Three thousand, seven hundred and seventy-six meters

It was dark. I didn't have a flashlight. The guide in front of me did, but he was bounding on ahead. I was cold, I couldn't feel my toes, I was sweating, I was tired, I was hungry. The wind was atrocious. How they expected you to climb 1,100m on tea and a few biscuit crackers is beyond me. And that had been 2 hours ago. And we still had another hour and a half to go. Every step forward hurt like a mother f... and the looming summit never seemed to get any closer, even though we'd been climbing for an hour and a half. The last hour was the worst, a never ending incline of loose rock where each step had to be placed just so, otherwise you ended up on all fours, 3 feet below where you fell. It was the longest morning ever. BUT. I MADE IT! Four out of the eleven in our group had chosen to conquer the summit and all four of us made it. We were SO proud of ourselves. And the view from the top was totally worth every agonizing step. The sunrise, the clouds, the shadow of the mountain, the coastline, the smaller cone in the crater lake, the whole island of Lombok was laid out below us. 3,776m is a LONG way up. And I made it.

I first heard of Rinjani when I met up with Beth and Sierra in Bali. They had been in Indonesia for two weeks already and they Rinjani was one of their adventures. They said it was hell, but they were glad they did it. That's all the encouragement I needed to decided to do it myself. :) They filled me in on all the useful things to know before going; take snacks, buy a pair of shoes and you'll need warm clothes. Take a flashlight, don't take your water-bottle, the porters carry water for you, remember your swimsuit for the hot-springs. Without this advice I would've been screwed.

I can't say that I would do the trek again, but I'm certainly glad I did it this one time. In two weeks I plan on climbing Mount Kinabalu the highest peak in SE Asia. I've heard it's an easier climb than Rinjani though, so I'm all set. :)

I was picked up from my home-stay at 5am for a 2-hour journey to Senaru, where we were fed breakfast (banana pancakes and tea), where our bags would stay for the three days we were on the mountain and where I met the rest of the group I'd be travelling with. We were 11 in total: 1 couple from Germany, 2 girls from Sweden, a single guy and a couple from Holland, 3 friends from Singapore. I was the only native English speaker. Lucky for me everyone else learned English in school. :) We loaded into the back of a pick-up and drove to the trail head where we had to check in with the National Park. I found it ironic that while the local porters and guides who took us up the mountain had absolutely no regard for clean camping, the tags we were given to wear on our bags urge you to 'take only photos, leave only footprints, use only the air.' The trails were strewn with candy wrappers and cigarette butts (the guides and porters lite up like smokestacks any chance they had), the campsites were littered with toilet paper, ramen noodle packages egg shells, banana peels, empty water bottles, etc. It was sad.

The first day we started at 601m and climbed to 2641m in 7 hours. We stopped every 40 mins. or so for water and a break. The lunch break took an hour. I guess when you have someone else cooking your meals and carrying your tent you can't complain about how long it takes to get lunch ready. :P

Camp that night was at 2,641m. We were above the clouds and the view was spectacular. We could see Mount Agung (3,142m) on Bali, and the Gili Islands, of the Northwest side of Lombok. While the porter set up camp I climbed up to the rim for my first proper look at the volcano. It's big, and intimidating, and a long way away and it's going to take a whole lotta determination and stubbornness to get me up it. :P It get cold quickly after the sun goes down so we only stay out late enough to watch the stars come out (there's SO many and I saw the Big Dipper, I didn't know you could see if from the Southern Hemisphere) and then we head to bed. As there an uneven amount of people, I'm in a tent on my own, which is ok, but I froze me ass off. It may have been a combination of only 1 person in the tent+inadequate sleeping attire+a not very warm sleeping bag + the freezing temperature outside. :P

On the second day we descended to the crater lake and some hot springs. They were gorgeous. It looked like something out of Lord of the Rings; lush green valley, tumbling waterfalls, boulder strewn river bed, white puffy clouds above and not an ATM is sight. Glorious!

The hike back up the other side of the rim was not fun. Back up 700m, through the clouds, scrambling up the scree and volcanic rock. The trail is without switch-backs, so most of the UP, is just that, UP, no going back and forth, back and forth. I spent about an hour hiking on my own. I passed a marker that said '11.5km. 10-15mins later I passed another maker, this one said '11km.' I was slightly worried that I'd turned myself around and was heading the wrong way. As the porters, guides and local hikers (and probably many of the tourists as well) have no regard for staying on one path, there are many trails carved into the mountain, as old ones become too steep or all of the rocks have eroded away, turning that trail into a slide. Not to worry though, soon enough I heard people behind me, some of the porters and a girl from my group had caught up with me, I wasn't lost. :)

We arrived at that nights camp in the early afternoon, so we had a few hours to kill before dinner and bedtime. I walked down to a fresh water source to wash out my socks, they had been black, but were now brown with dust and dirt. I only had the one pair and I needed them to be clean for the ascent to the summit.

Finally, the last day, the day we summit Mount Rinjai. Only 4 of the 11 out of our group decided to go up. We left at 3am, after a breakfast of tea and biscuits/crackers (how they expected us to make it up to the top on just that I have no idea. I'm SO thankful Beth and Sierra told be to take snacks. I would've passed out from hunger otherwise). As it says at the beginning of this post, we all made it. Despite the cold and the pain and the dark and the wind and the never ending climb up. :)

On the trek back down, I spent my share of time on my ass. Sliding down sand/rock isn't nearly as enjoyable as sliding down snow. :( The porters had breakfast ready for us back at camp, deep fried bananas, toast, egg omelet and coffee. After fending off the cheeky monkeys who waited eagerly for our attention to leave our meal so they could snatch it out of our hands, we downed the food, trying to restore our caloric balance.

On the hike out, after slipping and nearly rolling down the hill too many times for my comfort, I took my shoes off and did most of the rest of the hike barefoot, having more traction that way than with my sandals. After our stop for lunch, I decided to run/race walk the rest of the way and see how fast I could make it out. Apparently I hadn't pushed myself hard enough going up the mountain and I had energy left to run out. I think I'm a little crazy. As I was the only one crazy enough to do this, I was on my own for most of the way out. The landscape was so different than on the hike in. Most of the trail passed over undulating grassland, not the jungle forest that we passed on the way up two days previously.

While we waited for the buses that would take us back to Senaru (where our bags were), the porters where quick to pop into the local shop to stock up on cigarettes, not water or snacks, fags. I don't know how they make it up the mountain twice a week, smoking the way they do.

So, I made it. And now I'm back on Bali, in Kuta, waiting for Cera to arrive tomorrow. Only one more week here and them I'm going to Malaysian Borneo!!