Mount Rinjani...a journey to the unknown

I used to think that I will never be up on any  mountain peak. Mountain trekking was just not my thing and I can't imagine how I can enjoy the journey if I have to endure the tough climb, tiredness and so much pain. That was years ago...

Somehow things changed.....and I changed too.
All those beautiful pictures of this particular Mountain called Rinjani, all the wonderful stories I heard from those who have actually been on it, all the great articles written about it and finally the arrival of my great travel inspiration (that's you Olly ;)) somewhat stir the emotion so strong and I decided,  Rinjani have to be my first mountain.

13 July 2016 marked the day ....I flew to Lombok, and I pay the visit to the majestic Rinjani with so much hope for the unknown. I hope Rinjani will accept me as I would very much love to see it's beauty and blend in with it's nature. I hope very much it will allow me to be on it's peak.

It wasn't easy. What I have experienced and encountered throughout the journey were beyond what I prepared for. Anyway, at the end, I'm so grateful that Rinjani was gracious to me and I was given a chance to be up there :)
It was indeed a very beautiful journey, being embraced by Rinjani's beauty itself and being able to find more about myself...the unknown me. How close I was to giving up then...and how fast I regained back my determination for this climb.

The most unforgettable moment of all...



I was with the great and amazing Rinjani's guide, Dony. Rating 6 stars (out of 5)!
 If Rinjani is what you are looking for, do give him a call ...
( Dony, mobile: +6285338773976   email: donitrekker@gmail.com   FB: Dony Rinjani Trekker )  



So graceful surrounded by majestic beauty. This is Dony.

Let's join  me to re-live my journey through all the following photos.

I will not provide so much of the technicalities here, you can find those information in many other articles. I just want to show how beautiful Rinjani is and it will be a waste if you don't see it with your own eyes.

Such a peaceful morning before the journey.
 We stayed one night at local hotel in Sembalun Lawang Village , at altitude of 1150m.

Wild flowers along side the lane at the start of our trekking.

Meet Liza, my Mount Rinjani trekking companion. Ambitious first timer too.
#whenLizasmeet

Excited for the journey to the unknown....

With Dony, a reliable guide and a friend, who brought me to the peak of Rinjani.
I salute him for the patience and all the care he showed us during the whole journey.

This is the energetic smile at the start of the journey....lets see how long this smile remained ;)

Follow the lead...
Somehow have to keep looking down, so many cow pies (dung) here.

Posed with another smile. Keep close distance to the guide though..

Step by step..one by one...

So excited as we move to the more beautiful landscape of Rinjani. The Savanna.

These are the strongest people around Rinjani. The amazing porters.

They could carry up to 30 kg of items on their shoulder, yet they move so fast in slippers and even bare footed.

Rinjani do have magnificent beauty...you just have to see it yourself.

We stop for short rest and toilet break at Post 1

After 2 hours walk from the starting point, we reached Post 1. This is the first point where many trekkers will stop for rest before proceed to Post 2, located about another 30 minutes away. There are two basic wooden pavilion where people can sit or lay down for a while, plus a small toilet. It was quite crowded when we were there.

Once we regained back our energy, we continue to walk further to Post 2. A tent was already set up for us to rest and have lunch. This is where we discover another beautiful side of our journey. The human touch transformed into deliciously presented lunch in the middle of the savanna. 



Indera the porter collaborated with Dony for the food presentation.

I just love these guys for all the effort they put.

Credit to Pak Satya Budi the owner of Trekking Rinjani (trekking organizer) for assigning such amazing team. 

Tadaaaa....looks good , taste good...

The appetizer...nicely cut for us

Things that Indonesian / half Indonesian like me, can't go without :))

Yummy!! Never expected the food can be this good.

We met these four young Malaysians the night before at Sembalun Lawang Village, and we started the journey together
This picture was taken at Post 3

Another wild flora greeted us along the way

This is after Post 3...moving towards to much harder climb to Plawangan Sembalun  Campsite
Another 3 hours to go.

I took far more than 3 hours to reach Plawangan Sembalun Crater Rim, at the altitude of 2639 meter . I reached there when it gets dark. The journey was definitely beyond my expectation, the climb was tough. There were points where I have to stop to catch my breathe after every 6 steps...but whatever it was,  I made it there. Unfortunately no photos taken on arrival due to my shaking hands and knees..haha...and it was so cold at night too that I rather spent time in our tent.

Due to my "glorious" performance during the ascend to Plawangan Sembalun campsite, our guide Dony diplomatically negotiated a new strategy. Since we will have 4 days and 3 nights on Rinjani, so it's better for us not to proceed to the peak on the first night (or we will be dead ..haha..) We agreed to have full rest for night number 1 and the whole of day 2, and only go to the peak at 2am on the 3rd day. 

