screamed to be rested. There was one bit full of big broken rocks. Allenk asked me to cross this bit and I just sat down with a loud humph! My head down, looking very serious probably! Raja and Subho were the sweetest, they kept me company all along. Raja kept cheering me up even though humour was failing me by then and Subho kept his patience with me, possibly a bit afraid I might burst out. I was afraid of that too, I knew my unpredictable hormones! Allenk kept boosting me up with confidence. The afternoon trek somehow felt harder (in reality, it was not though) and I couldn't have pulled it through without these three guys!

Cloud filling up the valley creek :D

The last leg of this trek was very pretty! Long swaying grass, golden glow of the Sun, rising foamy cloud flowing from the mountains to the lake, glistening water of the lake...you paint the picture!

Golden brown..texture like Sun :)

The campsite was right on the bank of the Segara Anak Lake. You could see the active volcano (not Rinjani, this is a smaller one in the lake) puffing smoke right in front of you. This cone (also known as, 'Gunung Baru Jari' in Indonesian) was a pretty new development, courtesy a sudden eruption in 1994/1995. However, the most recent eruption of Mount Rinjani was in 2010 (thanks to our guide Aam, for all the info!)

You can just about make out the puffy smoke!

There was a hot spring just beside the campsite. It involved some further climbing down. It was already pretty late when we reached the campsite. Still we made a brisk visit to the hot spring, I didn't indulge in the hot water, some of us took a quick dip as the Sun was chasing us to the horizon.

The whole gang just by the lake

Back in the campsite, we had a gala dinner that night! After 3 days of dry rice and noodles and fried chicken, that nights premixed daal and mutter paneer with loads of gravy felt like heaven - a perfect summit celebration! We had a quick debriefing and then it was off to the night. I slept well. Oh so well!

Day 4 : Downhill Trek to Torean Village

I woke up to Deepthi and Smitha's voices in the next tent. Wanting to sleep more, I got ready anyway. My knees complained and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to make it today. But surprisingly, a few metres into the trek, I felt upbeat! The trail offered such stimulating views!

Hot Springs on the way

After the dusty, sandy climb on the volcano, everything felt super refreshing today - the green grass, cosy canopy, gurgling streams, bubbling pools of hot water, restless flow of the whitish milky river, wide valley views and the blue sky just topping it all up with the right amount of spice! It felt like the green Himalayas and I absolutely adored it.

And there were ladders too ! :D

We had a lovely lunch with spaghetti and egg curry and fruits and sugary drinks under a canopy, picnic style! Post lunch, the trek continued when the grand vistas gradually turned into forest trails. Even though it was the last leg of our 3 days' trek, it was still quite long, about 14km (Jerry, another fellow trekker and also a fitness trainer by profession had been tracking the distance and other metrics on his gizmo, confirmed this 😀) and we were getting exhausted towards the end. In the last 2km, there was scooter service available but I decided to stay foolish and happy to drag my feet to the finish line.

Lovely lush trail on the way down...

The sun had just set and it was dark when I made it to the end with Subho (who has really been sticking through thick and thin with me so far...so glad to have met this kid. Raja ditched us today, he was chased by some uncanny pace to reach Gilli islands earlier than everyone else!), Allenk (couldn't be more glad to have such a patient guide with me, also very thankful for all the fancy photos and videos he took) and Val (a fellow trekker; somehow the last day of the trek saw us more together, cheers to getting to know him a bit more and making it to the end together).

Green makes me happy!!

We regrouped in the parking area where the trucks were ready to take us back to the concrete civilization. We spent some time congratulating each other, sharing photos, saying goodbyes. As we hopped in the truck, our eldest and the most amazingly enthusiastic member of the group, Shakuntala started singing. With her infectious energy, we all joined in and 'chhaiye chhaiye'-ed our way back to the main drop off point.

Somewhere near a gushing waterfall on the way down..

The trek ended like they always do. The feelings, however, stay real forever. That gleaming Milky Way right above the tent, those dark haunting moments on the slope, the breathtaking blue lake view from the summit, the sliding sandy terrain under the feet, that moment of despair on the afternoon trek, the resting point laughter in the forest shade, the 'ekla cholo re' chorus in the truck back...and many many such moments to live forever!

and forever...