Mount Rinjani, Lombok
When I finished university in 2017, I had all the free time in the world. I decided to do something useful and creative with it (aka not fall into a dangerous cycle of binge-watching Buzzfeed videos.)
Rinjani is one of the 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia. Situated bang in the upper centre of the island of Lombok, it’s also the second highest volcano in Indonesia. Despite having lived on the island for 18 years, I’ve never actually been trekking up Rinjani. It’s one of those things that you take for granted, that you think you’ll get round to doing one day but suddenly you’re 86 and you think “oh maan, should’ve done it”. I kept hearing people talk about their experiences and how much they loved it, and their excitement was contagious enough to trigger my wanderlust.
My friend quite spontaneously asked if I’d hike up Rinjani with her and a few other people. I hadn’t prepared anything, and by anything I mean my physical fitness. It was two thirds through the summer holidays and I had basically been stuffing my face the entire time, as you do when you’re back home. But I agreed, partly because I had been wanting to go and partly because I wanted to challenge myself. I would also be lying if I said I didn’t do it because I had pictured how amazing my Instagram gallery would look.
Being on a tropical island, I didn’t have any warm clothes with me. So armed with regular trainers and one hoodie, I decided to wing it.
When people go to Rinjani, they usually spend three to four days and make it all the way to the summit, which is 3,726 metres above sea level. There are all kinds of trekking packages that you can choose from: just rim, just lake, or summit and lake. We decided to do the ‘two days one night at the rim’ option.
On the first day, we were up at the crack of dawn and drove to the travel agent at the starting point to meet our guide and have breakfast. The sun started to come out just as we were eating which was really pretty, because to your left you could see down below into the valleys, and to your right was the sunrise peaking out from behind the summit. Looking back I really wish I took a photo of the view but hey, I was too busy loading up on carbs.
After a good filling portion of fried rice (standard Indonesian breakfast) our journey begun. The first and longest part was walking through the rainforest. This was probably the best part because the forest was absolutely beautiful. It was the sort of enchanted forests you read about in fairy tales (minus the crazy wild monkeys). Ancient trees, twisted vines, bright flowers, exotic birds. As we went higher we hit some clouds and this turned everything mysteriously misty. Although it was sticky and clammy, we were at least protected from the sun. The rainforest bit took about five hours, including stopping for lunch, kindly cooked by our porters. Porters are the men who carry all the camping gear, food and drink, cooking utensils etc. Can I just take a minute to admire these guys, who climb/run/scamper up often only in flip flops, with all this gear on their back… aaand they’re also really keen to tell you jokes whenever they overtake you, as if you’ve got any breath left to laugh.
The ascent felt like being in a videogame. After level one was reached, we were onto level two: savanna. Personally I thought this was the most difficult part of the journey, physically and mentally. For every two steps up, it was one step down. As the soil was so dry and fine, it was really hard to get a footing on anything. There weren’t any trees to hold on to, and grabbing onto grass just resulted in pulling the whole plant out of the ground. If you were unlucky enough to be stuck behind a different group of people, you would probably get dust kicked in your eyes from the domino effect of people slipping. It’s a tough environment up there, and at this point you start to consider turning around and going back down and not stopping until you reach the ocean.
After what felt like a lifetime, we passed savanna and made it to the third and final part, which was just rocks. This was quite fun and relatively easy compared to the previous climb. You have to climb on all fours and when it’s over you can genuinely feel how rock solid your thighs have become.
At around 6pm, we made it to the top. That first look down, over the lake, was something I will never forget. It quite literally took my breath away (on second thought, not sure if it was because of the view or because I just spent almost 12 hours climbing). Seeing the view in real life was unreal. The expanse of it was mind blowing.
The porters, who had reached the rim hours before us, were setting up camp and cooking dinner, so we had some time to relax. On a clear day you can see all the way across the ocean to Bali. Unfortunately, we weren’t lucky enough to catch a pretty sunset or view across the sea, but the clouds made up for it by being incredibly photogenic, giving off a strong Game of Thrones/Lord of the Rings vibe.
I know I’ve mentioned food twice in this post, but let me just say, the meals were amazing. I’m pretty sure camping food isn’t meant to be this good. The photos aren’t exactly #foodporn material but honestly it tasted so good. We were well fed the entire trip.
Another amazing thing was the sunrise the next day. We woke up early hoping that there wouldn’t be any clouds blocking the sunrise and we got what we wanted. The sky was crimson and the sun had started to come up from behind the peak, lighting up the entire crater and the lake. I don’t think any of my photos did it justice.
On the journey home, you’d usually go down the other side of the mountain, but since it was a rim trip, we went down the way we came. If you think going down is easier than going up… well then you’re right. By the end of it your knees will be screaming for help, but going down does take about half the time it takes going up. In the savanna part, you will fall. That’s a given. My advice is to just stay down. Don’t bother getting back up because you’ll fall again in about two minutes. Instead, try a crawling/sliding combination. It’ll get you to the bottom much faster, and besides, we’re all children on the inside aren’t we?
Once we reached the initial starting point, a car and driver was waiting to take us home. Honestly, the drive back is one of the most relaxing drives ever. Not only do you overly appreciate the comfort of the car seats, but you get to drive along a coastline almost the entire way, soft breeze on your face, your muscles are relaxed, and you’re just in time for a sunset.
If you’re thinking of doing Rinjani, I would recommend it 100%. It’s difficult but it’s totally worth it, simply because the views are incredible the whole way, not just at the top.
Some tips:
Bring lots of carbohydrates for snacking, you’ll definitely need the energy
Don’t underestimate how cold it is
Bring extra socks – yours are going to get soaked and I’ve learnt this the hard way
Please give a generous tip to your porters at the end – they don’t get paid a huge amount
This should be common sense but please take away all your litter – apparently not everybody knows this