So that night, after nice dinner we went to sleep and didn't bother to wake up for peak ascend at 2am. Somehow at 5.30am, I eagerly woke up and got ready for what worth waking up for. By 6am, the guys announced the arrival of spectacular sunrise in 15 minutes to come, and there we were, ready with our lenses. It was really awesome...I would say what we captured with the camera were nothing to compare with what we seen through our eyes. Unforgettable and magnificent!

 

 The many tents at the Plawangan Sembalun Crater Rim...there was a golden color of sunrise on the horizon

I was staring speechlessly to this beauty. There was great silence and I felt serenity....

Sometimes things are just simply magnificent, no further description needed

When the land, the highlands, the sky, the sun and the clouds wake up together

I just love the whole feeling this view gave me

One of the great view that I enjoyed so much when we were up there, embraced by Rinjani's beauty

Us braving the cold morning for some shots and selfies

Lake Segara Anak, beautifully waiting for the sun rays

Segara Anak from a slightly different angle

Again...the clouds againts the highlands

Our tent was put up facing the beautiful terrain and the peak

A bit of luxury treatment there, compared to just plain bushes ;)

The peak...such a majestic view

Our morning tea...

My favorite...banana pancake and fried banana for breakfast

Another part of the campsite. Against the blue sky....

The view from inside of our tent. It gets cloudy after 9am.

Relaxing the legs before the hard work

The woods collected by our porters. It gets so foggy toward afternoon.

Preparing the necessary for us

A lonely kettle

Our sizzling lunch in the making

The veggies

It gets more cloudy and foggy towards evening and it can be very cold

Our tent again...in the foggy mood

I brought along this little travel tips cum  note book, by my favourite author Awan Yulianto

The lake, surrounded by beautiful clouds

It feels great to be embraced by the clouds

Beautiful silhouette of the trekkers

Heavenly peaceful

Since it was foggy and so cold, I call it a day quite early.

We went to rest quite early, woke up for dinner and get some wonderful leg massage to reduce the pain from yesterday journey.  Then we continue our deep sleep again.

At 1 am, we got ready for the climb to the peak. It was cold outside there, so I have to use layers of clothes, gloves, and windbreaker.

It was within the first 15 minutes of the journey, my legs failed me. I almost gave up and decided to return back to the tent, but then I'm glad I made a split second decision to proceed with the ascend when Dony willing to accompany me (to walk really slowly) and assigned a porter to accompany my trekking companion to proceed to the peak separately.



I took this using my phone, those tiny lights are

other trekkers doing the ascend.

After 4 hours of the journey, sunrise break when I was still like halfway up

So why waste the opportunity...it was still so beautiful no matter where I am

Same spot, different version :).  Look at the cotton like clouds

Sunrise pose with Dony. He was so patient with my slow pace

It was no fun seeing other trekkers already leaving the peak when I was still ascending (almost crawling).
But many of them gave me encouragement words...I was so thankful for that.

I rest a bit long at this spot to regain my energy, by the way the view was so excellent

Those are my tired legs...at certain points I will just sat on the ground

That's my knight in shining sunrise...without him I might not be able to reach the peak on that particular morning

Patiently waiting in his cool style

 

Ooops...it's been 6 hours and I was still not there.

But by then, my determination was very strong as the peak already looked so near.

Looking at this beauty made me forgot the struggle for a while

Tired and sleepy, but I'm not going to give up now!

Along the final ascent



In all, I took a bit more than 6 hours to reach the peak. The feeling was indescribable...full of mixed emotions. It was indeed the most beautiful journey of self discovery. I remember how close I was to giving up. But it is proven, no matter how our body refused to move, but if our mind strong enough to proceed, the body will follow.

I'm grateful for all the experiences I went through on Rinjani. Very meaningful journey. And I would like to extend my appreciation to Liza, my trekking companion for not giving up easily and to Dony, for patiently being there for me until I reach the destination.

Do watch my video that I dedicated to Liza and Dony at this link: Rinjani Trip July 2016

Another pose of victory... against myself. It was a journey of self conquest.

After the peak, we made our way down back to the campsite. We spent another night on the crater rim before we leave for Sembalun Lawang. There are more tent around since it was Friday evening and more trekkers arrived to spend the weekend on the mountain. It rained heavily throughout the night until early morning, and the temperature dropped to 4 or 5 degree. 

On Saturday morning, we left campsite and headed down at 7.30am and made the journey through the same way we came. We skiped Lake Segara and Senaru descend as it is going to be tough for us this round. Anyway, I'm coming back soon to complete what were missing.
We arrived the base at around 4pm and directly head to Kuta beach (3 hours away) where we chilled for a night. 

At Kuta beach the next morning

I encourage all the nature lovers to  be at Rinjani at least once in a life time. Either you want to be at the peak or just be anywhere else on Rinjani, absolutely will be your choice, but to admire its beauty is definitely the best choice you can make.

One important thing that I need you to HELP is to always keep Rinjani clean. Do keep your rubbish, all of them in rubbish bag and bring it down with you to throw it properly somewhere else. 

LOVE Rinjani...so it will love you back.