Mount Rinjani

Day 1 was a warming up, starting through green grassy hills followed by a misty forest reaching the rim of the crater above the clouds, from 1.156m to 2.688m. Rewarded with beautiful vistas on lake Segara Anak, sunset and an ever changing colourful sky. Quickly to the tents as not only temperatures dropped but also an icy strong wind made its way.

Day 2 started, in not only my opinion, a bit too early, 1.30am and not 2.30 as initially briefed. Armed with some ‘powerful’ crackers, tea and headlight, we had 4 hours to reach the summit at 3.726m altitude for the sunrise. The cold wind, the loose stones, the dust, the steepness, the desire to turn back, the fatigue…. neverending and all voluntary. After almost given up more than several times, the summit was finally there and luckily there was some time to enjoy the reward: high fiving the group, the sunrise colours, the sunrise itself, reaching the top and the amazing vistas. Time to get back, that went way quicker by sliding down through the loose, dusty stones and at the campsite we got treated with pancakes. And then…. then the normal day started and a 3-hour descent to the lake and another 3-hour ascent to the other side of the crater rim was on the program, still all voluntarily. Despite the relaxing afternoon hot spring near the lake, this was definitely my most intense hiking day (close to Inca Trail and light altitude sickness on Mount Meru in Kenya).

Day 3 was mostly going down and not too difficult despite the tired legs and feet. Happy we made it but never (Rinjani) again. Back to Senggigi, all stinky and sweaty, to reunite with the family.Read more